LANGLEY SPEEDWAY - LANGLEY VA
The track was a 4/10 mile dirt track that hosted races 250 laps in length (100 miles). From its modest opening in 1950 as a dirt track with few amenities to today’s paved showplace, Langley has consistently stayed ahead of the competitive and administrative curve. Ned Jarrett won the first NASCAR race held there in May 1964 and would repeat in 1965. The track seemed to have a reputation for having repeat winners. After Jarrett won the first two events; Richard Petty would win the next two. The track was paved between the 1967 race and the 1968 race. After that David Pearson would win three in a row. 1970 would be the final year that the Cup Series raced at Langley. Bobby Isaac won in May; and
when NASCAR returned in November it would be the final race of the Cup season. Bobby Allison would beat Benny Parsons by about 10 car lengths. During the early 1970’s, endured a series of well-meaning but generally overmatched promoters/track operators. To many fans and competitors, Langley Speedway’s savior was Joe Carver. He ruled for 10 years, moving Langley forward and creating something of a “Golden Age” for local racing. Fans saw some of the country’s best short-track racers and enjoyed some truly creative Saturday night promotions. During this period the
current-day Late Model Stock Car class was born and nurtured. From it came many of Langley’s most successfuldrivers. Cup driver Denny Hamlin got his start here. Between 1995 and 1997, new owners Wayne Wyatt and Jim Wood replaced the aging and unsightly steel guardrail with a concrete wall. They repaved the track and replaced the board-and-scaffolding bleachers with an iron-and-steel grandstand. They added more than a dozen skyboxes and VIP suites, and a modern race control and media booth. Today, Langley remains southeastern Virginia’s longest-running professional sports enterprise and one of the oldest in the Commonwealth.
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