Connor Hall returned to Dale Lemonds Victory Lane on Saturday night, but he came a fraction of a second short of completing a two-race Late Model sweep at Langley Speedway.
Hall, who has a good chance for his second consecutive NASCAR Advance Auto Parts national championship for weekly track drivers, edged Matt Waltz by 643-thousandths of a second in the 50-lap opener, which took more than 14 minutes.
It was Hall’s eighth Langley Late Model triumph of the year; he has been racing at his hometown track during off weeks of the CARS Tour, which he leads in points. He’s not a contender for the Langley points title because he misses so many races.
Chase Burrow was a distant third in the 18-car field, 7.101 seconds off the lead — almost a half-lap behind the top two, while points leader Greg Edwards was fourth.
Ryan Matthews was ninth in that opener, but he held off Hall by 137-thousandths of a second in the nightcap for his second victory of the year. It lasted almost 23 minutes, much of which Hall spent working through the field.
Burrow again was third, 1.670 behind Matthews. Woody Howard was fourth and Edwards fifth.
Mark Wertz, who began the night in second place, 12 points behind Edwards, finished fifth and then eighth.
Champ Kart: The 20-lap race included just four starters, but it provided one of the closest finishes in Langley history.
Rookie Jason Mullins edged Jimmy Carr by an imperceptible four-thousandths of a second in a race that lasted more than 7:39. Neither had taken a checkered flag this year.
Neither Jordan Valdes (three wins in 2024) nor Ryan Hudgins (two) started. Valdes began the evening leading second-place Carr by eight points.
Virginia Racers: Ayden Millette earned a pair of 35-lap victories among 14 drivers, giving him a series-leading five wins this year.
In the opener, which took just more than 10 1/2 minutes, he outran runner-up Donovan Edwards by 1.849 seconds and third-place Ryley Music by 2.268. Jacob Derrick was fourth and Jamie Sample fifth.
The second race’s results were remarkably similar. Millette defeated Music by a comfortable 3.701 seconds, with Derrick, Edwards and Sample completing the top five.
Beginning the night, the top three in points were Edwards (193), Millette (190) and Music (184).
Pro Six: Travis Wall remained unbeaten in the division this year, and he won the latest race by 2.812 seconds over Matt Dail. Wall’s sixth triumph of the season went 25 laps and lasted about 7 1/2 minutes.
Jaxon Bone was more than a half-lap behind in third, 10.743 seconds trailing Wall.
Super Truck: Chris Bechtel registered his first victory of the year. He prevailed over 25 laps and more than 32:43, edging Donald Brown by 386-thousandths of a second. Tim Carter was third, 2.264 off the lead.
Chase McAdams, who began the night with the points lead, was 11th in the field of 12.
Enduro: Alex Floroff coasted to a 30-lap victory in more than 14:25, outpacing runner-up Phil Nelson by 2.639 seconds in the night’s final race.
Ryan Vinson took third among 20 competitors, 2.870 seconds behind Floroff, after beginning the night one point ahead of him for the division lead. Those two are the only realistic contenders for the championship.
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Leaders from Saturday night’s races in Hampton (car numbers in parentheses).
Late Model 50 #1: (18 starters); 1. (77) Connor Hall; 2. (2) Matt Waltz; 3. (00) Chase Burrow; 4. (21) Greg Edwards; 5. (55) Mark Wertz.
Late Model 50 #2: (18 starters); 1. (51) Ryan Matthews; 2. (77) Connor Hall; 3. (00) Chase Burrow; 4. (41) Woody Howard; 5. (21) Greg Edwards.
Virginia Racers 35 #1: (14 starters); 1. (9) Ayden Millette; 2. (26) Donovan Edwards; 3. (47) Ryley Music; 4. (88) Jacob Derrick; 5. (28) Jamie Sample.
Virginia Racers 35 #2: (14 starters); 1. (9) Ayden Millette; 2. (47) Ryley Music; 3. (88) Jacob Derrick; 4. (26) Donovan Edwards; 5. (28) Jamie Sample.
Champ Kart 20: (4 starters); 1. (74) Jason Mullins; 2. (76) Jimmy Carr; 3. (8) Trace Wyatt; 4. (4) Garry Osbourne.
Super Truck 25: (12 starters); 1. (57) Chris Bechtel; 2. (05) Donald Brown; 3. (01) Tim Carter; 4. (38) Paige Cain; 5. (02) Jesse Call.
Pro Six 25: (6 starters); 1. (44) Travis Wall; 2. (07) Matt Dail; 3. (39) Jaxon Bone; 4. (67) Chris Bechtel; 5. (11) Steve Rabenstein.
Enduro 30: (20 starters); 1. (17) Alex Floroff; 2. (11) Phil Nelson; 3. (25) Ryan Vinson; 4. (12) Charles Jarvis; 5. (54) Haley Nelson.
