HAMPTON, Va. (WTKR) — A two-hour downpour and nearly three hours of work to dry the track couldn't drive away 6,500 fans from Langley Speedway on Saturday night.
Part of the excitement for the 16th running of the Hampton Heat was the chance to see racing royalty, Dale Earnhardt Jr., take on the oval for the first time.
"Langley's been around a long time, I have a long appreciation for the track," Earnhardt Jr. said. "My mom lived in Norfolk for 25 years and I would come here as a little kid off and on."
That distant respect for the track realized on late Saturday night when the NASCAR Hall of Famer competed in the 200 lap race, qualifying in 11th and coming home in fifth place.
A winner of 26 races in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Earnhardt Jr. retired after the 2018 season. He's moved on to broadcasting but still finds time to compete at local events.
"We've raced here with our own cars with Josh Berry and Carson Kvapil," Earnhardt said. "I'm doing a little more racing with our late model stuff over the last few years and the team asked me if I wanted to come run this race."
"Great opportunity to check off a first of racing at Langley."
The day of events took a major turn when a storm rolled through Hampton just as qualifying was getting started. The rain delayed any activity on the track for nearly two hours. Langley brought out the jet dryers and got the track ready to roll again around 10:00.
The green flag dropped around 11:15 and the race didn't get completed until early Sunday morning.
A raucous crowd never lost its energy, gaining excitement as Earnhardt Jr.'s number three took to the circuit for his timed laps.
"Great to be able to draw a really good crowd so they can see the kind of quality entertainment that late model stock racing is," he said. "They'll come back and support Langley, they'll support other tracks wherever they are."
Most of the drivers on the grid saw Earnhardt's rise to becoming one of the sport's most popular drivers ever. Yet trading paint with the legend felt just like a normal short track Saturday night.
"Obviously I grew up watching him. My godfather actually worked on his team for a good amount of time, his and his dad's," said Connor Hall, a Hampton native and former winner of the Hampton Heat. "It's obviously cool in that regard, but he's just another guy wearing a fire suit here."
"Dale and I have built a relationship over the last couple years and I feel like I can call him a friend," said Chesapeake's Brenden 'Butterbean' Queen.
The two local drivers were in the thick of things for the win late in the race. Hall led with under ten laps to go, but with six laps remaining Queen used the bumper to pull a bump-and-run move. He forced Hall up the track and took the lead, holding on to it until taking the checkered flag.
He's just the second driver to ever win the Hampton Heat three times.
That kind of racing validated Earnhardt's belief in the drivers throughout the field.
"When we get out on the race track, they want to beat me just like everyone else and they're hard to beat," he said. "I got a great deal of respect for Connor, Butterbean, all the guys that race these cars regularly. Especially the ones that run here."
There will likely be more chances for Earnhardt to return to race at Langley. As he continues to race at the local tracks during certain portions of the year, he hopes more drivers will see his efforts to help lift up the sport and bring more attention to the next generation of racers.
"They put on a great show wherever they go and some of them are the future of NASCAR," he said. "My goal tonight is to shine a light on late model stock racing, shine a light on these drivers."
