Racing fans at South Boston Speedway have watched a group young, talented NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division drivers make an impact at the .4-mile oval this season. Jacob Borst, Camden Gullie, Landon Pembelton and Carter Langley are all in the Top-10 in the track point standings.
Langley, 16, scored 11 wins in Limited Late Model competition before moving up to the Late Model Stock Car ranks. Among the four young drivers, Langley has the least amount of experience racing at South Boston Speedway. Despite having raced at “America’s Hometown Track” only once prior to this season, that coming in a Late Model race in 2018, he is in the thick of the chase for a top-five finish in the track point standings.
The Zebulon, North Carolina resident occupies seventh place in the point standings. However, he is only five points out of sixth place and 31 points out of fifth place entering the twin 50-lap NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division races headlining Saturday night’s Davenport Energy Night event at South Boston Speedway.
Langley has posted three Top-Five finishes and six Top-10 finishes in 11 starts, with a pair of fourth-place finishes being his best finishes this season. That is a solid effort for the young driver who was on the fence about racing at South Boston Speedway at the start of the season.
“I was really on the iffy side because I came here in 2018 and raced one race and it was hard on me,” Langley explained. “I really wasn’t in shape for it. I came to South Boston Speedway at the beginning of this year, and it was tough on me to begin with because a lot of tracks don’t have as much grip as this track does. It got even worse throughout the summer.
“I’ve been doing more conditioning,” continued Langley. “I’ve figured out now that racing isn’t just getting in the car and working on it at the shop and working on it at the racetrack. It’s about your mental and physical health too.”
Langley admits it took some time to adapt to racing at South Boston Speedway after having raced at several tracks including Southern National, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Dillon, South Carolina, Caraway Speedway, Ace Speedway and Carteret County Speedway, all of which are low-grip tracks.
“South Boston Speedway has the most grip of any track I have ever been to,” Langley pointed out. “It definitely wears you out more than other tracks, but it’s a lot more fun to drive than the rest of the tracks. South Boston Speedway doesn’t look too difficult, but it’s more difficult than people think it is. If you come here and race and are successful, I believe you can go anywhere and race and be successful.”
Langley says he feels good about what he has accomplished at South Boston Speedway thus far this season.
“I feel like this is a good year for us,” he remarked. “The best-of-the-best racers come to South Boston Speedway, and that’s what we wanted. We came here to South Boston at the start of the season with a knife to a gunfight. We really didn’t have enough motor and not enough car until the past two races. We recently got a new car, and I think it’s going to be really good.
“We really weren’t expecting much (at the start of the season),” he continued, “but now that we have this new car, I have better expectations for the rest of the season. The feel like the best part of the season is coming.”
When asked what he sees in his immediate future Langley says he envisions racing Late Model Stock Cars for the next couple of years.
“Maybe in the future, if I get good enough to do it, I would really like to have a Late Model race team and rent out rides,” Langley said. “I’ve still got a long way to go before I can do that. I really like Late Models and I really like working on these cars too. I’ve always liked short tracks. I feel like I could stay here (in Late Models) for the rest of my life if I wanted to.”
Saturday night’s Davenport Energy Night event at South Boston Speedway will feature the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model Stock Car Division competitors in twin 50-lap races. The six-race card also includes twin 25-lap races for the Limited Sportsman Division teams, a 30-lap race for the Budweiser Pure Stock Division and a 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets Division.
Registration and pit gates will open at 2 p.m. Practice will begin at 3:45 p.m. and grandstand gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Qualifying begins at 6 p.m. and the first race of the night will get the green flag at 7 p.m.
Advance adult general admission tickets for Saturday night’s Davenport Energy Night event are priced at $10 each and may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, through Friday night, August 6. Adult general admission tickets online and at the gate on race day are priced at $15 each. Kids ages 12 and under will be admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.
Tickets purchased for the rained-out July 17 event will be honored at any one of South Boston Speedway’s three remaining regular-season events – August 7, August 21 and September 4.
Individuals that purchased tickets online for the rained-out July 17 event have already received vouchers in their online ticket account for the amount of paid tickets they had.
Persons that purchased tickets over the phone or in person can stop by the speedway office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. to exchange those tickets or exchange them at the next event.
South Boston Speedway PR
