The 100th race in the history of the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour ended up being a hometown affair amongst the Langley Speedway regulars.
Of the 26 drivers that took the green flag in Saturday’s VisitHampton.com 125, a quarter of them had logged significant track time in Langley’s local Late Model Stock division entering the event. Among them included past Hampton Heat winners in Connor Hall and Brenden Queen, both of whom are now regulars in the LMSC Tour.
Hall ultimately had the honor of celebrating in front of the passionate Langley fanbase, as a late pass on Kaden Honeycutt earned him his first victory in the LMSC Tour this year and his fourth overall in the series.
Connor Hall maintains dominance at Langley in 2023
No driver has been as dominant at Langley Speedway this year as Connor Hall.
Boasting an undefeated record in the track’s Late Model Stock division through four races, Hall knew Friday’s VisitHampton.com 125 would be his toughest test yet, which is why parking his car in victory lane for a CARS LMSC Tour race was equal parts cathartic and emotional.
“I had a tear coming to my eye, but I don’t give a damn because I’m going to party like it’s whatever,” Hall said. “I really thought Honeycutt had it won. We were really tight and they were really good until I saw them slip the rears a little bit. We applied some pressure and made it happen.”
Langley served as Hall’s home track for many years, but he knew venturing out to other facilities around the southeast would be his best opportunity at building a sustainable career in motorsports.
Hall’s journey took him to the LMSC Tour full-time in 2022 with Chad Bryant, where he won three races and finished second in the point standings. He was eager to carry over that momentum into 2023, with the VisitHampton.com 125 at Langley being one of the races circled on his calendar.
For this event, Hall took an old-school approach with preparing his own car for the 125-lap Late Model Stock feature. The key difference from past victories at Langley was the knowledge supplied by Bryant, which Hall admitted has helped him grow into a well-rounded competitor that can win at any track in the region.
“With this being my personal car, I applaud my guys, but none of this would have been possible without the mentorship of everyone at Chad Bryant Racing,” Hall said. “It’s cool to know me, my buddies and my parents helped put this thing together. I’m so blessed to have such a big group on my side, but it’s also cool to win this race out of my parents garage.”
Brenden Queen keeps momentum going with second place finish
Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen was on top of the Late Model Stock world entering the VisitHampton.com 125 following his victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Although he was unable to follow that performance up with a victory at Langley Speedway, the speed Queen showed at North Wilkesboro was still prevalent on Saturday as he followed Connor Hall to a second place finish.
A fan-favorite at Langley, Queen was determined to amaze his hometown crowd with another CARS LMSC Tour win at the track. He won last year’s VisitHampton.com 125 in his family-owned equipment following an intense battle with Carson Kvapil that concluded with Queen making a last lap pass.
Queen was in a great position to defend that victory for most of this year’s VisitHampton.com 125. After starting on the outside pole, Queen maintained solid track position inside the Top 5, but ran out of laps to chase down Hall for the win.
Despite coming up short, Queen ended up putting together a solid points night by finishing two positions in front of the championship leader in Kvapil, further solidifying himself as a title contender as the LMSC Tour heads into a busy summer.
Kaden Honeycutt settles for third after leading the most laps
A dominant performance for Kaden Honeycutt did not ultimately translate into a victory.
Honeycutt set his own pace in Saturday’s VisitHampton.com 125 by passing Connor Hall for the lead within the first 20 laps. He faced little resistance for the top spot until Hall closed up on his back bumper and made the race-winning pass in the closing stages.
A win for Honeycutt would have been his fourth in the CARS LMSC Tour with three different teams. He picked up a victory with Nelson Motorsports at Ace Speedway last year while scoring two wins during his rookie year with Justin Johnson, one of which saw him lead every lap at Langley.
Even though Honeycutt has yet to win with his current team in Mike Darne Racing, he has been efficient in all five of his attempts so far. Honeycutt’s worst finish so far in 2023 was an eighth at Ace, which has him well inside the Top 10 in LMSC Tour points despite missing a race at Florence Motor Speedway.
Langley presented an ideal opportunity for Honeycutt to get back to victory lane, but the talented young driver from Willow Park, Texas will have plenty more chances to showcase his skills in Late Model Stocks later this year.
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The idea of winning the 100th race in the CARS LMSC Tour was not lost on Hall as he climbed out of his car.
Hall considers the CARS Tour to be the premier division for short track racing in the southeast due to the diverse schedule offered by the series, along with a mixture of veterans and rookies that include Brenden Queen, Kaden Honeycutt, Carson Kvapil, Bobby McCarty, Deac McCaskill and many more.
Being able to win the 100th LMSC Tour race was a tremendous honor for Hall, who hopes to see the series continue to thrive over its next 100 events.
“Winning one of these things is pretty special no matter where it is,” Hall said. “You’ve got to be so good and you have to nail it. Running Top 5 in the series is hard enough, but it’s cool to win one in front of my home crowd, even though half of them [were] hating on me and the other half [were] loving on me.”
The CARS LMSC Tour will get a two-week break before heading back up to Virginia on June 17 for a visit to Dominion Raceway, but the CARS PLM Tour returns next Saturday at Dillon Motor Speedway, which will be streamed on FloRacing.
For more information on the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on Twitter and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in
Mooresville, NC, at 704.662.9212.
LMSC Results:
- 77 Connor Hall
- 03 Brenden Queen
- 10 Kaden Honeycutt
- 8 Carson Kvapil
- 99 Layne Riggs
- 6 Bobby McCarty
- 16 Chad McCumbee
- 8B Chase Burrow
- 95 Jacob Heafner
- 51M Ryan Matthews
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 91C Justin S. Carroll
- 1 Andrew Grady
- 08 Deac McCaskill
- 15 Ryan Millington
- 90 Terry Carroll
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 5B Bryant Barnhill -1
- 2M Matt Waltz -1
- 22 Landon Huffman -1
- 24 Mason Diaz -5
- 31 Cole Bruce – OUT
- 4 Dylon Wilson – OUT
- 42 Carson Brown – OUT
- 47 Ryley Music – OUT
