SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Saturday’s season-opening Danville Toyota ’23 Opener at South Boston Speedway will be an event Carter Langley will never forget.
The Zebulon, North Carolina resident not only scored his first career Late Model Stock Car Division win, he went one step better – sweeping the twin 75-lap Sentara Healthcare Late Model Stock Car Division races that headlined South Boston Speedway’s season-opening event.
“I didn’t expect my first and second win to come this close,” Langley said after scoring the sweep. “This is special. This really means a lot. I couldn’t think of a better place to get my first win. I didn’t think I was going to get back into Victory Lane. Winning the first and second race back-to-back really gives you a big boost of confidence.”
Langley took the lead from Mike Looney with six laps to go, but had to hold off Looney and fast-closing Peyton Sellers in a three-lap dash to the finish that followed the race’s third caution period. He prevailed at the end, edging Looney by .386-second with Sellers taking third place.
Camden Gullie finished fourth and Logan Clark rounded out the top five finishers in the 23-car starting field.
The early portion of the race was a battle between pole winner Bruce Anderson, Sellers, Looney, Jacob Borst and Langley. However, that changed when Anderson, Sellers and Borst were involved in a mishap on lap 59 – a crash that sidelined Anderson and relegated Borst and Sellers back into the field. Sellers rallied to take third place and Borst recovered to finish seventh.
There were three lead changes among four drivers in the first 75-lap race, with Anderson leading the first 42 laps, and Sellers leading the next 17 circuits before he was involved in the mishap. Looney inherited the lead at the restart and led 10 laps before Langley surged into the lead and ultimately scored the win.
In the nightcap, Langley, who started the race in ninth-place after the drawing for the inverted start, gradually worked his way through the field, taking second place from Sellers with 25 laps to go and taking the lead from Borst with 16 laps to go. Once in front, Langley managed to separate himself from his challengers and sped across the finish line 1.636-seconds ahead of Borst, who started the race from third place.
Sellers finished third, giving him a pair of third-place efforts for the afternoon, with Mark Wertz and Craig Moore completing the top five finishers.
There were two lead changes among three drivers with Borst leading 44 laps, Langley holding then top spot for 16 laps and Moore leading the first 15 laps of the race.
MURRAY, BARNES SPLIT BUDWEISER LIMITED SPORTSMAN DIVISION TWINBILL
Adam Murray and last season’s division champion, Kyle Barnes, split wins in Saturday’s twin 30-lap races for the Budweiser Limited Sportsman Division.
Murray scored his first career South Boston Speedway win the first 30-lap race. He took the lead from J.D. Eversole on the 19th lap and led the rest of the way, edging Eversole by .314-second at the finish.
Carter Russo finished third, Barnes finished fourth and Jason Myers finished fifth in the 19-car starting field.
There were two lead changes among two drivers with Murray leading twice for a total of 28 laps. Eversole led once for two circuits.
Barnes started sixth in the second race but needed only 10 laps to get to the front of the field. He passed Zach Peregoy to take the lead on the 10th lap and led the final 21 circuits in picking up the victory.
Ronnie Jones finished second, 1.217-seconds behind Barnes. Myers finished third, Drew Dawson finished fourth and Justin Dawson rounded out the top five finishers.
There were two lead changes among three drivers with Barnes leading 21 laps, polesitter Ronald Renfrow leading the first six laps and Peregoy leading three laps.
LAYNE WINS SOUTHSIDE DISPOSAL PURE STOCK DIVISION OPENER
Johnny Layne won Saturday’s 25-lap race for the Southside Disposal Pure Stock Division – and had a tough path in doing so.
After the motor in Layne’s car blew during practice he left the speedway, headed home, retrieved his other car, returned to the speedway, and started the race at the rear of the field.
Undaunted, Layne quickly surged through the field, took the lead from defending division champion Scott Phillips on the seventh lap, and led the rest of the way to pick up the win. He crossed the finish line 1.395-seconds ahead of runner-up Zach Reaves who had started the race from the pole.
B.J. Reaves, Bruce Mayo and Phillips, who led the first six laps of the race, rounded out the top five finishers.
GOBLE TAKES VIRGINIA STATE POLICE HEAT HORNETS DIVISION WIN
Cameron Goble scored his first career South Boston Speedway victory Saturday, earning a flag-to-flag win in the 20-lap race for the Virginia State Police HEAT Hornets Division.
Goble finished .883-second ahead of runner-up Dillon Davis with pole winner Jason DeCarlo, Steven Layne and Andrea Ruotolo rounding out the top five finishers.