Staff report

BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS, LOCAL RACES HAVE BEEN MOVED FROM FRIDAY TO TONIGHT.

The Langley races for Thursday:

50 Laps

Oakwood Homes Mini Trucks

30 Laps

Sylva Heat and Air UCAR

20 Laps

Casey Cycle City Legends

25 Laps

Nascar Weekly Jo Ann Apartment Locator Late Model Sportsmen

Military Appreciation Night at Langley Speedway in Honor of our Brave Military men and women Langley Speedway is lowering all ticket prices to $5 for the July 3 Military Appreciation Night. There will be Fireworks after the races to celebrate Independence Day.

In the Late Model Sportsmen Division #40 Coors Light driven by Mark Wertz go for their sixth win in a row.

The rainout of Saturday June 28 has everyone’s interest peaking. The car count continues to increase with 19 cars showing up for the June 28 races. The New Tire Rule has drivers impounding two tires after each race. The #45 Mayberry.com of Doug Warren set a new qualifying track record. Thursday racers will qualify and the Top 6 drivers will redraw for the race lineup.

In the Legends Division the points battle is heating up – only 10 points separate the top five drivers with #00 Ryan Crites holding on to a six-point lead over #20 Cameron Patrick.

The Mini Trucks are going to race for only the third time this season due to all of the rain. Hopefully, the field will not be to depleted this week. The last race saw a lot of damaged trucks with a seven-car pileup destroying several race trucks.

It’ll be Mark McFarland’s five-race winning streak vs. Denny Hamlin’s bid for a $25,000 bonus this Thursday, at the Southampton Motor Speedway when the track hosts the third 200-lap event in its Dodge Power Super Series for the RaceWorld.com Late Model Stock Cars. Pit gates open at 3 p.m. Front gates open and practice starts at 4:30. Time trials get under way at 6:40 and racing at 8.

In addition to the 200-lapper for the Late Model Stock Cars, Thursday evening’s lineup includes: Mike Duman Auto Sales Limited Late Models (50 laps) and Ukrop’s Mid-Atlantic Champ Karts (20 laps). Tickets are $12 for adults and $4 for youths (6-12). Children under 6 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Active-duty military (with ID), senior citizens (65+) and teens (13-19) receive a $2 discount off the adult admission price.

The first two Dodge Power Super Series races were held on March 22 and May 30 with Hamlin taking the checkered flag in both events.

Should he win again on Thursday night, Hamlin will guarantee himself of a $5,000 bonus in the &uot;RaceRap Run for the Riches&uot; program.

Since Hamlin’s victory at SMS on May 30, his Jim Dean Motorsports teammate McFarland has been on a tear. He has posted five straight wins (four in 50-lap events and one in last Friday’s 100-lapper) in flag-to-flag style, meaning that his #7 has been atop the SMS leaderboard for the last 300 laps of racing.

Hamlin vs. McFarland: Something’s gotta give tonight!

Let’s review a few of the &uot;ground rules&uot; for Thursday’s race:

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The event will be run in two segments. The first segment will consist of 100 laps and the second segment will consist of the remaining laps in the race.

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Drivers will line up in double-file formation for the start of the race. The start of the second segment will also be double-file – lead lap cars on the inside and lapped machines to the outside. All other restarts will be single-file.

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There will be a 10-minute break between the first and second segments. During that time, crews may change two tires, add fuel and make needed adjustments. All work must be done on the pit road.

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While all cars must stop during the break, actually coming into the pits for service is optional. Drivers who chose not to pit between segments will come to a halt on the track and will gain track position on drivers returning from the pits.

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A caution flag will be thrown on lap 180 and lead-lap cars will be placed to the head of the field in single-file formation.

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The race will conclude with 20 green-flag laps. After the 180th circuit, the scoreboard will reflect only completed green-flag laps.

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In the event of a caution flag on the white-flag lap, the race will end with a &uot;green-white-checkered&uot; (two laps) finish.