By Gary Daughtrey
Special to the News-Herald

The Late Model Stock Car division swings back into action with a pair of 50-lap feature events tomorrow, as Langley Speedway continues its 2012 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series campaign.

Along with the Late Model Twins, Saturday’s lineup includes Super Trucks (25 laps); UCARs (25 laps); Pro Sixes (30 laps); and the season opener for the Enduros (40 laps).

Gates open at 2 p.m., just as afternoon practice rounds get under way. The drivers’ meeting is scheduled for 4:15, followed by time trials at 4:30. Pre-race festivities begin at 6:55, while the Pro Sixers lead off the evening’s feature slate shortly after 7.

Gloucester car owner Randy Sears, who has fielded Late Model Fords at Langley in recent seasons for drivers Paul Debolt and Renno Marchetti IV, bagged a big win last Saturday in a UARA-STARS event at the 1.017-mile Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway. Corey LaJoie, son of two-time NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series champ Randy LaJoie, piloted the No. 34 Sears Sand & Gravel machine to the checkers after moving out front near the end of the North Carolina Education Lottery 75.

Langley Speedway will be shuttered April 28, as the local racing fraternity heads up I-64 for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series activities at Richmond International Raceway.

It won’t be an off week for everyone, though, as Langley Late Model standouts C.E. Falk, Greg Edwards and Nick Smith appear on the list of invitees for the fifth annual Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, which is slated for April 26 at RIR.

In addition to Hamlin, the event’s host and a Langley Mini Stock alumnus, the starting grid will feature many of the region’s top Late Model drivers, NASCAR Sprint Cup luminaries Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Michael Waltrip, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola, as well as up-and-comers like Timothy Peters, Chase Elliott, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Jason White.

A longtime member of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, Langley Speedway is a .395-mile, slightly-banked oval. The track is located at 11 Dale Lemonds Dr., off North Armistead Ave., in Hampton.