Connor Hall is the Hampton Heat 200 favorite, but …

The best argument for who could beat Connor Hall in the Hampton Heat 200 on Saturday night came from the driver of the No. 77 smurf machine himself.

Everyone else is going to give it their best shot but the hierarchy starts with Hall, the winner of 10 consecutive Weekly Series races at Langley Speedway, even if he made the best case against himself.

“I’ve had to explain this to people a lot,” Hall told Short Track Scene after practice day. “This race is just so different than the regular season here. The track is so tight with all this rubber laid down and I’m usually wrecking loose. I’m never snug.

“So, this race just puts you through different paces, adjustment wise, and if your car isn’t perfect for a 50 lap race, you can make do if you have raw speed. But 200 laps? This thing has to be agreeable. It has to be perfect to win this race and we have to be much better than we would be on a normal Saturday night to win.”

How about defending winner Matt Waltz? Surely this is an obvious threat to challenge Hall on Saturday night?

“I’m not sure,” said Waltz. “I haven’t paid a whole lot of attention today. I’m sure he is the favorite since he’s won like the last 10 races out here, but I guess we’ll just have to see tomorrow. It’ll be a different race with having two tires at the halfway break.

“That’s new because it’s been a four tire race so that will change how this race has been run. You’re still going to have guys hanging back and saving because you can’t burn them off but I do think the pace will be different.”

 What about 2013 winner Peyton Sellers?

“Everybody’s in a hunt right now, for sure,” Sellers said. “Connor has home track advantage (and) he’s really good here on the Saturday night shows but tomorrow night the track is going to have a lot more rubber down. The local guys haven’t been as dominant in the Hampton Heat, because with all the rubber, everything is a little different, right?

“It just throws you off a little bit.”

 Now, he says that with a caveat about the two aforementioned drivers, acknowledging them as the favorites, nevertheless.

“It’ll be more of an even playing field for sure,” Sellers said. “Now, with that said, keep an eye on the 2 and 77 cars because they’re very good, and they’re going to be good in qualifying but I do think we’re going to see some outside guys come in here and have a good night.”

Landon Pembelton and Carson Loftin were also asked the Connor Hall question and gave nearly identical answers.

Give me your best argument why Connor Hall doesn’t win this race?

Pembelton: “It’s not much of an argument. He’s tough, man.”
Loftin: “Uhh, haha, well …”

Make your best case, Caden Kvapil?

“Honestly, after practice today, I do think we’re going to have a shot at it,” Kvapil said. “Obviously, Connor knows his way around here and he’s won about every race he’s been in this year, so he knows what he’s doing.

“I feel like my car is a little better than I did in the CARS Tour race and I finished third to him and felt like we had a fighting chance. I’m looking forward to tomorrow after some of the changes we’ve made.

“We’ve worked hard and made the car better with every change. We had a decent mock-up but then we did a long run and had really good speed.”

This race also includes the likes of 2015 winner Lee Pulliam, driving for JR Motorsports, 2009 winner Woody Howard and three-time winner Brenden Queen, who is driving for Pulliam’s team.

Despite the expectation that Hall is the favorite, his team is still putting a different level of work into their No. 77 compared to a weekly show.

“Well, I wasn’t a good teammate this week,” Hall said. “I actually spent the week with my girlfriend’s family but these guys did everything – fresh motor, fresh rears, tuned up shocks, fresh locker spings, wheel bearings, hubs.

“We did everything we could to not take ourselves out of it this week. We’re fortunate that we have good partners and supporters that allow us to race at this level, and while we want to maintain that all year, you do have to worry about the costs.”

Just not for this race.
Good luck everyone else.