The CARS Tour Visit Hampton 125 at Langley Speedway was a big deal victory for Connor Hall for multiple reasons.
1. Hall has endured a miserable spring
2. After full-time seasons in this division driving for the likes of Chad Bryant Racing, Nelson Motorsports and JR Motorsports, this win came in his personal car
3. Everything he is trying to build towards in a transition season
So not only did Hall win in his first CARS Tour appearance of the season but he was practically dominant after spending much of this month winning multiples races at his home track.
He was well-prepared but also made a statement.
“I mean, I lined-up on the last restart, and this isn’t a shot at anybody, but we’re a family team and I’ve got Kevin Harvick Inc. to my right and JR Motorsports to my back,” Hall said. “So, it’s super cool to me to know, like if I went on the Tour full-time with my stuff, that I could hang.
“And yeah, I know this is my home track and whatnot but this thing is super special to me and how we conduct business, and it’s just nice to showcase that on a bigger stage.”
The car is his usual No. 77 but it was listed as a No. 12 for Nelson Motorsports to score owner points and chase a Flodium bonus in two weeks at Dominion, maybe with Hall. More on that further down.
But again, this was special for Hall because the crash in a Tour Type Modified at Anderson left him sidelined for a bit and his limited Truck Series and ARCA appearances haven’t left him with much to celebrate yet.
“The SMART Tour wreck is honestly where I felt like I hit a rock bottom, like emotionally, with motorsports,” Hall said. “It’s hills and valleys but having that wreck in practice and being hurt and not able to race, it was an odd situation, but I’m also pretty prideful behind the wheel.
“I should be able to get the job done. You’re sitting P1 one the board and you go and wreck the thing head on, it’s not a very good feeling for your confidence.”
So winning was a big deal to just right the ship, especially as he prepared to race more in the Truck Series and ARCA the rest of this season. And now, Barry Nelson says they’re going to go chase the $10,000 Flodium bonus together.
“You got to watch Barry now,” Hall said with a laugh. “He is a car salesman.”
Literally.
Hall needs to check his schedule, the availability of cars between his and Nelson’s stable, and also the funding element. He’s not opposed but the start with the No. 12 on his car actually begins with a conversation about Hall wanting to race the South Boston 200 in a Nelson car.
The time Hall spent driving full-time with Nelson means a lot to him and he just wants to do it again in the first leg of the Virginia Triple Crown.
Anyway, Hall largely dominated this race, even as the record will show that Doug Barnes and Landen Lewis also led laps over the course of 125 laps. Much of the race, especially in the second half came down to a series of restarts between Hall and Lewis on the front row that caused race control to criticize how they were coming to the green flag.
“Honestly, I just didn’t like the slowing down part,” Lewis said. “The rule is we have to maintain pace car speed and that’s what I was doing. Other people were failing to do so. I was trying to do the right thing and not be the guy to put officials in a call where they had to make it. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out in my favor but just trying to do the best I could and not put myself in a spot where I had to go to the back.”
Lewis, both over the radio in real time and after the race, was of the mentality that ‘how many warnings does one guy get’ in reference to multiple warnings being issued by race control.
Ultimately, his team kept preaching ‘big picture’ so what did that mean?
“At the end of the day, I didn’t want to be that guy to wreck [Hall],” Lewis said. “I’m starting to mature at my old age where I’m tired of fixing race cars. [I’m thankful for] everyone that helps us out on my opportunity with Kevin Harvick Inc. I want to thank Kevin and DeLana [Harvick] for everything they do for me.”
Caden Kvapil finished third and added to his championship lead, which was a pleasant development, given that he expected this weekend to be a tremendous struggle. It was a struggle but he made a competitive effort out of it.
- 12 Connor Hall
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 88 Caden Kvapil
- 5B Carson Brown
- 77 Treyten Lapcevich
- 22 Carson Loftin
- 4 Parker Eatmon
- 51 Donovan Strauss
- 5 Chase Burrow
- 71 Jake Bollman
- 22B Chase Burgeson
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 15 Jace Hale
- 2W Matthew Watlz
- 44 Conner Jones
- 7 Aiden King
- 9 Ayden Millette
- 16 Chad McCumbee
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr. -1
- 77H Landon S. Huffman – OUT
- 95 London McKenzie – OUT
- 05 Mason Bailey – OUT
- 41 Ryan Matthews – OUT
- 16C Trey Crews – OUT
- 62 Derek Kraus – OUT
- 4G Matt Gould – OUT
- 47 Ryley Music – OUT
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT
- 42 Chris Horton Jr. – OUT
