HAMPTON, Va. — For the second year in a row, the 17th annual Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway went into the early hours of the morning, and once again, it was all about the hometown heroes.
Matt Waltz, Connor Hall and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen all grew up racing at Langley, and they filled out the top-three spots of the results for the race that was the second leg of the Virginia Triple Crown on Saturday night (July 19). Waltz was finally victorious in the track’s biggest race of the year, Hall finished runner-up for a third year in a row and Queen’s streak of Hampton Heat wins came to an end in third.
While this race may not have featured the usual fireworks, torn-up racecars and heated tempers associated with a Virginia Triple Crown race, it delivered plenty of storylines. Here are three takeaways from the 2025 Hampton Heat.
Matt Waltz Proves SoBo Was No Fluke
It took him 11 tries, but Waltz is finally a Hampton Heat champion. The 2017 Langley track champion had won just about everything there was to win at the track, except for its biggest race. In terms of a singular race, Waltz told Frontstretch the win is the biggest of the semi-retired driver’s career.
However, a night that should have been filled with pure jubilee for Waltz and his team had shades of resentment over what happened in the opening leg of the Triple Crown at South Boston Speedway. Waltz led the majority of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 before finishing second to Hall on June 28.
Three days later, Waltz was disqualified from the event due to “cambered rear axle housings or rear axle housing with toe.” Waltz heavily disagreed with the DQ, referring to what SoBo used in post-race technical inspection as a “homemade jig” and “redneck jig.” Waltz said his team, Waltz Racing, will not return to the track “under the current NASCAR rules unless a more common-sense process and tolerance is adopted.”
The day before the Hampton Heat, Waltz’s crew showed up to Langley wearing T-shirts poking fun at SoBo’s slogan, “It Means More.” The shirts, designed by Race22, said, “It Means More … Camber.”
Once the race started, Waltz appeared to be a man on a mission. He paced himself early, but launched into the lead just prior to the halfway break of the 200-lap event. When the race finally resumed nearly four hours later, thanks to rain, Waltz maintained control of the race and never had any real threats the rest of the way.
“It just shows how insignificant that disqualification was,” Waltz told Frontstretch. “We should be tied with Connor [Hall] here with the Triple Crown points going into Martinsville, but we’re not. It’s not what made that racecar fast at South Boston. We proved it here tonight.”
Had Waltz’s second place at SoBo held, he would be tied with Hall for first place in the Triple Crown standings with a 1.5 average finish. Instead, his average finish is 19.5. The good news for Waltz, though, is he is now locked into Martinsville Speedway’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
Here Comes the Bridesmaid, Connor Hall
Hall won the 2019 Hampton Heat, but since then? After Saturday night, he’s now finished second four times in the event, including three runner-up runs in a row.
This year’s second-place effort came via a late rally from outside the top 10. But to realistically have a shot at Waltz, Hall either would’ve needed to have gotten there sooner or had a late-race caution.
“Truthfully, I just think I did a bad job the first 100 [laps] keeping track position,” Hall told Frontstretch. “If we would’ve kept track position better, I think it would’ve been more of a fight rather than a chase. So, just my fault.”
Hall did manage to finally beat his rival Queen in the Hampton Heat after finishing one spot behind him the two previous years. The problem? He beat him out for second. Even on a day Hampton Mayor Jimmy Gray declared as “Connor Hall Day,” the two-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion was unable to bring home a second trophy from his home track’s biggest race.
“Losing is losing,” Hall said.
The good news for Hall is he pretty much has the Virginia Triple Crown championship on lock, barring something catastrophic happening at Martinsville. Woody Howard and Ronnie Bassett Jr. are tied for second in the standings, but it’s going to be tough for their 6.5 averages to surpass Hall’s 1.5.
On top of that, Hall is driving the same JR Motorsports No. 88 that took Carson Kvapil to Martinsville victory lane last year and won with Josh Berry in 2019.
Return of the Queen
One day after winning the ARCA Menards Series race at Dover Motor Speedway and further cementing his points lead in his rookie campaign, Queen returned to the track that launched his career. He ultimately came up short in his bid to win a fourth Hampton Heat and third in a row, but it was still a special night for the Chesapeake, Va., native and all of Bean Nation.
The crowd was full of Queen fans, the line at his merchandise hauler was as long as it always used to be and pre-race festivities were packed with honors for the three-time Langley track champion.
“It’s special,” Queen told Frontstretch. “Little five-year-old me would’ve dreamed of that and would be freaking out. And I think 27-year-old me is still freaking out about it. So it’s pretty special to see the support and see how many people are rallying behind what I’m doing, being there through the good and the bad. It makes it special to see you got so much support that wants to see you make it.”
Queen ran behind Hall for essentially the entirety of the race. He fell outside the top 10 with him in the early portions and followed him up through the field at the end to finish one spot worse than the No. 88 in third.
“I think, obviously, we needed a caution,” Queen said. “The 2 [Waltz] got so far out, and the 88 [Hall] was a little better. I felt like I could maintain and come back to him. Honestly, the rain really hurt me. I was really good before the rain. And then after the rain, we couldn’t use the apron like we were. It was too tight.
“(I’m) still proud of it. … I just wanted to prove that after eight months I could come back and still get it done and be competitive in the late model stock world, and I feel like we did it,” he later added. “Obviously, winning would have really been what we wanted, but to be in the top three in a race like this, super cool. [It] stings that the streak’s over, but it also makes you appreciate how special all three of those Hampton Heat wins are, because you know how hard it is to win them.
“There’s nothing wrong with running top three. There were days when I would’ve dreamed of this.”
Frontstretch asked Queen when the next time he would be getting in a Late Model Stock. The 27-year-old is a fan favorite in the discipline, but is busy chasing an ARCA Menards Series title this season.
“That might be a Lee Pulliam [owner of Lee Pulliam Performance] question,” Queen replied. “I don’t know. Obviously, it depends on my schedule. We’ve got to chase this ARCA championship and make my first [NASCAR Craftsman] Truck Series start of the season next week. I’ve got a pretty busy rest of the schedule, but obviously, if I could get the partners and Lee has a slot for me, I’d love to come back.”
Pulliam was asked the same by Frontstretch, to which he said he’d put him in a car whenever he could because he loves racing with Queen.
Queen won’t be at Martinsville for the final leg of the Virginia Triple Crown due to ARCA being at Kansas Speedway that weekend, but Hall and Waltz both will be, where they will battle for a grandfather clock. The 2025 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, and will be broadcast live on FloRacing.
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.