Post Race Report: Visit Hampton VA 175

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HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks entered the Visit Hampton VA 175 looking to return to victory lane as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) headed to Langley Speedway. The night got started in the right way for the organization, as Rico Abreu was able to capture his first-career NKNPSE Coors Light Pole Award. Second-place qualifier William Byron, however, ultimately stole the show, leading all but one lap en-route to his third-career NKNPSE victory and first at Langley Speedway. Dalton Sargeant put together another strong showing, bringing how a top five, while Scott Heckert and Rico Abreu gathered top-10 finishes. J.J. Haley was involved in some on-track incidents that ultimately hindered his overall finish.

 

William Byron:

Byron came into the Visit Hampton VA 175 looking to build upon his NKNPSE Driver Point Standings lead. The NASCAR Next driver did just that, jumping out to an early lead from the second starting position when the race began. Byron was able to hold onto the race lead for nearly the entire event, only losing the top spot to teammate Sargeant on lap 33. From that point forward, Byron remained up front and was able to lead the rest of the circuits around Langley Speedway to capture his third-career NKNPSE victory. The win improved Byron’s lead in the NKNPSE Driver Point Standings as the No. 9 Liberty University team now leads by 23 points heading into Columbus Motor Speedway.

 

William Byron on his win at Langley:

“What a great night and great weekend for everyone on this Liberty University team. We unloaded strong and got even better throughout the weekend, and it just shows the great chemistry we have with Kevin Bellicourt and myself along with the entire HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks team. They work really hard, and I’m just really proud of the effort they put forth to bring home the win tonight.”

 

Dalton Sargeant:

Sargeant came into the Visit Hampton VA 175 looking to build upon a strong runner-up finish the last time out at Bowman Gray Stadium. The 17-year-old began the race in the seventh position, but quickly began working his way though the field, quickly moving to the third position. Sargeant showed early on that the No. 51 GALT Chevrolet had good speed. By lap 20, Sargeant was up to second and looking for more. A restart on lap 33 saw the NASCAR Next driver grab the top spot from Byron for one lap before moving back into the second position. Sargeant remained in the second position until the race’s closing laps when he slipped back one position while navigating through lapped traffic, ultimately coming home in the third position. Sargeant remains sixth in the NKNPSE Driver Point Standings heading into Columbus in a few weeks.

 

Dalton Sargeant on his third-place finish at Langley:

“Overall, everything went really well for us this weekend. I just have to say thank you to everyone at HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks. They gave us a really good No. 51 GALT Chevy, and I couldn’t really ask for much more. We started somewhat deeper in the field, qualifying seventh, but we were able to get a great start and quickly work our way up into the top three. We had a few solid opportunities at the lead, but those long green-flag runs hurt us just a bit. It seemed like we started to spin the tires a little bit off the corners and lost some forward drive compared to the 9 as well as the 27. Overall, though, it was another solid night for everyone on the team and I just have to say thank you again.”

 

Scott Heckert:

Heckert entered the Visit Hampton VA 175 with a ton of momentum on his side coming off his third-career victory just a few weeks prior at Bowman Gray. The 21-year-old began the night by qualifying in the ninth position for the event. Early on in the race, Heckert was able to gain a few positions moving up as high as seventh in the running order. Heckert remained strong in the top 10 and continued to fight for every position. As the laps wound down, Heckert continued to fight hard for his lead-lap position ahead of Byron, which proved to be successful when the caution came out at lap 125 and he was able to restart towards the front with the leaders. As the race resumed, Heckert was again able to move through the field and raced up to the sixth position, where he would ultimately finish. Heckert remains fourth in the NKNPSE Driver Point Standings heading into Columbus in a few weeks.

 

Scott Heckert on his run at Langley:

“We wanted a little bit more, we struggled a little bit each day just trying to get forward drive on the car. The last few adjustments definitely helped as it took us in the right direction, but the track didn’t change as much as we thought it would. We thought it would get a lot tighter. In the end, the track was pretty similar to how it was in the daytime. Still, we were able to battle and stay on the lead lap and bring home a solid points finish in this No. 34 Project Lifesaver Chevrolet.”

 

Rico Abreu: 

Abreu started the weekend off in the best way he could, capturing his first-career Coors Light Pole award in just his sixth-career start. As the race began, however, the NASCAR Next driver slipped back a bit and fell to the fourth position. Early cautions gave Abreu the opportunity to take advantage of some restarts to move into the third position as the race settled down during a long green-flag run. The restart on lap 125 saw Abreu slip back just a bit before holding strong in the eighth position. The California native battled for the final 50 laps before ultimately bringing home a ninth-place finish in the event. This marked the third top-10 of the season for Abreu, and he now sits 10th in the NKNPSE Driver Point Standings.

 

Rico Abreu on his run at Langley Speedway:

“I have to continue to say thank you to HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks for building fast cars everywhere we go. This has been a big learning curve for me, but I’m so proud of all the guys to see their hard work pay off with us getting our first Pole award together. A top-10 finish is nice, but I’m looking for some better results and with Columbus coming up, hopefully we can learn from Langley and bring some of our notes there.”

 

J.J. Haley:

Haley came into the Visit Hampton VA 175 looking to build upon the success of some solid finishes the last few times out. The 16-year-old started the night on the right foot, qualifying in the sixth position. As the race began, Haley quickly settled into the third position on the racetrack. Haley held tough in third until he was turned by another competitor on lap 24, forcing the Indiana native to lose a lap in the process. Haley spent the majority of the next 100 laps holding strong in the lucky dog position, looking for a caution to come out. Unfortunately, the caution wouldn’t come out until lap 125 when Haley was once again caught up in an incident that brought forth more damage to his Braun Auto Chevrolet and sent him to pit road for repairs. The result was ultimately a 20th-place finish, and Haley now sits 11th in the NKNPSE Driver Point Standings heading into Columbus.

 

J.J. Haley on his run at Langley:

“Well, this was a tough night for everyone on this Braun Auto team. The guys at HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks gave me another fast race car, but we just unfortunately got turned around and from there we just had to play catch up. Towards the end of the race we were running some great lap times, and I know we had a car that could’ve brought home a top-five finish. We will get them in a couple weeks at Columbus in the East car, and I’m really looking forward to Sonoma in the West Series next weekend.”

HScott Motorsports PR

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