THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501270877
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
After a couple weeks of biting his nails, new Langley Speedway president Wayne Wyatt got the call he'd been waiting for.
NASCAR spokesman Andy Hall informed Wyatt on Thursday that Langley will have NASCAR sanctioning for the 1995 season.
``It's like the world has been lifted off our shoulders,'' Wyatt said. ``We are giving the competitors what they want. We've got the sanction for one year.''
Which means Wyatt will go through this process again in 1996, with the addition of Suffolk International Speedway to the local racing scene. Ground breaking is scheduled at the Suffolk site next month. Promoter Joe Baldacci expects the half-mile asphalt track to be completed by late summer or early fall.
For now, however, it is business as usual at Langley.
Wyatt wouldn't have changed the Saturday night program even if the speedway wasn't granted sanctioning, but with it comes the prestige and exposure that NASCAR's Winston Racing Series provides. Langley's Late Model Stock events will provide points for the Mid-Atlantic Region and national Winston Racing Series championships.
``It means more public exposure, and a ton of prestige comes with that trademark,'' Wyatt said. ``You are involved with an organization that is No. 1 by all standards, and you are backed 100 percent by NASCAR in the decisions that you make.
``It's like the NFL or the NBA - it's the showcase body.''
Langley Speedway will kick off the season April 1. by CNB