Essary Plays Cinderella At Langley

Langley Speedway logo

Eric Essary showed up at Langley Speedway Tuesday night looking to continue his tutelage learning the intricacies of the Tour Modified stock car. Little did he know, or anyone else in the field know, that at the end of the night Essary would leave with his first victory in the YesterYear Racing League. "Things just kind of went my way throughout much of the night. Tom (Ogle)and Jerry (Isaacs) had given me a couple of good tips prior to the race. Things like never take four tires on pit stops, only two, And don't overdrive the car. These really helped me throughout the race," Essary said in his post-race interview. Essary took the lead with 16 laps to go and finished 1.46 seconds ahead of Chris Davis, who played the "long game" all night. "I was focused on taking care of my tires all night. I notice that the leaders would run away from me early in a run, but I would reel them back in as the run went on," Davis said after the race.

Points leader Tom Ogle ran into trouble on lap 60 of the 250-lap event after he and Brian Neff got together in turn 3. The two drivers have had a tumultuous relationship on the track over the last several "bull ring" races. With Ogle out, the door opened for drivers to close the 17-point lead Ogle had in the season standings. "Once Tom was spun, my race became a points race," Kenny Allen, who finished third, said in his post-race interview. Scott Negus also was able to pick up a slew of points as he came home in fourth place behind Allen. Unfortunately for some drivers, they could not capitalize on Tom's troubles. Brian Johnson went a lap down early and could never recover, while Todd Liston had connection issues and finished 62 laps down in 14th place.

The event saw only three caution and was a relatively calm affair for a bull ring like Langley. "It seemed a bit more tame out there tonight than any of the South Boston races. The field was smaller, but for the most part the race craft was there across most of the field. A 250-lap race run in 1 hour and 7 minutes is not bad," Allen Wannamaker, Founder of the YesterYear Racing League said after the race. The Series moves next to Oxford Plains Speedway for the Oxford 200. The race will take place on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, and will be broadcast live on the Virtual Grip Network.

Ogle Gets Crowned King of the Modifieds

King of the Modifieds

YesterYear Tour Modified points leader Tom Ogle had some adversity to overcome during Tuesday night's King of the Modifieds 300-lap event at virtual South Boston Speedway under the lights. His initial issue was his starting position. Ogle started the race mid-pack on the grid due to over-adjusting his brake bias prior to qualifying. Brian Bianchi, the 2024 defending series Champion, started on pole. The race got off to a clean start, but on lap 22 the first caution flew as Chris Davis got into the back of Jeff LeMire. Bianchi elected to short pit during the caution, while most drivers elected to stay out. This put Bianchi near the rear of the field and when more cautions came, Bianchi was caught up in some mayhem. Ultimately the 300-lap race saw six cautions fly. "It was a tough race for sure, but also one of our longest races of the season. We will need to clean it up heading into Langley or drivers will start getting penalties," YesterYear League owner Allen Wannamaker said after the race.

Once the race settled back in after a second caution, it was Brian Neff and Todd Liston who elected not to pit and held the line up front. Neff end up leading almost a third of the total laps of the race, clicking off 97 laps in front. But an eventual long green flag run caused Neff to pit during a green flag run and relinquish the lead. A few spins later, followed by a caution, put Neff a lap down but near the front on the restart. By this point, Ogle had worked his way up to the front and was battling Neff to keep him a lap down. Neff, however, with fresher tires forced the issue and spun Ogle going into turn 1. The ensuing chaos involved 7 cars in total, but Ogle was able to stay on the lead lap as the damage to his car was minimal.

Attrition crept in over the course of the night and with just over 80 laps remaining in the race, only 9 cars were running of the 20 that started the event. Kenny Allen, who started in second place on the final restart chased Ogle for a good 30 laps, but Allen's tires seemed to fall off with about 45 laps remaining and he lost touch of Ogle. Neff, who worked his way back on the lead lap, began to close on third place which was held down by Bruce Pearson. Pearson had managed to keep a clean car all night and was looking good for a podium.

The last few laps of the race saw drama as Kenny Allen ran out of gas. His Tour Modified stock car began choking on the back stretch and he coasted in the pits to get fuel. Tom Ogle put it in cruise control and ended up in Victory Lane. With Allen giving up the second spot, Bruce Pearson was able to ride home in second place, while Brian Neff came home third after an eventful night.

After the event Neff commented, "It was a sweat shop out there. I'm soaked. Not many leagues run races like this, but it is fun." Neff also apologized for the altercation with Ogle as the two drivers have a history of coming together at South Boston.

For his part, Ogle extended his points lead to 17 over Brian Johnson, and 19 over third place driver Kenny Allen. The King of the Modifieds race wrapped up the third time the YesterYear Racing League Tour Modified circus will visit the track this year. All three were tough fought events with drama, which is what one expects at a bull ring like SoBo.

The Series takes next week off but will return on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, for the Chesapeake 250 at Langley Speedway, another bull ring and another night race.

Bianchi Leads Start to Finish in Camden Classic

Brian Bianchi's NASCAR Tour Modified car

Brian Bianchi took pole position at the second annual Camden Classic and led from start to finish to capture his third win of the season in the YesterYear Racing™ Tour Modified Series. The only thing that kept Bianchi from the "Grand Slam" was the fact that he did not set fastest lap of the race. That was done by Brian Neff on lap 8. Points leader Tom Ogle was hot on the heels of Bianchi all night, but just couldn't make a pass on a hot Stafford Motor Speedway where it seemed like one racing line was the norm all night. "There was one point when I thought I might be able to get around him, but it would have been risky and I am not going to win a race by taking someone out," Ogle said after the race. For his part, Bianchi said "I did a good job of managing my tires the whole night and was able to have enough at the end to hold off Tom." When asked if this win could be a catalyst for good things to come for the rest of the season Bianchi said, "Yes, I hope so. I have won a few races this season, but the races I haven't won were all a struggle. I hope to be more consistent during the remainder of the season." Finishing third on the podium was Chris Davis who returned to the Series driving his Tommy Baldwin #7 livery. "I was good on longer runs, but we never got the chance for a very long run so that didn't work in my favor," Davis said in his post-race interview. There were three cautions on the night mostly from self-spins. Luke Logan Allen held off a slew of cars including Scott Negus, Brian Johnson, Todd Liston and Allen Wannamaker to take fourth place in the race. The Series continues next Tuesday, September 2, 2025, under the lights at South Boston Speedway for the "King of the Modifieds" race. It will be the third and final visit to the legendary Virginia bull ring for the YesterYear Racing™ Tour Modifieds and it should be a good one. The Virtual Grip Network will be broadcasting the race which begins at 8:30pm ET.