Hampton Police are asking the public for help identifying a person suspected of breaking into Langley Speedway, releasing a photo of the suspect tied to an incident at the historic racetrack on October 12. The burglary occurred between the speedway's championship night and its season-ending Halloween Speedfest.
Break-In Hits Track Between Marquee Events
The burglary occurred at the Langley Speedway Race Track at 11 Dale Lemonds Drive in Hampton, according to WAVY.com, which reported that the Hampton Police Division is seeking tips about the suspect. Police have not released details on what, if anything, was taken or damaged during the break-in. The timing fell between the track's October 10 championship night and its scheduled Halloween Speedfest, set for October 24, placing the incident within an active stretch of the facility's fall event calendar, per Larry King Law's Langley Speedway.
Langley’s 2026 calendar lists the Halloween Speedfest for Oct. 24 at 6 p.m., with Virginia Sprints, Limited Late Models, Virginia Mini Cups and Southern Ground Pounders scheduled to race. The track’s two championship nights were set for Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, placing the reported break-in just after the second night and before another multi-division race event. The speedway’s event calendar shows the range of racing planned for the fall finale.
Under Virginia law, breaking into a venue or building with intent to commit larceny or a felony constitutes statutory burglary, a felony punishable by one to 20 years in a state correctional facility, or up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine, according to the Virginia Code. If investigators determine a suspect was armed with a deadly weapon during the entry, the statute elevates the offense to a Class 2 felony carrying a potential sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
The incident is part of a crime category tracked statewide, though those figures do not establish a trend in Hampton or indicate what was lost at Langley. The Virginia State Police recorded 5,428 burglary and breaking-and-entering offenses in Virginia in 2024, with about $28.9 million in reported property value stolen. Those statewide figures provide a broader measure of the offense category, not a comparison for this case. The 2024 Crime in Virginia report lists the totals.
A Speedway With Deep Regional Roots
Langley Speedway's address itself carries local history: Dale Lemonds Drive commemorates Ernest “Dale” Lemonds Jr., a two-time track champion who died at 54 following an on-track crash during an August 2004 race at the facility, according to a Daily Press obituary. Lemonds won track championships in 1997 and 1999 before his death.
The track opened in 1950 as a 0.4-mile dirt oval built on the site of “Dude Ranch,” a thoroughbred horse racing track from the late 1940s, before it was paved with asphalt in 1968, per Larry King Law's Langley Speedway. Between 1964 and 1970, the venue hosted nine NASCAR Grand National events, now known as the Cup Series, featuring Hall of Fame drivers including Richard Petty, David Pearson, Ned Jarrett and Bobby Allison, and it hosted the series' final Grand National race before the 1971 rebrand.
Today the track operates as a 0.396-mile asphalt oval with six-degree corner banking, situated in Hampton directly across from NASA's Langley Research Center on Commander Shepard Boulevard, according to Wikipedia. Local businessman and former division driver Bill Mullis has owned and operated the speedway since 2009, maintaining its place in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, per YankeeRacer.com.
How to Submit a Tip
Anyone with information can call the Virginia Peninsula Crime Stoppers line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP. Tipsters can submit information anonymously, according to the Hampton Police Division.
Residents can also submit tips digitally through the P3 Tips app or at p3tips.com.
