Langley Speedway owner Bill Mullis, left, and track promoter Chuck Hall stand for a portrait among the new stadium lights. Langley Speedway recently installed new stadium lights, one of the largest upgrades to the facility in years, as seen on August 25, 2022 in Hampton. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

It’s fitting that NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers visiting Langley Speedway on Saturday for the Checkeredflag.com 150 will be the first to get the full treatment of the track’s new lighting system.

Many of the tour’s drivers the past 15 years were shining stars of the racing reality TV series MadHouse (2009) and Race Night at Bowman Gray (2018).

But it’s more fitting that the locals who drive at Langley on a weekly basis, the Late Model Division standouts in particular, got to “test” the lights first at last week’s show. Guys like six-time track champion Danny Edwards Jr. have driven under the old lights — installed in the early 1960s — for as much as four decades.

The illumination of the 54 fixtures, attached to 12 poles that are 70 or 90 feet tall, was a memorable experience.

“It was really impressive, not only on the track but just being in the pit-road area,” said Edwards, who finished second in the first 50-lapper held under the new lights. “Working on the cars with everything lit up the way it is now is much easier.

“Before, we had to use flashlights to work on the cars. It felt like it was daytime out there.”

The Musco stadium lights installed by Thompson Consulting Engineers of Hampton mark the most significant investment by track owner Bill Mullis in the almost 15 years he has operated Langley. Mullis said that the City of Hampton helped with the project via a grant, but he is footing the majority of costs approaching seven figures for the new lights.

The lights come on the heels of a project last year to install permanent bathrooms in the pits. It is the latest sign that Mullis, an area seafood entrepreneur who purchased the track outright in 2017 for about $2 million, is at Langley to stay.

For him, the illumination at Saturday’s race was also a big moment.

“I’ve been talking with (track promoter and marketing director) Chuck Hall about putting in lights since I purchased the track,” Mullis said. “I couldn’t believe what it was like watching them come on for the first time.

“I felt like a fan. It was historic, but the people there last Saturday ain’t seen nothing yet. That’s the big secret.

“These lights flash colors and can be synchronized to music. I figured if we were going to get them, we’d get the whole package with all of the bells and whistles.

“This is something we really feel the drivers and fans deserve.”

In addition to increasing the drivers’ abilities to work on their cars on pit road, the new lights will be a time-saver. Mullis said they turn on instantly, where the old lights — situated on 38 poles just 30 feet off of the ground — took more than 10 minutes to reach full brightness.

After they were switched on, Justin Carroll became the first Late Model driver to win a race as he captured the second of 50-lap twins. He and Greg Edwards, who won the final Late Model 50 under the old lights that night, both used the description “pretty cool” to win the night the lights came on at Langley.

“It was much brighter and really gave the track a different perspective,” Carroll said. “The new lights definitely helped, because the old lights were so low they put a glare in my windshield.

“It helped with vision and judgment, too.”

Greg Edwards said, “It really was like driving in daylight. Everything was more vivid, especially the colors.

“It was definitely money well-spent.”

What: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Checkeredflag.com 150 along with local Super Truck, Super Street and Pro Six races.

Where: Langley Speedway, 11 Dale Lemonds Drive in Hampton.

When: Racing begins at 7 p.m.