Queen defeats Hall in Hampton Heat, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fifth in 757 debut

HAMPTON, Va. - A sellout crowd at Langley Speedway saw a Hampton Roads native defeat a NASCAR legend Saturday night.

Brenden Queen won the annual Hampton Heat; the second straight victory in the race for the 26-year-old from Chesapeake, and his third Hampton Heat win overall.

"Butterbean" Queen won a tight battle with second-place finisher Connor Hall. A lot of attention was on the fifth-place finisher — NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., who made his debut at Langley.

"It's really important to me that the drivers see me as another racer and it matters to me that they enjoy when I do come and race with them. When we get out on the race track, they want to beat me just like everybody else and they're hard to beat," Dale Jr. told News 3's Zach Staton. "I come here kind of handicapped because they're just so talented."

Earnhardt retired from the NASCAR Cup Series in 2018 and has since become a color commentator for the sport.