I am looking for racing historical information on Bruce Warren. He raced and won numerous championships at Langley in Virginia in the 60's, and would like some photos of any cars he drove, modifieds, or late models.
Mike, I have no photos, but remember watching Bruce at Langley Field and Southside.
Very possible that our Member Ray Lamm might have photos shot at one of those two venues.
Also, the late Butch Torrie drove at Langley Field for our RR member Jack Carter's father. Very possible Jack might have photos or a lead.
Here's a list of Late Model Champions from Langley. So far haven't found a Modified-Sportsman lsit from back in the day.
Langley Speedway Late Model Champions
Year Driver Car # Points Wins Top 5s Top 10s
2011 C.E. Falk III 40 790 12 16 16
2010 C.E. Falk III 40 982 9 17 21
2009 C.E. Falk III 40 886 11 17 18
2008 Danny Edwards Jr. 26
2007 Danny Edwards Jr. 26 9
2006 Greg Edwards 27
2005 Tommy Cherry 21
2004 Mark Wertz 40
2003 Mark Wertz 40 880 13 17 18
2002 Jammie Goode
2001 Phil Warren 16 9
2000 Phil Warren 16 6
1999 Danny Edwards Jr. 26
1998 Greg Edwards
1997 Phil Warren 47 4
1996 Mike Buffkin 84 9
1995 Phil Warren 47 19
1994 Phil Warren 47 5
1993 Eddie Johnson
1992 Danny Edwards Jr.
1991 Roger Sawyer
1990 Chip Hudson
1989 Danny Edwards Jr.
1988 Phil Warren 47
1987 Roger Sawyer 20
1986 Phil Warren 47 600 8 21 22
1985 Elton Sawyer 42 696 9 22 24
1984 Elton Sawyer 42 602 12 19 19
1983 Elton Sawyer 42 680 12 23 24
1982 Bubba Adams 9 8 18 20
1981 Charlie Doyle
1977 Billy Smith
1976 Joe Falk
1975 Tommy Ellis
1974 Bob Smith
1973 Sonny Hutchins
1971 Al Grinnan/Lennie Pond
1970 Al Grinnan
1969 Ray Hendrick/Sonny Hutchins
1967 Bruce Warren
1966 Bruce Warren
1965 Lennie Pond
1964 Bruce Warren
1963 Bruce Warren
From the web site www.Racecarsofyesterday.com :
# 41
1936 Chevy Coupe out of Norfolk, Virginia, powered by a 270 GMC 6 cylinder engine. This car won 6 NASCAR Championships with Bruce Warren behind the wheel.
Thanks Dave, Do you know if this was his number and paint scheme?
Mike, I do not know the answer. I saw Bruce race, but have no recollection of his car scheme or number.
He is shown driving #41 in the 1964 NASCAR Modified Ray Platte Memorial Race at Langley as recapped on the Ultimate Racing History web site. And WOW... what a field of cars and drivers that was on the then Langley dirt track!!
Ray Platte Memorial
NASCAR Modified race
Langley Field Speedway, Hampton, VA
October 25, 1964
200 laps on 0.4 mile dirt oval; 80 miles
Fin St Driver # Owner Car Laps Money Status Laps Led
1 8 Ted Hairfield 4 200 1,000 running
2 15 Earl Moss 300
3 24 Bobby McGinnis 98
4 10 Dennis Zimmerman 69
5 3 Gene Lovelace 85
6 18 Frankie Burnham 33
7 Bud Moore 55
8 19 Eddie Crouse 31
9 5 Al Grinnan 39
10 Jimmy Torie
11 4 Bill Lorah 59
12 25 Bob Coward 2
13 23 Jack Mulligan 25
14 Bud Elliott
15 21 Shelton McNair 3
16 11 Lennie Pond 58
17 Harry Theobald
18 2 Doug Yates 1va
19 6 Earl Pangle 107
20 27 Jim Williamson 30
21 30 Runt Harris 301
22 16 Ray Hendrick 11
23 17 Guy Wallace 88
24 1 Sonny Hutchins 90
25 20 Ralph Rose Z-1
26 9 Bill Champion 43
27 22 Dickie Layne 157
28 Mack Hanbury
29 29 Bruce Warren 41
30 14 Bill Dennis 54
31 12 Butch Torrie 57
32 Al Tyndall
33 Bill Babb
34 7 Jackie Falk 400
35 Bill Hoff
36 28 Jim Bray 139
37 13 Red Foote 8
38 Eddie Williams 21
39 26 Skinny Bartlett 00
40 Ed Hendrick
Pole Speed: 20.83 seconds
Attendance: 5,000
God I was in Bruce Warren's Garage on Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk Va. a few years ago and the walls had many pictures and articles about Bruce.
I was at that race, i was just 14. The cars stretched from the start finish line to in between th 3rd and 4th turn.
Hello Joe,
Do you know if that shop is still there? I would like to give him a call.
Thanks,
Mike
Thank you, Jack. Lotta old familiar names.
I move to NC in 2007 and Bruces's shop was still there and Bruce was t work everyday. You should be able to find the shop in the online yellow pages. He was on Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk, Va.
Bruce had a son Phil that was a very good driver also.
I just learned something again. Didn't know Phil Warren was Bruce Warren's son. Phil was a heckuva good driver of NASCAR Late Model Stock Cars.
A Phil Warren Update:
Warren subbing behind wheel at Langley Speedway
Usually a crew chief, seven-time champ will drive Saturday
August 10, 2012
By Marty O'Brien
Newport News Daily Press
HAMPTON If Langley Speedway ever opens a Hall of Fame, Phil Warren will be a charter member. With seven Late Model championships, Warren is the most successful driver in the track's premier division.
So, in those rare times when Warren comes to Langley to compete rather than be a crew chief, it is an event. Warren will be behind the steering wheel again Saturday, when he subs for injured Mark Wertz in twin Late Model 50-lappers.
The car Warren will drive, owned by The Colonel (Raymond Robinson) and wife Phyllis, is a pretty good one. Wertz, a two-time Late Model champion, had it in the top five weekly, and was just a few points out of second place in the standings when he broke his ankle in a non-racing incident in early July.
But Warren doesn't expect to come back and show the young bucks how it's done at Langley. He hasn't competed in a Late Model on Langley's 4/10ths-of-a-mile oval since 2001, when he won his final track title.
"I'm not really looking to win," Warren said. "A fifth- or sixth-place finish would be a good day, and better than that would be great.
"I haven't raced around cars in awhile, and it will be different when they turn the lights on. But they ain't dug the track and moved it since the last time I raced here, so it shouldn't be too hard to adjust to."
Warren is the crew chief for Doug Godsey, who is second in the Late Model standings at Southern National in North Carolina.
Warren has logged a fair number of laps at Langley in recent years, testing the cars he works on for a living and for which he's a crew chief. He concedes that's different than racing.
"Anybody can drive around and be fast," he said. "Judging distance between yourself and other cars isn't as easy when you haven't been doing it for years."
Several of those years were spent working the cars of C.E. Falk, a youngster he mentored in the garage and at the track. Falk learned his lessons well, winning his first title with Warren as crew chief, then winning the next two with others.
"You absolutely can't take anything away from him," Warren said. "He's probably one of the best three or four Late Model drivers around.
"He needed a little refining then and he still might need a little. He's definitely aggressive."
That aggressiveness has led to a feud with rival Greg Edwards, which has resulted in two wrecks in battles for the lead that have prevented either driver from winning. One of those wrecks was in the season opener, and the other came two weeks ago in the Hampton Heat 200.
"I had some run-ins, but none that lasted as long as theirs," Warren said of the Falk-Edwards feud.
Warren does not expect any run-ins Saturday. As a substitute driver, one of his big goals is to give the car back to The Colonel in one piece, something The Colonel is confident of.
"I don't think there's a better driver out there," The Colonel said.
There certainly hasn't been a more successful one at Langley than Warren, who is a slam-dunk track Hall of Famer should Langley ever celebrate its better-than-60-year history in that fashion. Warren would prefer to be steady rather than immortal Saturday.
"To be competitive, I need to make the car a little better than I am," he said. "I need to rely a little more on the car than myself, because I don't race there every week.
"I'm going to try not to embarrass myself too bad."
Driver Phil Warren with his NASCAR late Model Stock Car in 2001 - photo by Bill Buxton Carr for Stock Car Racing Magazine 2002 article on Phil Warren
