Langley Speedway began in 1950 as a modest dirt track with few amenities and grew into a paved racing venue that has long served stock car fans across the region. In the late 1940s, the North Armistead Avenue property was home to Dude Ranch, an eight-tenths-mile track for thoroughbred racing, but stock car races there often drew larger crowds than the horses. The owners shortened the oval to four-tenths of a mile and shifted their focus to automobiles. In 1963, former racer Henry Klich paid $1,000 for the lease and gave the track its present name. Langley became southeastern Virginia's longest-running professional sports enterprise and one of the oldest in the Commonwealth. During the 1960s and early 1970s, it hosted nine Grand National races featuring many notable NASCAR drivers, and other well-known racers also competed there. Klich carried the track into the modern era by paving it for $25,000 shortly before its May 1968 Cup date, anticipating NASCAR's move away from dirt tracks. Joe Carver was regarded by many fans and competitors as the speedway's savior and helped bring about a golden age for local racing, during which the Late Model Stock Car class was established and developed. Beginning in 1995, Wayne Wyatt and Jim Wood oversaw steady growth, replacing the old steel guardrail with a concrete wall, repaving the track, replacing the bleachers with an iron-and-steel grandstand, and adding skyboxes, VIP suites, and a modern race control and media booth. In 2009, former racer Bill Mullis bought the track and pledged to restore and renew it.