Braden Langille’s 2025 Season: Momentum, Misfortune, and a Gritty Comeback for the IWK 250
#26 Braden Langille in action at the Pro Stock Tour’s last stop at Riverside International Speedway. Courtesy of JT Racing Pix
July 19th, 2025
Fresh off of celebrating his birthday on July 18th, Braden Langille has been at the track, ready to tackle the IWK 250 at Riverside, a race that may prove to be a defining moment in his 2025 season. With strong early results across both the Maritime Pro Stock Tour and the Super Late Model Series, Langille’s 2025 campaign has certainly started off successfully, “Our season to this point has exceeded my expectations,” Langille said. “We’ve been competitive in every race and even picked up a podium at Petty. We need a little more to be a winning car, but we are working hard at getting there.”
Langille opened the Maritime Pro Stock Tour season with a solid 6th place finish at Scotia Speedworld, starting deeper in the field, and working his way one car at a time towards the front in the later stages. He followed that up with an impressive 3rd-place result in the SLMS season opener at Petty Raceway, where he started on the front row, led laps and showed signs of race-winning speed. An 11th-place finish at Oyster Bed was respectable, but highlighted a car issue that needed resolving. He bounced back with a 7th-place return to Scotia Speedworld, adding to a streak of competitive performances, with Langille completing every lap during this stretch. It marked a noticeable evolution from his full-time Pro Stock Tour campaign years ago in his teens, where DNFs (did not finish) became a challenge in standard-length (150 lap) races for. Intriguingly, the longer distance marquee races, such as the IWK 250 were where he often looked his best, and had the finishes to back the eye test up. Considering his overall greater runs this year, and past runs in extended distance races, he could be a good dark horse pick to rise to the occasion, returning for a showdown against his greatest competition of the season thus far.
It was in his fifth, and most recent start, though, at Riverside International Speedway, where Langille’s season took a dramatic turn. Running in or around 3rd place late in the race, contact with #89 Donald Chisholm who was behind Langille, led to him being hooked hard, almost completely head-on into the outside wall. The crash destroyed the car, ended his night prematurely, and left him sore all over his body. Despite what must have been quite a disappointing outcome with just 8 laps to go, especially for a team with 1 car, Langille thankfully escaped without injury, and had all of the desire and will needed to get back ASAP.
“The wreck at the Wajax 150 was just a racing deal,” Langille reflected. “Two cars going for the same spot on the racetrack, and it ended with us getting the raw end of the deal. I’ve talked it over with Donald and there are no hard feelings.”
The wreck also forced Langille to miss the next SLMS round at Speedway 660 due to the damage, taking him out of realistic contention for SLMS championship points, if scheduling were to enable him to pursue that. Despite that setback, he and his team immediately sent his wrecked chassis to Maine for a quick turn-around, and pulled together quickly to prepare a competitive piece for the IWK 250, ensuring he wouldn't miss a round of the Pro Stock Tour. Not only is Langille still in the points hunt in that series, but his car also returned to the track with a brand new look that has been turning heads as one of the best appearing cars.
When asked if a wreck like that changes a driver’s mindset, Langille acknowledged the ever-present risks of the sport.
“There are always nerves involved in racing. The feeling never really goes away. I’m not nervous about wrecking again or hitting hard, which helps with my mindset. The feeling is always in the back of your mind though.”
Langille’s return to full-time Late Model competition in 2025, backed by Coldstream Clear Distillery and Velocity Machining and Welding, is shaping up to be one of the more compelling stories of the season. With a rebuilt car, many eyes are now on the #26 as he prepares to take on the IWK 250.
