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Rose races to victory at Caraway Speedway

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SOPHIA – Cory Rose won the 35-lap Challengers feature Saturday night at Caraway Speedway.

Rose held the pole position after qualifying and then briefly lost the lead to Enoch McNeil following a restart. But once Rose got back in the groove, he cruised to the victory.

McNeil finished second, followed by Daniel Schadt, Matthew Smith and Blake Shupe.

In UCARs, the winner was Sammy Bullins in the 15-lap race. The runner-up was Justin Smith, followed by Ron Mock, Blair Patterson and Jason Garwood.

Jon Morton won two different competitions.

Morton became a 10-time winner in 2023 in Bootleggers competition, with Jason Garwood in second place followed by Robbie Perkins and top qualifier Bentley Black.

In the Any Car Division, Morton navigated the 50-lap event to prevail in an 18-car field. All other drivers fell off the lead lap except for runner-up Brandon Collins.

The theme for the night was “Crashin Hackett’s Night of Destruction” and so other activities revolved around demolitions.

Allen Vance was deemed the winner of the “bowling with cars” exhibition and also won the school bus races. Buddy Allred was the top entrant in “figure-8 watermelon crawl” races. Jeff Ferree was tops in the trailer/boat race. Marty Coble was the winner of the Demolition Derby.

The next race night at the speedway comes Aug. 26 when Late Models, Challengers, Mini Stocks, UCARs, 602 Modifieds, Legends and Bandoleros will be on the card.

Caraway driver Chase Murphy July2023

York, Murphy win in Late Models; Challengers race becomes rough, feisty at Caraway

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Chase Murphy was a trophy winner in Late Models on Saturday night at Caraway Speedway. (Courtesy photo)

ASHEBORO – Jason York and Chase Murphy were winners in the Late Models class Saturday night at Caraway Speedway.

Twin features were held in many classes.

York had the fastest qualifying time and went on to win the first race in the division. Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Jeremy Mayfield placed fifth in the first race and 10th in the second race.

Murphy moved to the front at the beginning of the second race and went on to win.

Camden Thomas was the runner-up in both races. York, the track’s points leader, was fourth in the second race.

In Challengers, Allen Vance had a wire-to-wire victory in the first race, but that result was later overturned.

The second race involved a scrap between Vance and Brody Duggins following a wreck, which wrapped up with Duggins’ car on top of Vance’s car. Vance’s actions in the ensuing scuffle resulted in his disqualification and wiped out all his results for the night.

Matthew Smith was the original runner-up in the first Challengers feature, but his car failed inspection. So Duggins, who was third in the first race, was moved to the top spot on that rundown of results.

The second race standings showed Blake Shupe in first place and Nicolas Graham in second.

In 602 Modifieds, Jaxon Casper captured first place in both features. Second place in both races went to Josh Lowder and third place belonged to Justice Calabro each time.

There were a pair of 10-lap UCARs races with Steven Collins winning the first and Justin Smith prevailing in the second.

In Bootleggers, Jon Morton won both races, with the 10-lap events having identical results for all the entrants. Bentley Black had a pair of second-place finishes.

In U.S. Legends, Josh Lowe was the winner after leader Neal Dulin’s crash. London McKenzie placed second.

The Bandoleros victory went to Rylan Lowder.

The next race night for Caraway Speedway comes Aug. 5. That includes a Demo Derby plus class racing in Challengers, UCARs and Bootleggers.

Scene at Caraway June 28

Big turnout witnesses Larson, others at Caraway Speedway

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SOPHIA – It was as much about the scene as it was the racing Wednesday night at Caraway Speedway.

And the racing was pretty good.

The biggest crowd in at least a decade showed up at the speedway and there was quite a show.

The main event was the 125-lap CARS Tour Late Models feature.

The first to cross the finish line in the Firecracker 125 was Layne Riggs. But by Thursday, his victory had been overturned because of a failed post-race inspection.

So Riggs was disqualified and that moved Jared Fryar into the first-place spot. Riggs was steering a car owned by Kevin Harvick.

At issue was the size of the sway bars on Riggs’ car.

“I really hate this for the team and all my fans,” Riggs posted on social media. “I don’t think this should overshadow what a good showing we had. It’s disappointing that it was over something that was not a performance advantage and unintentional.”

The new runner-up is Mason Diaz, while Carson Kvapil was third and Kaden Honeycutt took fourth in the 32-car field. Pole-sitter Chase Burrow, who had a qualifying time of 16.779 seconds, exited with car damage during a caution on the 45th lap and didn’t return until the leaders were on the 60th lap, so he ended up in 22nd place.

“Biggest crowd I’ve seen out here in 10 years,” Caraway race director Doug Smith said. “You hope the stars line up. Tonight, they did.”

Crowd estimates ranged from 3,5000 to 4,000. Track publicist Randy Myers agreed with those numbers.

“I’ve never seen so many people here and I’ve worked here since I was 15,” said a concessions worker, who’s now 26.

“I’ve never seen it like this,” Dale York, mother of Caraway regular Jason York, said of the masses on hand to witness the mid-week special.

The main attraction was Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He placed seventh in his first Late Models competition in 10 years. He started in the 16th position.

“It was honestly much more fun than I was expecting,” Larson said. “The cars were much quicker than what I remembered them being. Obviously, I would have liked to have done a little better, but I’m not a short-track racer. This style of racing has been difficult for me, and it showed against the guys who do this for a living.”

Many fans showed up clearly supporting Larson based on their apparel.

The experience at Caraway might have perked Larson’s interest in Lake Models.

“This obviously worked out because it was a good week and close to home, so that makes things a lot easier,” he said. “I’ve never even looked at a Late Model schedule before, so I don’t even know what else is out there.”

York, the points leader at Caraway, didn’t finish and was in 28th place.

To open the racing, Bryson Brinkley won the Bandoleros event.

In the Pro Late Models, teenager Caden Kvapil won the 100-lapper ahead of runner-up Kate Hettinger among 17 entrants. It marked the first 2023 victory for Kvapil, who won the same event last year at the track.

The race card ended with the Legends division. That race endured multiple cautions – including a wreck that ended Neil Dulin’s race – and was ultimately placed under a time limit. It turned out that the race was reduced from 25 laps to 19 laps, with 17-year-old Landen Lewis of Supply the winner. London McKenzie of Asheboro was the runner-up.

Another big event is set for Saturday night at the track. It’s the Rusty Harpe Memorial. Among the races will be a 99-lap SMART Modifieds Tour event with 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte behind the wheel of one of the entries

Kyle Larson preview promo for Caraway June2023

Larson enters Caraway Speedway event

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SOPHIA – Kyle Larson has entered Wednesday night’s CARS Tour $10,000-to-win race at Caraway Speedway in a No. 5 car prepared by JR Motorsports.

He will be seeking his first victory in a Late Models car in 10 years since winning on Daytona International Speedway’s backstretch short track.

Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, will serve as a teammate to current series points leader and defending champion Carson Kvapil.

“It’s really cool that Kyle is coming to Caraway with us,” Kvapil said according to information provided by the track. “He’s a NASCAR champion and one of those guys who can drive anything and be really competitive right away. As a team, we’ve been pretty good at Caraway, with the win last season in the Old North State Nationals, and I know how our cars perform there. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to race with him.”

Layne Riggs will also be on hand piloting the No. 62 Late Model owned by Kevin and DeLana Harvick. Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Justin Marks are the owners of the series. Harvick plans to do triple duty Wednesday night as an owner of the series, a car owner and a father as his son Keelan competes in the Legends cars 25-lapper.

Other drivers expected for the 125-lap feature for the Late Models are Brenden “Butterball” Queen, Connor Hall, Chad McCumbee and Deac McCaskill. Local drivers Ronnie Bassett, Jr. and Dylan Ward are also entered in a field expected to exceed 25 drivers.

There will be a feature race CARS Tour Pro Late Models as well. Also on tap are features for the US Legends Cars and the Bandoleros.

Prerace activities begin at 6:30 p.m. and race time is 7 p.m.

On Saturday night, the speedway will hold the Rusty Harpe Memorial with the SMART Modified Tour along with Challengers, Mini Stocks, 602 Modifieds, UCARs and Bootleggers.

Caraway driver Josh Lowder 2023

Lowder roars in Modifieds at Caraway

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Josh Lowder, left, accepts the trophy for winning a Modifieds race at Caraway Speedway. (Courtesy photo)

SOPHIA – Josh Lowder dominated the Modifieds race for a victory Saturday night at Caraway Speedway.

Lowder was the fastest qualifier and once he moved into the lead he never gave up the front spot in the 40-lap race. He won the fifth time this year at the track.

Kevin Orlando made a late bid after a caution, but he ended up in second place. Justice Calabro, who’s the division’s points leader, ended up third, Mitchell Wright was fourth and Junior Harvill claimed fifth.

In the Challengers class, Allen Vance cranked out another victory despite track promoter Darren Hackett’s bounty that would have rewarded a different winner.

Corey Rose was the runner-up, followed by Dante Curtis, Josh Waldron and DJ Dean.

The UCARs feature included 19 drivers, with Steven Collins hanging on to win the race.

Josh Phillips was second, followed by Ron Mock, Daniel Hughes and Jason Garwood.

In the Bootleggers race, Jon Morton stayed in command for a victory, fending off Robbie Perkins and Brandon Collins.

Collins also was in action in the Any Car Enduro, winning that event.

Racing returns to the speedway June 28 with the CARS Tour Late Models competing in the Firecracker 265. This marks the second year in a row the touring series will conduct a mid-week event at that track in a throwback nod to the “Firecracker” events that Russell Hackett made so popular, according to information from the speedway.

A field of more than 25 Late Models cars is expected, while there’s also a Pro Late Models feature on the card. A national points race for U.S. Legends Cars plus Bandoleros sets the stage for the CARS Tour stop.

Also, on July 1 is the annual Rusty Harpe Memorial, with a 99-lap in the SMART Modifieds Tour plus regular Modifieds, Mini Stocks, Challengers, UCARs and Bootleggers.

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York, Strmiski among winners on busy Caraway slate

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SOPHIA – Jason York continued his winning ways by winning the Late Models race Saturday night at Caraway Speedway.

Tony Black and Dean Ward brought out new cars to try to stop York’s winning ways. Both

had solid performances with Black claiming the runner-up spot. Ward was

running second to York when a quick shower halted racing on lap 30. Ward elected to

withdraw at that time leaving Black, Camden Thomas, Toby Layne and Chase Murphy

to chase York when racing resumed.

** In Mini Stocks, Robert Strmiski claimed the 40-lap victory. Strmiski had to fight off challenges from Luke Smith, Tyler Bush and Johnny Baker, not to mention a visit to pit road for a tire change.

Bryson Pickard was the runner-up followed by Mason Tucker, Martin Tucker and Jamison Whittington.

** In Challengers, Allen Vance was the victor ahead of Corey Rose, with Caleb Allred in third.

** The UCARs feature went to Ron Mock, who was head of Steven Collins and Josh Phillips.

** The Grand National Super Series held twin 50-lap features as part of the racing card. Jake Christman and Jeremy Mayfield were the winners. Christman was the runner-up in the second race, which Mayfield won wire-to-wire. Kevin Kromer held the second-place spot in the first of the races.

** Ethan Elder won the 25-lap Legacy Series race, with Justin Oplinger in second.

** In Legends cars, Neil Dulin held off Josh Lowe for the victory, with Jason Kitzmiller in third.

** In Bandoleros, Jay Hemenway took first place.

Ard honored

Sam Ard was honored with Saturday’s prerace tribute that highlighted his racing career and his relationship with Thomas Brothers Country Ham and Caraway Speedway. Ard was honored as one of NASCAR’s Top 75 drivers.

Ard won two Bush Grand National Series titles and hundreds of races in a storied career that was cut short by an accident at Rockingham Speedway. Many of his family members and crew members were on hand for the tribute.

The next regular racing card at the speedway comes June 17 with females admitted free.

Caraway Speedway Heath Causey May 13 2023

Causey collects for big win at Caraway Speedway

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Heath Causey holds the trophy after winning Saturday night at Caraway Speedway. (Courtesy photo)

SOPHIA – Heath Causey was the winner of the big prize Saturday night by winning the Late Models race at Caraway Speedway.

It was part of the David “Lightning” Saunders Memorial, with winnings of $3,000. That included a $1,000 bonus.

Causey was the fastest qualifier and drew the No. 5 starting position.

Causey had to contend with the father-son tandem of Jason York and Jamie York.

Causey went to the front on the 80th lap after a competition caution and held the lead until the end.

Jason York was the runner-up, followed by Brian Rose, Jamie York and Chase Murphy.

Allen Vance was the winner of the Challengers race after Blake Shupe and D.J. Dean held leads earlier in the race. Brody Duggins was the runner-up, with Smith, Dean and Dante Curtis rounding out the top five.

In Modifieds, Kevin Orland was the winner of the 35-lap race, going ahead on lap 25. Fast qualifier Justice Calabro placed second.

In UCARs, Daniel Hughes was the winner, though not confirmed until a postrace protest was resolved. Ron Mock was second and Josh Phillips placed third. Justin Smith and Mock won qualifying heats.

Jon Morton was the winner in the 10-lap Bootlegger event. In Enduros, Barry Hines survived the 50-lap event for the victory.

The next regular racing night for Caraway Speedway comes June 3.

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Duggins wins for first time at Caraway

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SOPHIA – Brody Duggins won for the first time at Caraway Speedway by capturing the Challengers feature Saturday night.

Duggins qualified for the pole position. He managed to move to the front after a redraw and hold on, with Allen Vance was second and Corey Rose placed third.

In Late Models, Jason York of Reidsville won again despite his son, Jamie York, posting the fastest qualifying time.

Brian Rose was the runner-up in Late Models, followed by Chase Murphy, Camden Thomas and Jamie York.

In UCARs, Steven Collins collected his fourth victory of the year at the track despite starting in the 10th position. Josh Phillips, Jason Richmond, Daniel Hughes and Ron Mock rounded out the top five.

In Legends, there were 20 cars in the field, with London McKenzie taking the checkered flag. The 25-lap event was riddled with cautions. Caleb Day placed second, followed by Bobby Gossett, Spencer Bradshaw and Josh Lowe.

On the USAC Midgets circuit, Brady Allison Jr. secured the victory in the 35-lap race. He led the entire race, with Chris Lamb ending up in second place.

The Bandoleros race was won by Rylan Lowder, who’s listed as a third-generation driver at the speedway. Ellie Gossett placed second.

The next regular racing night at the track comes May 13, which has been dubbed Randolph County Appreciation Night with $8 admission for county residents. That will include a schedule 100-lapper in Late Models. The Modifieds division will be in action along with other regular classes at the track.

Caraway driver Alex Stoltz Challengers division

York claims Late Models adventure at Caraway

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Alex Stoltz celebrates his victory in the Challengers division Saturday night at Caraway Speedway. (Courtesy photo)

SOPHIA – Jason York wasn’t unscathed but he was the winner in Saturday night’s 69-lap Late Models feature at Caraway Speedway.

York, a Reidsville driver, was the top qualifier and started in the front spot, but he withstood several restarts to claim the victory.

Boo Boo Dalton of Liberty was the runner-up, followed by Buddy Isles, Justin Hicks and Jamie York.

In Modifieds, Josh Lowder was the wire-to-wire winner in the 35-lap race. Billy Gregg was the runner-up, followed by Mitchell Wright, Jaxson Casper and Justice Calabro.

In Mini Stocks, A.J. Sanders prevailed in the 12-driver field across 40 laps. Fast qualifier Chuck Wall was the runner-up, with Johnny Baker, Luke Smith and Bryson Pickard comprising the next three spots.

In Challengers, Alex Stoltz stormed from the rear to capture the checkered flag. Tony Black was second and Allen Vance took third ahead of Josh Williams and Blake Sharpe.

In UCARs, Daniel Hughes posted the victory ahead of Steven Collins, Justin Smith, Ron Mock and Josh Phillips completed the top five. Blair Patterson and Smith won UCARs heat races.

John Morton topped the field again in the Bootlegger feature over Robbie Perkins and Bentley Black.

In Southern Ground Pounders, Dennis Weaver was first across the line followed by Bobby Griffin.

The next regular racing card at the speedway is set for April 29.

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Area Sports Briefs: Asheboro golfer contends; Caraway Speedway set to resume

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Asheboro man contends in Four-Ball event

WILSON – An Asheboro golfer was among the contenders in the North Carolina Super Senior Four-Ball Championships last month.

Charlie Parks of Asheboro and playing partner Doug Owens of Albemarle placed third in the 65-and-older division at Wilson Country Club.

Parks and Owens had rounds 71 and 67 for a two-round total of 6-under-par 138.

That left them a shot behind the tandems of Surf City’s Gary Howze / Claremont’s Randall Sullins and Morrisville’s Preston Edmondson / Pinehurst’s Steve Fox among the 28 teams in the division.

Edmondson and Fox claimed the championship on the second playoff hole.

Caraway set to resume racing this weekend

SOPHIA – After a weekend off for the Easter holiday, racing resumes at Caraway Speedway with Saturday night’s card.

It’s Chatham County Night and Moore County Night at the speedway. Residents of those counties will be admitted for $8.

Racing is slated for the speedway’s regular division in addition to Southern Ground Pounders Vintage racing club.

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