LOCAL ROUNDUP: Larson enters race at Caraway track

Jun. 26—ASHEBORO — NASCAR Cup All-Star race winner Kyle Larson is set for a rare asphalt short-track outing Wednesday night at Caraway Speedway.

Larson is entered in the regional CARS Tour 125-lap Late Model Stock Car race that serves as the main event for the "Firecracker 265." He will drive a Camaro fielded by JR Motorsports, which is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Larson, who does most of racing outside the Cup Series on dirt tracks, will be a teammate of CARS Tour points leader and former Caraway winner Carson Kvapil.

"Dale approached me during the All Star weekend at North Wilkesboro and I thought it would be

fun," Larson was quoted in a release from the track. "There was one other time I drove a Late Model Stock and that was at Denny Hamlin's Short Track Showdown at Richmond. I obviously like racing on the local level. I feel like I can have an impact on the attending crowd and viewership on FloSports. I hope I can go there, have fun, put on a show and compete with some drivers that I've never raced with before."

Earnhardt, current Cup driver Kevin Harvick, former driver Jeff Burton and Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks became owners of the CARSTour in January.

Harvick is entering a car for former NASCAR national weekly track champ and occasional Truck Series driver Layne Riggs. Also among the 32 entries are former Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield and former Caraway track champ Jason York.

The meet will also include a 100-lap CARS Tour Pro Late Model race and features for Legends Cars and Bandaleros. The first race is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The CARS Tour race is the first of two special events this week at the .455-mile. The Rusty Harpe Memorial race featuring a 99-lap SMART Modified Tour main event is scheduled for Saturday night.

AREA SOFTBALL PLAYERS NAMED ALL-DISTRICT

TRIAD — Nineteen players from across the area have been selected all-district by the North Carolina Softball Coaches Association.

District 5 comprises Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham and Stokes counties. All-state selections will be announced June 30.

Making the all-district teams were:

1A — High Point Christian's Lexi Hall, Laci Jarrell, Hailey Allred, Maci Burkhart and Mary Douglas Hayworth

3A — Ledford's Leah Leonard and Sophie Wheat; Oak Grove's Shae Grainger, Mary Peyton Hodge, Allie Johnston, Alissa Russ, Chloe Watkins and Carly White; Southern Guilford's Kenly Brown, Naomi Hunt, Avery Lowe and Ashlyn Pegram

4A — Ragsdale's Autumn Brooks and Andersn Froysell.

ANDREWS COMPETES IN TOP TRACK EVENTS

HIGH POINT — T.W. Andrews recently competed in two of the top track events in the country.

The Red Raiders, who won the NCHSAA 2A state championship in the spring, participated in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor on June 15-18 in Philadelphia and the Adidas Outdoor Nationals on June 16-18 in Greensboro.

In the New Balance Nationals, Corey Pate tied for 11th in the rising stars boys long jump with a mark of 6.65 meters while Andrews' boys 4x200 relay team of Ja'Neil Harris, Ja'Shawn Harris, Brenden Miller and Correy McManus finished 25th in 1:29.33.

In the Adidas Nationals, Zaman Timmons tied for 13th in the national elite boys long jump with a mark of 6.29 meters and was 16th in the national elite boys triple jump with a distance of 13.07 meters.

High Point Blaze Track Club also posted a number of top results in the Adidas meet. Donovan Calhoun won the national elite boys 100 meter dash in 10.62 and the national elite boys 200 meter dash in 21.20 while Yolanda Calhoun was third in the middle school girls 200 meter dash in 24.78.

Judah Weesner was 14th in the national elite boys 2 mile run in 10:10.39 and 14th in the national elite boys 3200 meter run in 10:07.59, and the middle schools girls 4x100 relay of Taraji Morrison, Kyndal Spruill, Skye Wilson and MaKensie Stevenson took third in the 49.91.

LADD RETURNS AS WESTCHESTER GIRLS COACH

HIGH POINT — Mary Ann Ladd will be returning to Westchester Country Day as varsity girls basketball coach, the school announced last week.

Ladd takes over for Jeremy Autry, her former assistant who recently became the varsity girls basketball coach at East Forsyth. She returns to the program she coached during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

The Wildcats have often been young and inexperienced — particularly against bigger schools in the highly competitive PTAC. But four wins in 2018-19 under Ladd and 13 combined wins the last two seasons under Autry were steps in the right direction in recent years.