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RALEIGH, N.C. — NASCAR is returning to one of its original venues that it left more than a quarter-century ago — North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Gov. Roy Cooper and North Carolina native Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined the stock car body and the track’s owner Thursday to announce that the track will host the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race next year — NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season.

“It’ll be something that people want to come from all over the country and enjoy – NASCAR All-Star week at North Wilkesboro Speedway – to enjoy the culture, the festivities, the history,” Marcus Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports, which owns the track, said at a news conference outside the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. “We’re excited to revive it.”

The .625-mile asphalt oval, located almost 70 miles northwest of Charlotte, hosted the year-ending race in 1949 for what became the Cup Series. It became an annual stop on the schedule, hosting two races a year starting in 1951, and was a throwback to the days when moonshine runners in the region — NASCAR legend Junior Johnson among them — drove fast cars to escape authorities.

North Wilkesboro hosted more than 90 Cup races before it closed in 1996, a result of NASCAR’s dramatic growth during that time and arguments that it wasn’t large or fancy enough as the sport tapped into new markets. The track’s races went to New Hampshire and Texas.

The oval went into disrepair, and non-NASCAR racing at the legendary track in the early 2010s fizzled. But former drivers like Earnhardt Jr., local boosters, and state officials wouldn’t give up on the venue, which has a direct connection to NASCAR’s birth.

A recent effort to renovate the speedway took off, buoyed by $18 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds earmarked by the North Carolina state legislature last year for infrastructure improvements.

The legislature has agreed in principle to provide another $4 million next year for additional improvements to host the race next May 21 and for “future events over the next several years,” said Greg Walter, general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Speedway Motorsports’ flagship venue.

The All-Star Race originally began in 1985 as The Winston and was usually held in May the week before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It’s been held the past two years at Texas Motor Speedway, most recently won by Ryan Blaney.

While the North Wilkesboro decision was months in the making, Smith and NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell said the concept was confirmed just in recent weeks. That’s when standing-room-only crowds attended a “Racetrack Revival” series at the reopened track, spearheaded by Speedway Motorsports, Earnhardt and the widow of the late Benny Parsons. Ryan Newman won the first race, while Earnhardt was third in a race last week.

“I felt something at a race track that I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. And it was the true joy and the love that you just have for being there, whether you’re a competitor or a fan,” said Earnhardt, a television analyst and NASCAR team owner. “It’s just got a special place in our history. And I’m so excited to see what can happen beyond this.”

O’Donnell said later it was too early to tell whether a successful All-Star Race could lead to annual race dates at the track, but “we wouldn’t be going back to North Wilkesboro if we didn’t think it would be successful and a place that we want to look to more than one year.”

O’Donnell acknowledged holding more races outside NASCAR’s strongholds in recent years to grow the sport has led to weighing choices. The 2023 season also will feature a new NASCAR street race in Chicago.

“As we’ve looked at evolving the schedule in the future, it’s certainly a nod to maybe new markets that we want to be in, but also balancing that with markets where people have been supporting us forever,” O’Donnell said. “You look at our 75th anniversary and the schedule that we’re putting together and it’s a perfect balance.”

Richard Petty won a record 15 NASCAR races at North Wilkesboro, which is known for its downhill slope on the front stretch and uphill back stretch. Darrell Waltrip won 10 races, followed by Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Cale Yarborough with five each.

Cooper, sporting a North Wilkesboro Speedway jacket, was The Winston’s grand marshal in 2000, when the younger Earnhardt beat his dad and Dale Jarrett to the finish. The governor said the track, which he visited in May, “is almost like a cathedral.”

“This is a great day for North Carolina. Whether you care about racing or not, this means economic revival and more money in the pockets of everyday North Carolinians,” he said. “We are the birthplace of NASCAR.”

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Sale, Crochet named comeback players of year

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Sale, Crochet named comeback players of year

LAS VEGAS — Left-handers Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox won Major League Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year awards on Thursday.

Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase won his second AL Reliever of the Year award and St. Louis righty Ryan Helsley won the NL honor.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani joined David Ortiz as the only players to win four straight Outstanding Designated Hitter awards. Ohtani and the New York YankeesAaron Judge won Hank Aaron Awards as the outstanding offensive performers in their leagues.

Major League Baseball made the announcements at its All-MLB Awards Show.

Sale, 35, was 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177⅔ innings for the NL’s first pitching triple crown since the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in 2011. He earned his eighth All-Star selection and first since 2018.

Sale helped Boston to the 2018 World Series title but made just 56 starts from 2020-23, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA, 400 strikeouts and 79 walks over 298⅓ innings. He was acquired by Boston from the White Sox in December 2016 and made nine trips to the injured list with the Red Sox, mostly with shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.

Sale fractured a rib while pitching in batting practice in February 2022 during the management lockout. On July 17, in his second start back, he broke his left pinkie finger when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks. Sale broke his right wrist while riding a bicycle en route to lunch on Aug. 6, ending his season.

Crochet, 25, was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts for a White Sox team that set a post-1900 record of 121 losses, becoming a first-time All-Star. He struck out 209 and walked 33 in 146 innings.

He had Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022, and returned to the major leagues on May 18, 2023. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances in 2023, and then joined the rotation this year.

Sale and Crochet were chosen in voting by MLB.com beat writers.

Clase and Helsley were unanimous picks by a panel that included Hall of Famers Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers, along with John Franco and Billy Wagner. The AL award is named after Rivera and the NL honor after Hoffman.

A three-time All-Star, Clase was 4-2 with a 0.61 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 10 walks in 74⅓ innings, holding batters to a .154 average. The 26-year-old converted 47 of 50 save chances, including his last 47.

Voting was based on the regular season. Clase was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in the playoffs, allowing three home runs, one more than his regular-season total.

Helsley, a two-time All-Star, was 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA and 49 saves in 53 chances. He struck out 79 and walked 23 in 66⅓ innings.

Ohtani became the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. A two-way star limited to hitting following elbow surgery, Ohtani batted .310 and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs while stealing 59 bases.

Ortiz won the DH award five years in a row from 2003-07.

The DH award, named after Edgar Martinez, is picked in voting by team beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments. MLB.com writers determined the finalists for the Aaron awards, and a fan vote was combined with picks from a panel of Hall of Famers and former winners to determine the selections.

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs while hitting .322.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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