NASCAR Hall of Famer Earnhardt Jr. to visit ENC, Wood Ducks sweep opening series

EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA — NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be visiting Eastern Carolina this weekend.

Junior will be at the New River All-American Speedway in Onslow County Saturday night and he confirmed on social media he will drive the No. 3 car in the ZMAX cars, a tour he is a co-owner of with Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

This is his first visit to the track and the green flag will drop at 8:30 p.m. and there will be racing Friday and all day Saturday at the track.

In NASCAR, brakes were again an issue at Martinsville and extra laps were needed before William Byron took the checkered flag ahead of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.

It's Byron's third win of the season.

In college basketball, a new national champion will be crowned Monday night, Apr. 8, 2024 as Purdue takes on defending champion UConn.

Former ECU guard Tristen Newton is a leader for the Huskies and the game will tip off at 9:20 p.m.

Purdue is trying to win its first national title in school history and UConn is going for number six, which would tie UNC and surpass Duke's five.

A win for the Huskies would also make them the first repeat champion since Florida in 2007.

In the NBA, Kinston native Brandon Ingram is getting closer to returning from a knee injury after he suffered a bone bruise on Mar. 21.

Pelicans team leaders said he is progressing to on-court workouts and has started taking contact again.

The Pels have three games left in the regular season and are tied for sixth place in the Western Conference, trying to avoid having to play in the play-in games.

Ingram is averaging 21 points per game and former Duke star Zion Williamson is averaging 23 per game.

In Major League Baseball, former West Craven and ECU star Shawn Armstrong got his first save of the season as the Rays defeated Colorado 3-2.

Armstrong pitched the ninth inning, giving up one hit, one run, struck out one and the Rays got their fifth win of the year.

Armstrong has appeared in four games and has an ERA of 5.68.

Former South Central High School baseball star Xavier Meachem is off to a hot start for the Jupiter Hammerheads, pitching two innings in two games with two strikeouts.

He also picked up his first save of the year and hasn't given up a run yet.

Former Jacksonville High and ECU star Josh Grosz got his first strikeout over the weekend, pitching for the Tampa Tarpons.

Grosz threw 3.2 innings, struck out six and allowed five runs in a loss.

The Down East Wood Ducks had a hot start to the season, sweeping the Lynchburg Hillcats in three games over the weekend for a 3-0 start to the year.

The Wood Ducks won 7-6 Friday night, 1-0 on Saturday and then 7-6 again on Sunday with a walk-off hit from Jesus Lopez.

The Wood Ducks are off Monday and travel to Zebulon for a series with the Carolina Mudcats Tuesday through Sunday.

College baseball will also be busy Tuesday night with multiple games involving in-state teams.

Games Tuesday night include:

• Elon at East Carolina, 6 p.m.
• William & Mary at No. 7 Duke, 6 p.m.
• No. 20 Coastal Carolina at No. 14 Wake Forest, 6 p.m.
• N.C. State at UNC Wilmington, 6 p.m.
• No. 13 North Carolina at South Carolina, 7 p.m.