SPORTS BRIEFS: Albany Motor Speedway opens for racing

Albany Motor Speedway opens for racing

Albany Motor Speedway will begin a new season of racing Saturday.

This year’s race program at the quarter-mile dirt track includes Georgia-Florida Late Model, C Class, NeSmith Street Stock, Enduro and Hot Shots classes.

Gates open at 3:30 p.m., with the drivers’ meeting set for a 6 p.m. start. Hot laps will take place after the drivers’ meeting, and racing will begin at 7 p.m.

Admission is $30 for the pits, $12 for the grandstands. Children 12 and under are free. Fence parking is $20.

The track, located at 1303 Williamsburg Road in Albany, just off U.S. 19 on the city’s south side, also will have races May 19, June 2, June 16 and June 30.

For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.facebook.com/AlbanySpeedway.

Class 1A-Public baseball delay continues

The second round of the GHSA Class 1A-Public baseball playoffs has been delayed to Monday, the result of a court case involving the GHSA and Charlton County.

Affected by the delay are Pelham’s series at Schley County and Baconton Charter’s home series against Jenkins County.

A news release posted on the GHSA website said the association expects a ruling on the case from the Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday, a case originally heard in Charlton County Superior Court.

“In fairness to the schools who will be traveling and require lodging, we are postponing the Class A-Public opening series games of the second round until Monday and Tuesday, May 7 and 8,” the release stated. “This adjustment will cause the third round to be moved to Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12.

“We hope to have this matter finalized as soon as possible, but we need to plan for the delays this matter has created. Please check the GHSA web site frequently during the next few days for any updates as we receive them.”

Friday afternoon, Charlton County superintendent John Lairsey issued a news release disputing the nature of the delay.

“The GHSA has published that the Class A-Public baseball playoffs have been ‘suspended by legal injunction until further notice.’ This is not true,” Lairsey’s release stated. “The last line of the superior court’s order reads: ‘The GHSA shall be required to play the remaining games as scheduled, beginning on May 3, 2018.’ The truth is that the GHSA has elected to voluntarily suspend play rather than abide by the Court’s ruling. We are disappointed that the GHSA has elected to go this route and suspend play.”

The court case involves Charlton County’s dispute of a forfeit of a March 10 baseball game the GHSA declared because of the pitch count rule. The GHSA originally issued a warning instead of a forfeit, but the ruling was changed to a forfeit April 23 when Irwin County appealed its power rating. Charlton County subsequently took the GHSA to court, claiming a violation of due process, and won an injunction in Charlton County Superior Court.