Late Model Stock Car racing at Carteret County Speedway. (Andy Marquis/Race22.com photo)

Carteret County Speedway released their 2018 season schedule on Thursday morning, just days ahead of their championship finale race.

The schedule is headlined most notably by the CARS Late Model Stock Tour race on Saturday, June 23rd.  The CARS Tour race will be the first time the series has raced at the Swansboro, North Carolina track which is located just a few miles inland from the Crystal Coast beach on Emerald Isle.

“This is going to be an exciting year,” Carteret County Speedway track owner Bobby Watson told Race22.com on Thursday.  “We’ve got the CARS Tour coming and it’s an honor to have them here, and we might get a second race if there’s an opening in their schedule.”

In addition to the CARS Tour, Carteret County Speedway will race on Halloween weekend with what they are promising will be the biggest race in the track’s history.  Watson said he plans to host a $25,000-to-win Late Model race which is tentatively scheduled to be held on Saturday, October 27th or on Sunday, October 28th.

“We’re going to do one of the biggest Late Model races in North Carolina and South Carolina,” Watson remarked.  “That will probably be on Halloween weekend.  That will be $25,000-to-win in the Late Model class.  We already have a sponsor, we just haven’t announced it yet.”

As Carteret County Speedway has done every year since its opening in 2015, they will race on Sunday night on Labor Day Weekend with this year’s Labor Day Classic being held on September 2nd.  Carteret County Speedway will also have races on Memorial Day Weekend, also a Sunday night race, and on Wednesday, July 4th.

“This will be our tradition, racing on Labor Day Weekend on that Sunday,” Watson explained.  “The schedule is out and it is tentative to change but we wanted to get the schedule out.  The ladies are excited about going to the beach and we wanted to give people time to make hotel reservations.”

Carteret County Speedway will open their season on Saturday, April 14th.  Races will also be held on April 28th, May 12th, (Sunday) May 27th, June 9th, (Wednesday) July 4th, July 7th, July 28th, August 11th, August 25th, (Sunday) September 2nd, September 15th, September 29th, October 6th and October 27th or 28th.

Watson also said Carteret County Speedway has a new campground facility at the track.  He told Race22.com that he will also be putting new grandstands up during the winter months, addressing the visibility issues from the frontstretch grandstands.

This weekend, Carteret County Speedway will host their championship finale, featuring one final showdown for contenders Tyler Matthews, Michael Tilley and Chris Burns.