The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • B1

TUESDAY JANUARY 28 2020 1BFACEBOOK.COM/THECHARLOTTEOBSERVER TWITTER.COM/THEOBSERVERCHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM Sports CAPELRETURNS TO DUKETO FACE FORMER TEAM 4B BASKETBALL CONCORD Charlotte Motor Speedway is celebrating its 60th birthday with a few changes. Speedway Motors president Marcus Smith announced Monday this program updates, which include extending pit passes to ticket- holders for the NASCAR All- Star Race, featuring car at Pennzoil AutoFair and signing country music singer Chris Janson as a pre-race per- former. Smith was joined by celebrity chef Robert Irvine, a self-de- scribed for the kickoff event. Irvine served as the grand-marshal for the Coca-Cola 600 two years ago and has helped create track suite menus. fit right in with our crew and our Smith told Irvine, who founded the Robert Irvine Foundation to support military veterans.

many veterans in the Team Penske drivers Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney, as well as Wood Brothers Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto, were also present for the event. new this year: CHRIS JANSON PERFORMING AT THE ALL-STAR RACE Janson is a platinum-selling country music artist known for his songs a and Me a In October, his single reached No. 1 on Bill- Country Airplay chart. Janson will perform before this NASCAR All-Star Race on May 16th. PIT PASSES FOR TICKET-HOLDERS Fans who purchase tickets for the All-Star Race will also have pit access for no additional cost, in addition to the pre-race concert.

A pit pass offers fans close access to drivers and fan who buys a ticket to the race will have a chance to get out on the new synthetic turf, get up close for the concert and enjoy what this day is all said Charlotte Motor Speedway general manager Greg Walter. want this to be the race and do something special for the ELVIS CAR ON DISPLAY Elvis iconic 1955 pink Cadillac will be available to view during the Pennzoil AutoFair. The show runs April 2-5 and October 22-24, but the car will only be on display dur- ing the April event. Presley played a NASCAR driver in the 1968 film which NASCAR Track plans changes for 2020 season BY ALEX ANDREJEV FAN WHO BUYSA TICKET TO THE RACE WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO GET OUT ON THE NEW SYNTHETIC TURF, GET UP CLOSE FOR THE CONCERT AND ENJOY WHAT THIS DAY IS ALL ABOUT. Charlotte Motor Speedway general manager Greg Walter SEE SPEEDWAY 2B ETHAN HYMAN Make that 31 UNC victories in the past 35 meetings with N.C.

State. The Tar Heels beat the Wolfpack 75-65 on Monday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh. Garrison Brooks (15) led UNC with 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. N.C. State senior guard CJ Bryce (13) was held scoreless for the second consecutive game.

For full coverage of game, visit charlotteobserver.com/sports. TAR HEELS BEAT WOLFPACK AGAIN The history of North Carolina basketball and Kobe Bryant is filled with near-misses. Kobe would have gone to Duke if only he had gone to college. He could have been a Charlotte Hornet for 20 years instead of one week if only Vlade Divac had made good on his threat to retire rather than accept a trade to Charlotte. But on one unforgettable day in 2006, Charlotte got a look at vintage Kobe from up close.

Dec. 29, 2006. It remains my most indelible memory of Kobe he scored 58 points, took 45 shots, fouled out and ultimately lost in triple-overtime to Char- lotte, 133-124. It was far from the greatest game Kobe ever played, and in fact was a largely unimportant contest for a guy who won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. But it was one of the greatest sporting events ever seen in person.

(It lasted three hours and 20 minutes! George Fore- man showed than 13 years later, a night I re- member for all the right rea- sons. Sunday, on the other hand, will be remembered for all the wrong ones. If any sort of sports fan, the minute you heard about Kobe this weekend will become one of those awful moments that gets embedded in amber inside your brain. It was a pretty Sunday after- noon in the Carolinas. Then the news started to leak out that Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in California.

The news stormed into the translucent bubble of happiness that so many of us get to spend so much of our lives inside, only noticing inside that bubble at all when something punctures it. Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in my living room with several family members, sort of watching a college basketball game on TV, idly wondering if it was about time to go home and walk the dog. My 13-year-old nephew looked up from his phone. this be right Kobe not dead, is he asked. I said, startled.

he were, this channel would be breaking into the Of course, that channel soon was. Every channel was. Kobe was only 41 years old when he died, but he was a one-name icon worldwide. And his daughter and the others on that helicopter mind- numbing. GIANNA AND KOBE I got in the car not long after that news and the End of the World As We Know was blaring on the radio.

I know if it was a tribute to COMMENTARY On Kobe, his Charlotte legacy and all the what-ifs BY SCOTT FOWLER JEFF SINER Kobe Bryant leaves the ball on the court as he walks off with time expiring in the Los Angeles game against the Charlotte Bobcats in 2013 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. SEE FOWLER, 3B.