ROCKINGHAM – Mayor Gene McLaurin was the first in line to purchase tickets for the return of racing to Rockingham Speedway next year.

SANFORD – The Pantry, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTRY), the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern U.S., today announced financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter and year ended Sept. 27, 2007.

RALEIGH – For the third consecutive year and the sixth in the last seven, North Carolina is the state with the “Top Business Climate,” according to Site Selection magazine.

SOUTHERN PINES – Scribner Associates Inc. has been awarded federal contracts totaling $1.3 million – one to help NASA with a planned mission to Mars, and another to help the Department of Energy with fuel cell membrane management technology.

RALEIGH – The Research Triangle Regional Partnership has teamed with Futures Inc. to provide an online platform that matches community college talent with the workforce needs of growing companies and industries in the 13-county Research Triangle Region of North Carolina.

PITTSBORO – An in-depth evaluation of energy usage in the Chatham County schools has identified more than $100,000 in potential energy savings for the school system.

LEVEL CROSS – Petty Enterprises, the winningest organization in NASCAR, announced today its first move since its inception in 1949.

DUNN – The boards of directors of New Century Bancorp (NASDAQ: NCBC), New Century Bank and New Century Bank South have voted to merge the two banks early next year, company officials announced today.

DUNN – New Century Bancorp, the holding company for New Century Bank and New Century Bank South, reported a net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 of $274,000, compared to net income of $1.1 million for the same period in 2006.

MOCKSVILLE – Bank of the Carolinas Corporation announced that its subsidiary, Bank of the Carolinas, and Randolph Bank & Trust Company each has chosen to terminate their merger agreement dated April 12 after Randolph’s shareholders did not approve the merger.

TROY – First Bank has announced the introduction of First Deposit, a remote deposit capture service for its business clients.

ASHEBORO – CommunityOne Bank, N.A. and Capital Bank have signed a letter of intent for CommunityOne to acquire the Greensboro office of Capital Bank located at 1702 Battleground Avenue.