Oxford Plains Speedway's WESTBROOK, Maine -- It all began at Oxford Plains Speedway, and this weekend Joey Polewarczyk Jr. is hoping he can finish the job there, too.
It wasn't until he got to Oxford Plains in the summer of 2007 that Polewarczyk finally believed he could get a handle on this whole racing thing. "The first place where I really saw anything coming in was at Oxford back in '07," the 20-year-old Hudson, N.H., native said.
been good to New Hampshire driver Polewarczyk enters Sunday's 36th annual TD Banknorth 250 as a clear-cut favorite to win the summer's crown jewel event, and should he be able to do just that, it couldn't come at a more fitting venue.
"I finished third -- my first podium finish for ACT. That's when it all started to click. I had the confidence in the car that it was a good car, and I had the confidence in myself that I could do this.
"It all started at Oxford."
Polewarczyk has continued to shine at the track, too. He won an ACT Late Model Tour race there last June, finished third after battling with Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick for the lead in last year's Oxford 250 and won the ACT stop at the track back in May.
To put it mildly, Polewarczyk noted: "Me and Oxford just seem to get along."
"I personally love to search for lines. Until I find a line that I want to run, I search for where the car's most comfortable driving," Polewarczyk said. "If your car is handling bad at Oxford, you go up top and run up top. I honestly think if your car is horrible, you run up top and it will fix it all. That's my theory at Oxford. If your car's not handling on the bottom, just go four lanes up and it will be fine."
There will be other drivers in the field Sunday with their own shots at winning, too -- including Brad Leighton, who has two ACT Late Model Tour wins this year, and Travis Adams who has three feature wins in weekly competition at Oxford this season.
Noted car builders. Accomplished Oxford Plains veterans. Up and coming drivers in the northeast and Canada. All entered, and likely all chasing Polewarczyk's No. 97.
It's just been that kind of year for Polewarczyk, whom Tony Stewart praised at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month as a driver with future Cup potential and whom Harvick was impressed by last summer.
More locally, Polewarczyk won the VT Governor's Cup 150 at Thunder Road in June and led a PASS North Series race before finishing sixth on Tuesday night in his first career Super Late Model start.
All eyes will be on Polewarczyk this weekend at Oxford, from the time practice begins early Saturday morning until the race's champion is crowned late Sunday night. Just don't expect him to buckle.
"When I first started ACT, the pressure would get to me. I had a lot of pressure on me, and I made stupid mistakes," said Polewarczyk, second in the ACT standings this year, 23 points behind Scott Payea with three top-5s in seven races. "Of course, I was still learning Late Models. If I went home with a full car, that was like a win for us. Now, it's just kind of do what you can do. You can only do your best and you can't do anymore than you can."
He's not yet grown entirely accustomed to seeing his name in proverbial lights, either. He said on Wednesday at the annual TD Banknorth 250 media day that sometimes he still feels like that 8-year-old kid watching his father as a car owner winning races and championships with driver Wayne Helliwell at Lee USA Speedway -- just wondering if he'd ever reach that level in his racing career.
Now his name is bandied about by Cup drivers, media members hound him with interview requests and everybody knows who he is.
Yet, Polewarczyk is still the same young driver geniunely surprised to hear his name tossed out by many as the pre-race favorite at Oxford.
In a race where the favorites have traditionally been drivers and teams with years of experience either specifically at Oxford or on a regional tour, Polewarczyk already has people convinced that he's capable of winning -- even after only qualifying for the event for the first time last year.
He'd like for a win to be a springboard to bigger things.
"It's only my second 250. Usually it takes a while to be considered a favorite to win a race like the Oxford 250. I'll take it," he said. "That's my dream one day, to make it all the way (to the Cup Series)... The way I look at it is it's my dream, and I'm going to work as hard as I can for it and do everything in my power possible -- but I'm not going to be the person that if it doesn't happen, I'm not going to regret it my whole life. I'm going to be happy in my life."
A racing life that could come full circle at Oxford Plains Speedway.
It's where it all started.
-- TRAVIS BARRETT, GWC Editor
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