Green-White-Checker

OXFORD 250 NOTES: Kenny Wallace says race's fans like 'a cult following'

WESTBROOK, Maine -- As far as Kenny Wallace is concerned, there are only two short track races of any merit in the United States. There's the Snowball Derby in the south and there's the Oxford 250 in the north.

And the fan following for the event at Oxford Plains Speedway -- enjoying its 36th edition this Sunday at the track -- is unrivaled by anything else. At least, anything else in sports.

"I think the Oxford 250 is like Jimmy Buffett. The Finheads. It's a following," Wallace said during a recent trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a Nationwide Series race. "Everybody in their region has their deal. The midwest has their race, the west coast has a race, the south has a race.

OXFORD 250: Competitors point to Polewarczyk as favorite to win on Sunday

WESTBROOK, Maine -- The pundits have spoken and to no one's surprise, Joey Polewarczyk Jr. is the overwhelming favorite to win Sunday's TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Well, to no one's surprise except for Polewarczyk himself.

"It's weird," said the typically understated Polewarczyk, who has two career wins at Oxford and finished third in the Oxford 250 last summer. "I mean, last year was the first '250' I ever qualified for."

OXFORD 250: It's OK -- Kenny Wallace wants you to have high expecations for him

Kenny Wallace envisions himself more like Kevin Harvick than J.J. Yeley.

For fans of Sunday's 36th annual TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway, that means seeing a driver putting being competitive ahead of simply showing up for the appearance check. Wallace is a nine-time Nationwide Series race winner, and one of the most popular drivers in series history -- a driver that's turned his popularity into a successful television career as a racing analyst.

But Wallace defines himself as a short-track racer, one who runs nearly 50 races each year, primarily on dirt across the midwest. He'll give the '250' a try in a car owned by local Mark Brackett as a teammate to Ricky Rolfe.

Travis Adams guarantees himself a spot in next weekend's Oxford 250

One driver already has his ticket punched for the starting grid in next weekend's TD Banknorth 250.

Travis Adams won his third 40-lap Late Model feature of the season at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday night, becoming the first driver to secure a provisional starting spot in next Sunday's prestigious Oxford 250.

Ben Ashline and Donnie Wentworth trailed Adams at the checkered flag.

Adams leads the current Late Model standings at Oxford, guaranteeing him the track's provisional in the '250.'

ON SITE: An outsider now, Shawn Martin finds inside track to victory lane

OXFORD, Maine -- It's been so long since Shawn Martin won a Late Model feature at Oxford Plains Speedway, he needed a cheat sheet in victory lane to remind himself to thank his sponsors.

How long had it been? Even Martin couldn't remember, but he won't have to think back that far anymore.

Martin pulled off a dramatic and surprising pass to the outside of 4-time track champion Travis Adams as the pair raced under the white flag, beating Adams at his own game to win the first round of the 50-lap Summer Slam Triple Crown Series on Sunday night.

ON SITE: Skip Tripp takes physical battle in Strictly Stock feature at OPS

OXFORD, Maine -- Skip Tripp and Mike Short kept their tempers well hidden following a two-car battle for the Strictly Stock win on Sunday night.

Tripp held Short off on two restarts and a sideways battle to the checkered flag, as the defending division champion won the 50-lap Summer Slam Triple Crown Series event at Oxford Plains Speedway.

"He kind of got mad at me at the last restart, when he didn't quite have the hole and I got him," Tripp said of Short, referring to a restart before the halfway mark of the event.

ON SITE: Justin Karkos motors to Mini Stock win at Oxford Plains Speedway

OXFORD, Maine -- With a straight face, Justin Karkos expects the competition to believe he actually had a problem with his No. 51.

Karkos led every lap of the 50-lap Mini Stock feature at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday night, capturing round No. 1 in the Summer Slam Triple Crown Series. Karkos held off Jimmy Childs for the victory.

"I was a little bit nervous when I couldn't pull away from Jimmy, but he's a good driver," Karkos said. "I had motor problems, but I'll get that fixed."

ON SITE: Taking a look at the Summer Slam Triple Crown Series at Oxford Plains

CLICK HERE to see the complete gallery.

ON SITE: We've made the long Sunday drive over to Oxford Plains Speedway

OXFORD, Maine -- Well, we flipped a coin and ended up taking one of the single-worst road trips of the year over to Oxford Plains Speedway.

Not because there's fireworks on the schedule for tonight. Not because I've got a cough that's left my voice sounding like a pre-pubescent 14-year-old. Not because I'm apparently sitting in the only press box in Maine with assigned seating.

Nope. Because after 117 consecutive days of rain, it would seem every driver over the age of 65 decided to hit the road for a real "Sunday drive" today.

Rain claims first round of Oxford's Triple Crown Series for a second time

Oxford Plains Speedway rained out for the second time in three days.

Track officials made the decision to pull the plug on Saturday night's Fourth of July program shortly before 3 p.m. A third attempt to run the first round of Oxford's Summer Slam Triple Crown Series will take place on Sunday night, July 5th.

The green flag flies at 6:30 p.m.

Oxford Plains forced to postpone first round of Triple Crown series

The first round of the Summer Slam Triple Crown Series at Oxford Plains Speedway has been postponed.

Continued rain and the forecast for more this evening forced track officials to call off Thursday night's program.

The Triple Crown event will be moved to Saturday night, with 50-lap features for the Late Model, Strictly Stock and Mini Stock divisions followed by the regularly scheduled fireworks display.

ON PIT ROAD: Christmas in July, Cup drivers and a cracked-up drug policy

 

It's Thursday again. That means it's time to roll the old Mini Stock out of the garage, wipe the dust off and shake down the setup with a spin around the dirt track at the end of the street. With that, here's the latest list of notes collected in a dog-eared notebook over the last few weeks...

* IMAGINE BEING 22 years old and seeing that the dream job you wanted forever is nothing more than a nightmare, littered with DNQs and 37th-place finishes.

Week, after week, after week...

Polewarczyk, Ramstrom expected in Camping World East race at Thompson

Two local drivers will attempt to be in the field for the next round of the NASCAR Camping World East Series.

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. and Derek Ramstrom are both on the preliminary entry list for the series' race at Thompson International Speedway. The Pepsi 100 shares the card with a 75-lap event for the PASS North Series.

Ramstrom will be making his Camping World East debut, while Polewarczyk will be making his first series start since finishing sixth in a car owned by Dave Davis at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last September.

LOOKING BACK: Putting the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 in the rearview mirror

So, another marathon weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is in the books once again, this one made longer than normal by a trip to Thunder Road to catch up with Tony Stewart on Thursday.

We had rookies, rain and post-race rants, and we had crashes, car-cutting and cured ham. All typical stuff for a Sprint Cup Series weekend at New England's only superspeedway.

But I was still left with a few things to ponder as Loudon, N.H., slowly disappeared in a blurry rearview window on Monday morning...

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. to run family-owned car at Oxford Plains, with BDI logo

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. will run under the BDI Racing banner at the Oxford 250 in less than three weeks, but he'll do so in his own car.

Confusion over a BDI Racing press release issued on Sunday led to speculation that Polewarzyk, who has won twice at Oxford Plains Speedway in ACT competition in a family-owned car, would run a different car at Oxford Plains -- a car fielded by BDI owner Bob Dillner, a SPEED television reporter.

Polewarczyk denied that on Monday.

BDI Racing signs deal with Joey Polewarczyk Jr.

Joey Polewarczyk Jr. is adding a few races to his schedule this season.

BDI Racing and owner Bob Dillner have announced that Polewarczyk has been added to the team's driver lineup for an undisclosed number of races.

Among the races Polewarczyk has been signed for are the Oxford 250 next month and the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September. Polewarczyk will continue to campaign for the ACT Late Model Tour title with his family-owned team.

ON SITE: Just a reminder, there's plenty of free parking at New Hampshire

LOUDON, N.H. -- We're off to a screaming start here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, on a damp, overcast, drizzly race day.

A bad omen on the drive through the tunnel to the infield this morning, for sure. Followed the jet dryer in. Here's to hoping we don't see too much of that.

Some other random thoughts from a perpetually miserable auto racing writer some, oh, six and a half hours before the green flag:

Tim Brackett makes his return to Oxford Plains Speedway victory lane

One week after wrecking while challenging for the lead and five years removed from his last victory, Tim Brackett made a triumphant return to victory lane.

Brackett held off a furious charge from four-time track champion to win the 40-lap Late Model feature at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday night -- the first of three races in an eight-day span for the division.

Brackett's last win at the track came in 2004, when he was in the Pro Stock division. He now has 43 career wins.

ON SITE: Steve Wallace says an 8-inch race tire on a Late Model is 'weird'

LOUDON, N.H. -- Steve Wallace called the ACT Late Model package one of the strangest things he's ever heard of.

Wallace, the son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace, will race along with uncle Kenny Wallace in the Oxford 250 next month. A test session for both drivers at Oxford Plains Speedway was rained out on Friday night.

"That's really weird, you know. I've never heard of that before," Steve Wallace said.

NOTEBOOK: Eddie Mac, Joey Pole and a bunch of other random tidbits from NHMS

LOUDON, N.H. -- Hoping that we can avoid a monsoon like the one that hit here yesterday afternoon, we're alive and well at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Lots of news trickling out of here, most of it having to do with local racing and what we're all going to see both in the short-term and long-term. And, as usual, there are some interesting perspectives from the kids who are now in the feeder divisions.

Here's a quick rundown: