Category Archives: Oxford

August 28, 2023 · 7:10 pm

Kyle Richardson celebrates Oxford 250 weekend with Mad Bombers feature win

(Oxford ME) Their last race wasn’t what you expected.

A 20-lap feature with no cautions?

For the Mad Bombers, that is unusual. I haven’t seen all their thirteen features this season but I’m believing that cautions are the rule not the exception.

On August 12^th it was clear sailing. Those up front, stayed up front.

The unpredictability of the Mad Bombers returned AFTER that race ended when the apparent winner wasn’t registered to drive that car and was disqualified. Derek McKee (formerly in second) accepted the “gift.”

Switched from Friday night because of the rain, the Mad Bombers were part of the opening acts on Oxford 250 Sunday.

Before the large crowd, the Mad Bombers reverted to form and provided some exciting action. The outcome was in doubt and the interactions were numerous.

Cars collide on the first turn of the 20-lap feature

Kyle Richards came away with his first win.

Kyle crosses with the win and Corey Morgan takes second

The best Kyle had done previously, in this his first year in the Mad Bombers division, was 4^th in May and 2^nd in July.

“I had a great car today,” explained Kyle afterwards.

“We usually put one tire on a week, but we had four on this time,” he added. “The grip we had today was awesome.”

Kyle knew that he had something special in the heat he won. “We were flying on the outside,” he said.

Kyle needed more than those new tires to get the lead in the 20-lap feature.

Kyle got the help he hoped for on the first turn when a spinout by Cam Richards, in the first row, reshuffled the front of the pack.

Kyle took the high side past the trouble and started in the front row on the restart next to Jon Vargas.

Kyle took the lead but had a battle on his hands for a while with Justin Galloux who had also won his heat.

Also in the mix was points-leader Corey Morgan.

“We came out of that first caution in seventh and worked our way further up,” recalled Corey afterwards.

As Kyle started to extend his lead over Justin and Corey, another caution came out with five laps left.

That restart gave Justin and Corey another clean shot at overtaking the leader. (I thought at the time, that since Kyle and Justin had never won before, and Corey had won four times, I had to like his chances in a five-lap race.)

But Kyle had the pole and the tires and never gave in. Corey, however, had enough time to get second.

“I never thought I had the time to catch the 43 (Justin Gailloux) but the restart gave me the chance,” said Corey.

There have been seven different winners in the thirteen features in the Mad Bomber division. I think that the division has plenty of good drivers although many of them are young. The drivers tend to be aggressive, and the distance (20 laps) is short. Things happen.

In the second heat, Michael Deardon had the lead and looked safe to win it. Suddenly, his car slowed up, nearly causing an accident, and several cars went past before he regained his speed. He ended up third, but that brief speed loss cost him.

In the first heat, Callahan Cox took a spin. Dan Caswell tried to avoid him by turning right but instead went hard into the driver’s-side rear.

Sometimes you see an accident out on the track. Not this time. This was one that you heard…and I was at the top of the pit-side grandstand! Fortunately, Callahan got out of his car and walked on his own to the ambulance where he was checked over. Hopefully, he’s okay.

Justin Gailloux, Kyle Richardson, and Corey Morgan

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Tagged as Callahan Cox, Corey Morgan, Justin Gailloux, Kyle Richardson, Mad Bombers

August 23, 2023 · 6:56 pm

2023 Media Day for the Oxford 250

(Oxford ME) If the weather will only be this nice on Sunday!

Sunny, with a breeze and temperatures in the low 70s.

This afternoon (Wednesday) was Media Day leading up to the 50^th running of the Oxford 250 on Sunday.

Track owner Tom Mayberry hosted the event.

Opportunity was given afterwards to interviews drivers.

I spent time with eight of them and appreciated their cooperation.

Instead of trying to summarize what they said, I have chosen to quote them verbatim as closely as I can off my digital recorder.

This approach does leave you, the reader, unaware of the exact question I asked to get the response I’ve posted. I’m guessing, however, that OPS fans will figure that part out without any help from me.

Johnny Clark – “Hindsight is 20-20. At the time the place was really a one-groove track. I committed going down the backstretch to where I was going, and it just didn’t work out. But, that was a year ago. We can’t play that anymore in our heads. We have just moved past it. There has been no interaction with the winner. We haven’t spoke, and probably won’t. Don’t need to. Trouble won’t happen. I can’t guarantee what could happen on the track. That’s not going to happen on our end.

We’ve done so bad over here lately. I think we’ve exhausted all the things we wanted to try and have gone back to the basics here for the weekend. We’ve been so good at White Mountain this year. Oxford alone hasn’t changed that much. The same people that typically have been running good, are running good. We’re going to flip back the notebook a few years. We’re going back to the 250 notebook continuously to find more speed and comfort. Boy, I’ve failed at that recently here in the four times I’ve raced here. Last year we were in contention, obviously won it in 2020. We’ve been competitive the last eight years. We’ve either led laps or been in the top five. We just want to give ourselves a legitimate shot.

I shouldn’t have lifted behind the lap car. I thought that the lap car was going in a different direction. He surprised me. We were fortunate to spin it out and keep moving. The caution flew and the field was frozen, and we were moving forward and that’s why we restarted where we did. We came home fourth and were lucky it was a DNF.

Hopefully, with the weather the owner can salvage Saturday and Sunday.”

DJ Shaw – “It’s been a lot of years of close and just off on the pit strategy or one wrong move in traffic. There’s been so many years that I’ve made mistakes behind the wheel. We’ve had cars to contend and no one ever knew it because of things I did.

We’re off a little bit in general. I would say that here (OPS) we’ve been above average for us. We’re not winning races but we’re in the top six or so every time out. We have good momentum but not winning momentum.

Last year we won the race leading up to this one. We jumped ship on our strategy too soon I think. We ran near (Cole) Butcher the whole race. I wasn’t getting the track position I wanted. We took four tires first to get the track position we wanted and then took two at the end when everyone was taking four and hung on for 8^th. We knew that it was a move that would cost us a chance at a win, but it gave us a chance for a good finish.”

Dave Farrington – “2020 was our closest chance. We were chasing Johnny (Clark) down with about 25 laps to go. We caught him in lap traffic and then the caution came out. We restarted on the outside and lost it pretty much on that restart. We finished 4^th there and 6^th in 2012.

The crew comes together on race day. Everyone has their assigned task to execute, and they do a heck of a job. We raced close to 200 at Wiscasset this year. We were the first ones off pit road. We beat Mike Hopkins and all those guys. It’s a group of guys who get together for one day and get the job done. My crew is experienced. They make it happen.”

Gabe Brown – “We were lucky to get where we did. We had a good car but went down two laps early. We want to stay on strategy this year and have a chance at the end. If we can stay on strategy we might have a chance at the end. It was definitely good for us that this was a long race. We struggled to qualify and had trouble in the first 20 laps of the race. We were two laps down. We had a good enough car to be up front. We just needed to get there. We hope to start up front and stay up front. To go from two laps down to finishing third was something. It sucked being that close to the win at the end of the race but before that we had never been that close.”

Kate Re – “I would love to have this weather on Sunday, not too hot, not too cold. The rain can really change the track. I’m just here to put my helmet on like everyone else. When it comes to the Oxford 250, I want to be known as just another driver. I don’t want to be singled out because I’m a female up there. We’ll start by trying to race our way in and go from there. This track is greasy with not a lot of grip. You’re constantly turning so it’s not like your normal Thompson with a long straightaway and tight corners. You’re constantly turning. Passing is hard with the lack of grip. I would not be tempted to ride up on the high side. I like the fourth groove out there.”

Mike Rowe – “I think I’ve missed two or three of them out of the fifty. We hope to draw a good number and start up front this Sunday. We won here two or three weeks ago. The cars are so close. It’s hard to move up. It’s no cakewalk. You have to have everything going good for you. You have to have a good pit crew and sponsors to make this thing happen. The memory that sticks out is winning here for the first time. To be the first Mainer to win this was awesome. Tom Mayberry and his crew have done a tremendous job on the track. They’ve done pit row over. The place looks awesome.

It’s great to have Ben in the race. You look out for each other. He won’t be getting by me if I can help it, however.”

Joe Pastore – “I was racing for a different team last year. We put 80 or so laps and yellow came out with 160 laps down. I said, ‘Why don’t we come in and pit for fuel,’ and they said ‘no, we’ve got to make it to 180 and then come in and put 4 tires on.’ We were the 180 yellow. We never made it. We had a great car too all day. I think we had a chance to win it if we’d pitted and got fuel. You never know. There were a bunch of yellows and all that running around on yellow led to our running out of fuel. That was a bad way to give up a chance to win. I wish there had been a dial to signal empty but there wasn’t. We won’t do that this year. Maybe we’ll have full tank at the end!

It should be a great race. I’m racing for a new team. This year we were second here in points for a while and have fallen back to fifth. We ended up winning the big 100-lap race here.”

Ben Rowe – “We’ve raced each other for years. He’s not going to let me by very easily. The other drivers here will tell you, he’s probably the hardest one to get around. I don’t expect him to give me a break. He’s got a separate car, crew, and sponsors. He’s got his own deal and I’ve got mine. We race each other clean. We never rough each other up. The first year I won, we both started on the pole. That’s something you don’t even dream of. I grew up in these stands him bringing me since I was a little kid. This is all we know. Other than work, this is what we do.

The car this year has been good. It’s a matter of starting up front. Last time up we started up front, paced ourselves, and were able to go at the end and stay ahead of Max (Cookson).

You can’t win this thing in the first fifty laps, but you can lose it. You don’t want to get tore up. You want to stay out of trouble. You want to have a boring race until halfway and then start positioning yourself and get yourself right for the end. They say there will be 62 drivers and I say that at least 35 of them have a chance to win.”

Well, there you have it. Interesting things in there.

I can’t resist trying to predict the outcome.

Last year I guessed that it would be one of the Clark’s and that looked like an awfully good choice until things unraveled with eight laps left.

This year I’m going with DJ Shaw. He’s been close and he seems, to me, to be extremely well prepared. He knows what to do, but can he manage the variables that are bound to come on a small track, with so many cars, for a long distance? I say he gets it done on Sunday.

See you at the race.

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Tagged as Ben Rowe, Dave Farrington, DJ Shaw, Gabe Brown, Joe Pastore, Johnny Clark, Kate Re, Mike Rowe, Oxford 250, Tom Mayberry

August 13, 2023 · 6:34 pm

Derek McKeen wins his 2nd Mad Bombers feature

Derek McKeen with his mother and brother and tonight’s winner’s trophy

(Oxford ME) The Mad Bombers 20-lap feature is always interesting.

Spinouts, lead changes, and cautions are usually part of the package.

None of that tonight.

Those who started in the front had a good chance to still be there at the end.

Car 161 never trailed in the twenty laps

Derek McKeen (second inside) was one of those benefitting from the nice starting place.

“I was just glad it went green to checker,” said Derek. “That helped us a lot.”

Everyone stayed out of trouble and Derek finished second.

Derek McKeen finishes second……..for a while

“We kept it tight on the inside and didn’t let anybody have any room,” said Derek.

But Derek’s good fortune on the track continued into the tech inspection area on this night.

When the tech inspectors checked the paperwork of the winner, it was discovered the car wasn’t registered to him.

The winner’s mistake cost him first and gave the win to Derek McKeen.

Corey Morgan made his usual run on the Angel’s Expressway

The victory for Derek ends four weeks of serious struggling at OPS; (July 8 – 19^th), (July 22 – 17^th), (July 30 – 14^th), and (August 5 – 18^th).

“We’ve had a lot of good runs (first on May 27^th) and a lot of DNFs,” said Derek. “It’s been a rough year.”

“Unpredictable” would be the best way to describe the Mad Bombers Division after eleven weeks of racing. That is what happens when you put 20+ drivers on a small track for just 20 laps.

The next time out for the Mad Bombers is on the Friday of the Oxford 250 weekend. Worth the watch!

Three of the mothers of Mad Bomber drivers

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Tagged as Derek McKeen, Mad Bombers Division

August 9, 2023 · 9:34 pm

Nate Barth wins second Mad Bombers feature

Nate Barth wins his second Mad Bombers feature

(Oxford ME) It had been a long time.

Three-and-a-half months.

But Saturday night Nate Barth got that elusive second Mad Bombers victory after nine unsuccessful tries.

“We had a good car,” Nate said afterwards. “The thing has been pretty fast all year and finally we had some good luck and pulled it off.”

That “good luck” part had to do with avoiding accidents and gaining ground when they happened….and there were several of them.

Nate started 13^th in the twenty-lap feature.

“I was running 7^th or 8^th for the first half of the race,” he recalled. “There was a wreck on Turn #3 that I avoided and pulled off some spots and got to 5^th. On the next restart, I got the lead and hung on through a couple of wild restarts for the win.”

Corey Morgan came in second. Corey has won four times and has been in the hunt on almost all of the Mad Bombers eleven features this season.

I continue to find the Mad Bombers very entertaining to watch. You put twenty race cars on a small track and require them to sort things out in just twenty laps you’re almost certain to see a good show.

There will be contact. Accidents will happen. Three wide is normal. Hard feelings can be stirred.

“There certainly is a lot of beating and banging in this division,” said Nate. “It’s an entry level division. Everyone is just trying to get their feet wet so that they can move forward.”

Nate gets the lead followed by Nick Wilson

Today’s race did end in controversy. Nate thought he had won and then found out that he hadn’t.

“We went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows,” recalled Nate. Apparently, there was a problem during one of the cautions. But that was resolved, and Nate was reinstalled as the winner.

Nate in the lead followed by Tony Gibbons and Corey Morgan

Tony Gibbons gets the lead with Corey Morgan 2nd and Nate 3rd

Nate back in front with Tony Gibbons 2nd and Corey Morgan 3rd

Final lap with Nate leading and Corey Morgan 2nd

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Tagged as Corey Morgan, Mad Bombers, Nate Barth, Oxford Plains Speedway

July 31, 2023 · 8:54 pm

Cody Macomber Wins Mad Bombers Feature

Cody Macomber (4) finishes ahead of Cam Richards (37R) and Corey Morgan (26)

(Oxford ME) There’s nothing quite like the first time.

“It was awesome,” was how young Cody Macomber summed up his first win in the Mad Bombers Division tonight.

Cody Macomber with his first trophy in the Mad Bombers Division

Cody was in the Rookie Division last year and had been successful there.

“I had plenty of podiums,” he recalled.

This year Cody moved up to the Mad Bombers where the drivers are more experienced, and the field is crowded.

Through the first nine races before tonight it has been tough. Seventh place finishes in May and June were as good as it got.

That’s probably why tonight’s win was so surprising and so sweet for Cody.

I asked Cody what was different that would explain the startling win. “I started up front (behind pole-setter Tony Gibbons) and the car was good.”

Cody starts behind pole-setter Tony Gibbons

Cody stayed low on the track for most of the 20-lap feature and it paid off. Once he had the lead, he kept the inside and forced challengers to try outside passes.

Cody’s last challenger (Corey Morgan) ventured up to the “Angels’ Highway” on the track hoping to get by the young leader but couldn’t get it done.

Cody in the lead with Maddy Herrick (95) second

Corey Morgan (26) ventures onto the Angels’ Highway

Asked about future races in the division, Cody said with a smile, “We’re going to drive to the front and do it again.”

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Tagged as Cody Macomber, Mad Bombers Division, Oxford Plains Speedway

August 25, 2022 · 6:19 pm

Preview of the 49th Oxford Plains Speedway 250

Cassius Clark’s winning car from last year

(Oxford) Go ahead, try to predict the outcome of Sunday’s 49^th annual Oxford 250. (I will at the end of this entry.)

On Thursday afternoon, the OPS track owner (Tom Mayberry) and a collection of race entrants gathered on the track ahead of the Oxford 250.

OPS owner Tom Mayberry with Mike and Ben Rowe

Three tents were set up on the edge of the track for the purpose of lessening the heat for the projected warm afternoon.

Just as the proceedings were set to begin, the rains came. Instead of the heat it was the down-coming water that the tents deflected.

Tom Mayberry laughed and said, “We could have been inside but there was 0% chance of rain.”

The unpredictable weather in these parts and projecting the OPS 250 winner on Sunday night are certainly similar: No one really knows for sure how things will go.

I had the chance to discuss the upcoming race with seven drivers on Media Day: Cassius Clark, Eddie MacDonald, Johnny Clark, DJ Shaw, Gabe Brown, Max Cookson, and Bubba Pollard.

Some of the OPS drivers I interviewed today

Owner Tom Mayberry said he expects sixty+ drivers to try to qualify and have forty-two drivers in the race.

Below is a selection of quotes from each of the drivers.

CASSIUS CLARK – “I haven’t raced since last year’s 250. I did attend a race but sat in the grandstands. I’ve had my fair amount of laps around this place. It hasn’t changed. It’s still a big circle. Just planning to get back in the car and go. We’ll have plenty of practice this weekend. I never watched last year’s race. I did see the highlights on TV. I haven’t thought too much about racing but when I walk though the kitchen in my house, I can see the trophy sitting on the mantle. It’s a good memory. (Regarding Curtis Geary’s bumping on the final corner) We kind of expected someone to get into the back of us there. I was prepared for it. I slowed my pace down a little anticipating getting run into. I didn’t want to get knocked off the bottom there. He was going to have to do a lot more bumping to get by me through there. I haven’t seen any of the guys since last year. The car hasn’t raced since last year.”

EDDIE MACDONALD – “We switched cars up last week. There are a lot of good guys here. This is always a tough race. Everything must work out for you. It’s a lot of fun up there in the upper groove when the car handles right. Last year we ended pitting for four new tires near the end. With 50-60 laps left we had the lead but then we ended up getting spun out going around a lap car. Hopefully on Sunday we’ll be there at the end and have a shot at winning.”

JOHNNY CLARK – “Hoping for a little better than last year. You try to put yourself in a position where good things can happen. We want to be in the top five near the end with a shot at it. Last year we were too tight on the last set of tires. We would have been better off to have left them alone. You don’t know if it will be a long-run race or a short-run race.”

DJ SHAW – “We won the last race here a couple of weeks ago. I was running 17^th through forty laps and then the car decided to take off. I’m not usually too good driving on the ‘Angels’ Express’. The main goal in going higher is not to lose out there. We did everything wrong all day last year. We pitted at the wrong time and then didn’t have fresher tires than the people in front of us. We got caught up in a skirmish and just decided to park it. Hopefully we’ll improve and get back to the previous year. This is the best momentum I’ve had going into this race. There are too many guys who have a shot to feel confident that you can win.”

GABE BROWN – “Luckily, we’ve gotten in on a provisional. I think this year we’ve actually got a car that can make the race and be competitive. In 2018 I raced here weekly and ran up front every week. We then struggled in the PASS races with the same car and against the same people. This place changes so much but that is the character of it. I think that we have a better handle on it this year.”

MAX COOKSON – “It’s a pretty cool feeling to be in the race. I’ve watched all the races forever. I’ve watched the races online, picking them apart. I admire Bubba (Pollard). He’s won everything from here to California. I want to do what he’s doing. We have the car. We need to stay patient. We’ve got to complete all 250 laps. We’re putting a crew together. I have a lot of people involved from my hometown. Some have never been to a racetrack before. We’ve had them over practicing pit stops.”

BUBBA POLLARD – “What keeps me coming back (from Georgia) is the atmosphere, history, and the fans. You look around and see all the campers and fans. We had great success a couple of years ago. We want to get our ducks in a row and our feet back on the ground. We didn’t qualify last year so we started 40^th. We were able to drive up toward the front and have a top ten race car. Hopefully, we can build on notes we took from last year. The first year here we came in not knowing what to expect. We didn’t know how the racetrack changed. We ended up winning. I believe that the last few years we’ve been overthinking it.”

I put this at the bottom because how many readers will actually read this far? I am about to make my predictions.

I believe that the winner’s last name will be “Clark.” It could be Cassius again or it could be Johnny.

Cassius won last year. His car is well rested and so is he. He has finished in the top eight in six of the last eight years.

Johnny won in 2020. He has the best record of anyone over the past three years never finishing lower than fifth.

Those two are my favorites but I must give consideration to several others in the field.

Derek Griffith finished 3^rd last year and 2^nd in 2019.

Curtis Geary was a close 2^nd last year.

Joey Doiron finished 5^th or better in three of the last four years.

DJ Shaw finished 6^th or better in three of the last four years.

Trevor Sanborn has been excellent at OPS this year and finished 8^th in the last two 250s.

Dave Farrington has been in the top eighteen for five straight years.

Brandon Barker has been in the top nineteen for four years in a row.

Ben Ashline has top-thirteen finishes the last three years.

Plenty of possibilities with very little certainly. Could make for a very exciting Sunday at Oxford Plains Speedway.

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Tagged as Bubba Pollard, Cassius Clark, DJ Shaw, Eddie MacDonald, Gabe Brown, Johnny Clark, Max Cookson

September 26, 2020 · 10:43 pm

Alex Mowatt wins Bandits finale and points championship at Oxford Plains Speedway

Alex Mowatt takes a victory lap after winning the Bandits feature tonight

Alex Mowatt

(Oxford ME) Great start.

Great finish.

And in between wasn’t so bad for Alex Mowatt either!

Tonight, at Oxford Plains Speedway, 21-year-old Alex won the Bandits twenty-lap feature and took the points championship as well.

“We got what we wanted,” said Alex afterwards.

Alex was the winner on opening night (June 27^th) and finished the same way in tonight’s season finale.

In between those victories, Alex won two other races and never finished lower than fifth in any race in a very competitive division.

Spinout early in the race

This season OPS used a 3-week rolling average to place cars in the Bandits features. That rewarded the faithful attendees who weren’t doing very well with front-of-the-pack starts. The “successful” drivers had to start further back and get by cars to get to the front. This arrangement had a habit of making the first few laps exciting to watch.

Tonight was no exception. Lap One, spinout and a caution. Lap Two, spinout and another caution.

Fortunately, for Alex and his brother Lukas who finished second, the spinouts didn’t bother them.

Lukas Mowatt

“I started in ninth,” explained Lukas. “and was on the bottom. I saw it happen and was able to sneak under it.”

Alex gained ground on the first caution and had the lead after the second caution.

After that tonight’s race reminded me of many from last year. The cars got in a row on the bottom (Alex, Lukas, Eric Parlin, Chad Wills, Ralph Green) and stayed there, lap after lap.

“If you pull up to try to pass you may not get back,” said Eric Parlin.

“After the first few laps, everybody kind of cleared out and it was clear sailing,” said Lukas.

Lukas told me that he felt lucky to have finished second. “I changed a tire after the heat and it probably wasn’t the greatest idea,” he said. “The car was really loose in the feature. I had all I could do to keep it under control.”

Chad Wills was 5^th tonight and finished 2^nd in the Bandits points standings. “It was an up-and-down season for us. We won two races and used four different cars. We won the overall championship last year so I’m happy with how this season ended up.”

Eric Parlin finished 3rd in the race and 4th in the points standings

Eric Parlin used the same “up-and-down” description for his Bandits season. He won a race on Week #3 after finishing 10^th and 15^th the two previous weeks. He also had his share of car trouble. “Please include in the story how thankful I am for the help Caleb Proctor and Brandon Caston have given me,” said Eric. “I never would have finished 4^th in points without them.”

Six different drivers (Alex, Lukas, Chad, Eric, Jeff Libby, Travis Verrill) took checkered flags during the eleven-race season. Next year looks as if it may be just as competitive. Alex Mowatt was the only one that I spoke with who wasn’t certain he’d race with the Bandits.

“I’m going to have a full season of Bandits next year,” said Lukas who didn’t compete until August. “I’ve got a new car.”

“I’ll be back racing again,” said Eric. “It’s fun. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a blast. I’ve raced other tracks just trying to get more experience.”

Chad Wills

“I’d like to try the Outlaws,” said Chad, “but my budget will keep me in the Bandits division for a while.”

I have gotten used to the small crowds in the grandstands. It would be nice to have that all changed to the way it was come next season.

Really impressed with the driving skills of Alex Mowatt. His ability to race up on the track kept him away from much of the trouble early in races. Never finishing lower than fifth enabled him to win the points championship by a wide margin. He was a distant 7^th in 2019.

Nice crisp fall night for racing. There was only one race (of eleven) postponed in 2020.

The delayed start of the racing season worked well for me because my wife and I don’t usually arrive in Maine until June.

I enjoyed interacting with the cooperative/appreciative drivers.

All the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.

I am on Twitter (mcclellandpeter) and Instagram (mcclellandmiscellanea).

Eric Parlin, Travis Verrill, and Chad Wills

Alex and Lukas Mowatt finished 1-2 in tonight’s feature

Alex Mowatt under the checkered flag in the Bandits feature

The lineup for many laps – Alex, Lukas, Eric, Chad, and Ralph Green

Start of the feature

Jeff Libby, winner in Week 10, off with car trouble

Chad Wills chased by Lukas Mowatt in the 2nd heat

Alex Mowatt passes Eric Parlin in the first heat

First heat – Alex Mowatt on the upper level

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Tagged as Alex Mowatt, Chad Wills, Eric Parlin, Lukas Mowatt, Travis Verrill

September 12, 2020 · 9:53 pm

Jeff Libby gets first Bandits win at Oxford Plains Speedway

Jeff Libby got that elusive first feature win tonight at Oxford Plains Speedway

Jeff Libby (44) never trailed in his heat or in the feature.

(Oxford ME) Food can be a great motivator.

“My friend Chris Foster told me that if I won tonight, he’d buy me some ice cream,” explained tonight’s Bandits winner Jeff Libby laughing afterwards. “Now I’ve got to go find him.” Good luck with that!

Last time the Bandits raced (August 28^th) at Oxford Plains Speedway, Jeff broke through with his first heat win. Tonight, he topped that with not only a heat win but also his first feature’s win.

“We had great starting positions (front row), new tires, and a crew that has been working real hard on this car,” Jeff explained.

All those things came together on this night to make it easy for the driver from Auburn (ME). “We led all the green laps today,” recalled Jeff. “That was awesome. It felt amazing to finally win.”

Jeff is the fifth different driver to get a checkered flag in the ten Bandits races to date.

Shelby, Mason, and Chad Wills after tonight’s 2nd place finish

Chad Wills, who finished second, saw the multiple winners as a good thing for the division: “Seeing others win, opens peoples’ eyes to their chances of building a car and doing the same.”

“Jeff has improved every year,” added Chad. “He’s a lot more competitive than he’s been in years past.”

In the 20-lap feature, Jeff started in the front next to rookie Doug Churchill. Three laps into the race, Jeff was away from the pack and on his way to an easy win. Not so fast.

On Lap Three, Eric Parlin (driving Chad Proctor’s car) and points leader Alex Mowatt collided bringing out a caution.

“It was my fault,” said Eric post-race. “I’ve got to do better.”

Getting ready for the restart in the Bandits feature

The caution gave the field a chance to get another crack at the lead. “When you’re out front you never want to see yellow,” said Jeff.

But yellow it was. On this night, however, it didn’t matter. Jeff flew away from Chad Wills and the rest of the Bandits on the restart and restored a sizable lead quickly.

“I thought that we might be able to battle it out with Jeff a little bit,” said Chad, “but as the laps ticked off, he just pulled away.”

Chad ended up feeling fortunate that he held off Luke Mowatt (winner on 250 weekend) for second. “I thought that Luke had a faster car,” explained Chad. “It forced me to protect the bottom a little more because if Luke got under me, I would have been 6^th before I could get back down. I appreciated Luke driving me clean.”

Alex Mowatt, who was put at the back of the pack from the Lap Three spinout, rallied to finish fifth. Because the starting positions in the Bandits feature are determined by a 3-week rolling average, the points leader is regularly needing to rally to improve a bad starting position. Alex has accomplished this feat so often that he should be the 2020 Bandits points leader after the divisions next, and final, race of the season on September 26^th.

Ralph Green ended up 4^th.

Jeff Libby leads Dean Jordan in the first heat

Jeff Libby defeated Dean Jordan and won the first heat handily.

The second heat featured a tight battle between Alex Mowatt and Eric Parlin. Alex, who seems to thrive on the upper levels of the track, pulled by late in the race to take the win.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

I am also on Twitter (McClellandPeter) and Instagram (McClellandMiscellanea).

Travis Verrill (24) veers off course in the feature

Alex Mowatt (11) and Eric Parlin (04) off the track in the feature

Jeff Libby all alone in the lead early in the feature

Jeff Libby pulls away early in the feature

Getting ready for the start of the Bandits feature

Alex Mowatt (11) gets past Eric Parlin (04) in the 2nd heat

Eric Parlin (04) pressed by Alex Mowatt (11) in the 2nd heat

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Tagged as Alex Mowatt, Chad Wells, Eric Parlin, Jeff Libby, Ralph Green

August 30, 2020 · 10:22 pm

Johnny Clark wins the 47th Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway

Johnny Clark is all smiles after winning the 47th Oxford 250

Johnny Clark moments after winning the Oxford 250

(Oxford ME) Please don’t tell me that you had Johnny Clark winning the 47th Oxford 250 on Sunday.

The 41-year-old from Farmingdale (ME) hadn’t won a race at Oxford Plains Speedway since 2005.

Johnny was also the guy on July 18^th at OPS who finished 26^th, three laps behind the winner Curtis Gerry.

But there Johnny was on Sunday night under the Victory Lane banner.

I think that it is fair to say that to win the Oxford 250 you must be lucky. And likewise, your closest competitors must be unlucky.

Everyone in the top five had the car to win but four of the top five recalled, post-race, things that happened that cost them the top spot.

Jeff Taylor came in second

Whether it was confusion in the pits (Jeff Taylor), missing a shift on a new car (Joey Doiron), frustrations with the nine cautions (Dave Farrington Jr) or getting behind a stalled car before pit road (Mike Hopkins), all of them would have won but….

The caution on Lap 180 was the killer for both Jeff Taylor and Mike Hopkins.

Jeff (57), who has now come in second three times, went in for tires during that caution on that lap. He left the pits and, to the surprise of everyone, came back into the pits again.

“I thought that I had gone through a stop sign leaving the pits,” said Jeff, “so I penalized myself by coming back in. I don’t know if it was the right move or not, but that’s the one I made. Inevitably, it cost us our chance.”

When Jeff left the pits the second time, he was now in tenth place rather than 3^rd place right behind Johnny Clark.

Joey Doiron was third

Johnny would quickly take the lead from Alan Tardiff and never give up the front the rest of the way. Jeff rallied from 10^th to settle for second. But oh did that pit-road malfunction hurt him!

“If he hadn’t done that, he’d probably be here (Victory Lane) instead of me, wouldn’t he,” said Johnny Clark during the post-race interview.

Mike Hopkins grabbed the lead in Lap 98. “We had the car to win,” he said afterwards. “We went from 11^th to the lead and made everyone else look silly doing it.”

Mike would lose the front some thirty laps later but was still in the top five. His chance to get tires and challenge for the top spot went south as he attempted to get onto pit road on the Lap 180 caution.

“Car 51 (John Peters) stalled going into pit road and we were behind him,” said Mike. “By the time we got around him and got the tires we had lost probably ten spots.”

The top three finishers; Joey Doiron, Johnny Clark, and Jeff Taylor

Joey Doiron (Berwick ME) finished third despite having trouble earlier in the race. “I had only driven this car six or seven times,” explained Joey. “It’s a different chassis than I’m used to driving. On Lap 100 I was running second to Jeff (Taylor) and I missed a shift and I think I cut something down trying to get out of the way. I ended up with a flat right front tire. Luckily, we were able to get a timely yellow and do something about a tire with only 12 pounds of air in it. We were a lap down after that because we had lost all our track positioning. We did come back strong at the end.”

Mike Hopkins was fifth

When I thought pre-race about who I thought should be the favorite, my choice was Dave Farrington Jr. You talk about momentum going into a race!

“The month of August was incredible,” said Dave. “We won four straight here (OPS). A lot of momentum carried in here and a lot of people had high hopes for us.”

Dave had actually beaten Johnny Clark two weeks ago at OPS.

The nine cautions were the problem for Dave.

“We had more cautions in this 250 than a lot of other ones,” he said. “I don’t know why that was. Not enough patience. I’m not sure. We didn’t want cautions. We want to go long green-flag runs and they didn’t help us there.”

There were two cautions in the final twenty-seven laps. “I think that we would have caught Johnny if it had stayed green,” suggested Dave.

Jeff Taylor took the lead on Lap 24 (from Alan Tardiff) and had, at one point, a six-second lead over the rest of the field.

Johnny Clark

“We weren’t bad at the beginning of the race but Jeff (Taylor) was stellar,” added Johnny. “We had to go and just stay on the lead lap and let the guys in the pits do their jobs, and it’s up to you after that. That’s exactly how it worked out.”

Johnny got right tires on Lap 91 and four tires on Lap 180.

Johnny came into 2020 not having won a race since 2016. The restrictions of Covid-19 kept him close to home and helped turn things around. “We worked so hard right from March,” he said. “The fact that I was forced to slow down a ton has been huge benefit for my family and everything else.”

Disappointing that the grandstand “crowd” was limited to 200 people. That place holds 8,000. Don’t start me on Governor Mills (D)!

“I wish that I could have heard the roar of the crowd,” added Johnny. “It was awesome to win. Even better than I thought it would be.”

Saturday’s rainout turned Sunday into a morning/afternoon/evening racing event. It was almost 8 o’clock when the 250 started.

That fact had Dave Farrington wondering about being better prepared. “It’s way cooler than we’ve raced all year. Maybe we should have practiced in temperatures like this.”

All of the pictures will enlarge considerably if you click on them.

I am on Twitter (McClellandPeter) and Instagram (McClelland Miscellanea).

Joey Doiron, Johnny Clark, and Jeff Taylor with trophies

Johnny with daughter Alivia (left) and Miranda (right)

With hand raised, Johnny Clark crosses the finish line

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Tagged as Dave Farrington Jr, Jeff Taylor, Joey Doiron, Johnny Clark, Mike Hopkins

August 28, 2020 · 10:23 pm

Mowatt and Mowatt dominate Week 9 in Bandits Division at Oxford Plains Speedway

Luke Mowatt (18) wins the Bandits feature for the first time

Alex Mowatt (current Bandits points leader) finished second

Jeff Libby gets an elusive win

(Oxford ME) Racing was back.

At least the way I remember it.

The pits were crowded, and race cars were in places unused until today.

The parking lot was transformed into a campground. Fires were burning and, I suspect, stories of previous races were being shared.

Races were won and for the first time since June 27^th you could hear the winner’s support system erupt in cheers.

But all this was tempered by a look across the infield to the grandstand.

There the policies of Governor Mills (D) were on display. In an area ready and willing to hold thousands, there were several hundred spectators.

Infield dust kicked up in the heat race

The Oxford 250 is scheduled for Sunday (August 30^th). In the past, the noise of the cars warrants some sort of hearing protection.

The crowds make plenty of noise too. But not this year.

The race will end, and the primary excitement will come from the driver and his close associates.

But I digress!

This is a story about last night’s Bandit’s racing.

It was exciting.

Let me tell you why.

Chris Foster (71) gets turned in the feature

There were folks in the pit grandstand, and they came to root for specific drivers.

There were more cars in the race than usual. I counted at least twenty. The more cars, the more action on the corners.

With eight divisions racing in the heats and a large delay while some 250 drivers got some practice, the start of the feature was delayed into darkness.

Without headlights and running under streetlights, the visibility was limited. Another direct link to action on the corners.

The cautions were frequent in the Bandits 20-lap event. Cars went into the infield. Others went off the track high-side.

The placement in the feature is based on a rolling three-week average. That puts those who show up every week, but haven’t been very successful, in the front. The successful regulars face the task of getting by a collection of less-successful drivers to get where they have been ending up. I actually like the concept because it makes every feature interesting.

But I continue to digress.

Luke Mowatt wins his heat

The surprises for the Bandits were already in place even BEFORE the race itself.

Jeff Libby got a pole start in the first heat and actually won. I know that he has never won a feature at OPS. I’m guessing that the winless thing might also extend to heats as well.

I have interviewed Jeff after several of his near-wins and he has never made an excuse. He sees me coming and he says, “One of these times….” Tonight was that time!

Jeff had points leader Alex Mowatt chasing him at the end but on this evening, Jeff held off the challenger and had, what has been, the elusive win.

The other heat winner was young Luke Mowatt. Last week, in a heat shocker, Luke held off his older brother for the victory. That impressed me at the time. However, in the feature that followed, Luke could only get 6^th.

But there was Luke again tonight winning a heat.

Chad Wills (52) and Jeff Libby (44) off the track in the feature

Tonight, however, was only Luke’s fourth feature race of the season, all in the last few weeks. I didn’t think he had the experience yet to be a feature contender.

“I didn’t have a car,” Luke told me afterwards as to why he hadn’t raced earlier in the season.

Tonight, Luke started on the pole in the feature and won the biggest race of his life.

“It was his time to win tonight,” explained his brother Alex post-race.

Luke had the sweet starting spot and a car that could handle the numerous restarts.

Meanwhile, Alex the points leader with three wins, started back in the pack thanks to the 3-week rolling average. That was indeed where the action was.

Luke leads Caleb Proctor and his brother Alex in the feature

In recent weeks Alex has avoided most trouble by staying away from the inside. Not tonight. With 20+ cars in play, Alex went off the track early along with Chad Wills and his new car.

“I got a nice dent that I’ll have to fix,” said Alex.

But Alex stayed in the race, as did Chad, and thanks to cautions moved back in contention.

Luke, meanwhile, escaped the fender benders.

“I knew about them, but they were all behind me,“ he said.

Before too many laps were gone, Alex had recovered from his earlier mishap and was in 2^nd challenging his younger sibling. Having seen Alex for eight weeks show the ability to engineer comebacks, I was quite certain I knew what would happen next.

The Mowatt brothers with Eric Parlin spinning behind them

But I was wrong.

Luke held his own.

A caution put them side by side near the end but that didn’t matter. On this night, Luke did not wilt. He rode to his first feature win in only his 8^th race.

I have four siblings and I know how competitive things can get among us, so I tried the “sibling rivalry” angle with the Mowatt brothers but they wouldn’t take the bait.

“You weren’t just letting your brother go, were you?” I asked.

“No, I was actually trying to catch him,” Alex laughed. “With all that went on I was fortunate to be there to get second.

“I’m happy for Luke,” said Alex.

Caleb Proctor ended third in the car that Chad Wills borrowed (for a win) on August 15^th.

Track dispute in the feature

Tempers reached an elevated status after one of the multi-car spinouts. OPS security made sure that things didn’t get worse in the pits.

The weather turned cool as the evening wore on.

One of the most dangerous places you’ll ever be in would be the pits at night. The cars, coming and going, have no lights and there are no overhead lights in the pits. It truly can be “look, listen, and run for your life” in that area!

All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.

I am on Twitter (McClellandPeter) and Instagram (McClelland Miscellanea).