Tag Archives: Oxford 250

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.

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).

Luke Mowatt, Alex Mowatt, Caleb Proctor, and Chris Foster in the last lap of the feature

Luke Mowatt in front followed by his brother in the feature

Cars in the infield in the feature

Spin off the back in the feature

Brady Heath (91) and Luke Mowatt (22x) in front on a restart

Travis Verrill in the infield in the feature

Brady Heath between races

Doug Churchill (07) spinning in first heat

Curtis Gerry wins 44th Oxford 250 and I get hit by a race car!

Curtis Gerry wins the 2017 Oxford 250

Cassius Clark (3rd), Curtis Gerry (1st), Reid Lanpher (2nd)

(Oxford ME) Sunday afternoon/evening I took in the biggest car race in the northeast….the Oxford 250.

Curtis Gerry of Waterboro (ME) was the surprise winner at the Oxford Plains Speedway. Racing on a low budget, the 46-year-old didn’t even try the 250 last year. This year, however, has been different. The wins have come (at Beech Ridge Speedway in Scarborough) and his car has been consistently solid. He had the fastest practice time during Friday’s OPS practice runs.

Pole-sitter Cassius Clark had the car to beat in the first hundred laps but a sea of cautions (eleven in the first 125 laps) offered too many chances for an eventual lead change. That finally happened but Cassius would finish strong to get 3^rd.

Curtis took the lead with 53 laps left and fought off challenges from Eddie MacDonald (4^th) and Reid Lanpher (2^nd) to get the $25,000 top prize.

The sunny/cool weather was perfect for the race.

Drivers were very adept at avoiding collisions

This race had seventeen cautions. Almost all of them were caused by individual drivers losing control and spinning out. There were a couple of multiple-driver incidents but little damage done. You become aware of the skill of these drivers when you witnessed seventeen restarts on a 3/8-mile track and watched them repeatedly avoid sideswipes on the tricky turns on the small track.

Scott McDaniel spins out

If this entry was for a newspaper it would end shortly but it’s a blog and I get to personalize the Oxford 250 experience.

The big guy in the racing “room” today was Speed51. These folks were everywhere. They had the equipment and personnel to thoroughly cover the race. I realized the extension of their clout when I moved to my favorite viewing spot on top of the grandstand. Been up there for years. Didn’t last this time. A Speed51 person informed me that they had exclusive rights to that space.

Now how would I get pictures? I can assure you that I had no plan to hang out in the infield as the race went around me! I saw photographers doing it but it was never a possibility for me.

One of the OPS staff members recognized what had happened to my usual vantage point and directed me to a windowed booth. The beauty of that spot was that there was a (closed) door which lessened the deafening car noises.

I never had any intention of being in the infield. Why? Things happen too fast.

I had discovered earlier in this afternoon that the pit area can be dangerous too. The pit areas are tight. You have drivers, cars and crew/family members milling about. And then there are the photographers, like me. When races are in progress the cars come fast into the pit area where quick attempts are made to fix problems and get the car back out into the race. Everyone has to be alert or you can get hurt.

I have been a fan of Eddie MacDonald’s ever since I learned that he was from Rowley (MA). I supply pictures to The Town Common which is headquartered in that town. Eddie won the Oxford 250 twice (2009 & 2010).

I did not expect to see Eddie at today’s race because there had been zero news that he was coming and he wasn’t in the field in 2016. However, I saw in the early afternoon that he indeed was competing.

The starting positions for the race are determined by performance in qualifying heats. Qualifying waivers are given to former winners but if they want to start up in the field they must qualify for a better placement. Competing against drivers who don’t have waivers makes the going extremely rough-and-tumble as Eddie found out. Twice in the consolation race he was knocked off the track. The second time he decided to come into the pits to get repairs before re-entering the race.

That’s where Eddie and I got “together.”

I saw his car turned around in the infield during a qualifying consolation race and then I saw him heading for the pit area for repairs. I decided to get closer to get a picture of the repairs being done in the pit area.

After taking this picture I moved to the left of the tire. Little did I know that Eddie MacDonald in the red car ahead would reverse into me.

Eddie parked his car perpendicular to his normal space. I took a picture of the work being done and then moved to safety in a spot beside a car two spaces away from Eddie’s space.

I suspected that Eddie would do a quick forward turn and head back to the track when the repairs were done. Instead, he came my way in fast reverse.

I was beside another car two spaces away and clearly off the roadway but it didn’t matter. Eddie didn’t realize that there was a car parked in the direction he has chosen to go and he definitely didn’t see me.

I turned to avoid a direct hit and Eddie’s car drove me into the parked car. I believe that Eddie realized at the last second the bad route he was on and hit his brakes. I would have been in a morgue, instead of writing this entry, if he hadn’t I suspect.

I never went down and I do not recall Eddie’s car leaving the scene. I do know that he went back out and competed.

Instantly there were folks coming from everywhere seeing if I was all right. I told them that I thought I was. I was offered a chair which I gladly took. In a while, I stood up to see if my legs were okay. I felt some soreness in my right side but nothing serious. People offered me water. Some of them were my daughter’s age. The one that meant the most was a young lady who was probably my granddaughter’s age. So young and yet so thoughtful!

A lady connected to the OPS medical staff talked to me several times. She wanted me to come over to where the ambulance was and I started imagining a trip to Norway’s St. Stephen’s. No thanks. Not needed.

I was asked if I was with anyone. I wasn’t and there would be no other ride home. My wife wasn’t going to be called. No need to worry her because the pain was minor.

As these numerous interactions were taking place the consolation race ended. Before I knew it, Eddie and his car were back two spaces away.

I stood up to see if Eddie was there. He was, with his driver’s suit half off. He must have known that something had happened earlier, when he backed up into me, because he was looking back to where he had hit me. I put both of my arms up in the air beside me, gesturing in his direction.

For some reason, at that instant, I decided to go over there and see him. I approached him and said that I was the one he had hit. He asked if I was alright. He said he was sorry. I told him that I couldn’t understand how the accident had occurred since I was not on the road. He said that he had been hit a couple of times during the race and wanted to get right back out there and wasn’t careful enough. I told him not to worry about it that I was okay.

The medical staff person intercepted me after that and had me fill out paperwork stating that I had refused medical assistance. She said that if there any medical problems tomorrow (Monday) the paperwork was in place to proceed.

One of the witnesses to my getting hit told me that instead of signing anything I should find out who Eddie MacDonald’s insurance was with and sue them. Future lawyer, I suspect!

You would have guessed that my interactions with Eddie MacDonald ended there, wouldn’t you. But you be wrong.

I have already described my grandstand “adjustments.” From that new (better?) position I watched the Oxford 250.

Eddie was nearly dead-last in the 43-car field at the start. But in a long race things happen. With thirty laps left of the 250 laps, Eddie was in second hounding leader Curtis Gerry. I started imagining that Eddie might pull this one out. It was not meant to be, however, and Eddie started to slide back.

I figured that I might get one last interaction with him if he made the top three. Those are the trio that get to pose with the winner’s check.

Eddie, however, ended up 4^th. I worked my way down to the track. I had media credentials and planned to get shots of the top three. I didn’t realize that the top five were down there.

I took the expected collection of pictures of the top three finishers and then I ventured over to where Eddie was.

Eddie MacDonald

I knew his father by sight from Eddie’s two championships. Eddie was talking to his father and I headed over to them. Eddie saw me coming and told his father, “This is the guy I backed into.” Yup, that’s me!

Eddie’s dad asked if I was okay and was quite concerned. I said that I was fine. I repeated that I couldn’t understand how the accident happened. This time Eddie said that he had been directed to back up by his crew. It was not good advice.

And that’s my version of this year’s Oxford 250.

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