Last weekend’s TD Banknorth Oxford 250 had 121 pre-race entries (according to its webpage) at Oxford Plains Speedway in western Maine. That’s a very impressive number. But, last Sunday only 88 of them showed up. That wasn’t a surprise as some teams file an entry early just in case they have the assets to race in a major event like the 250. And especially if there was no fee for an early entry.
Track owner Bill Ryan, Jr. told me last winter that he didn’t want to actively encourage southern New England drivers from MA, RI and CT to his big race because the Late Model rules at southern New England tracks didn’t match the ACT and Oxford Plains specs. “I don’t want them because their rules are not compatible with ours,” he said. Never the less when we checked the on-line entry list there were a total of seven from southern MA and one from RI. On race day three Conn. teams showed up, too. Granted most all of them were pretty much ACT Tour legal cars.
That tells us that this $25,000 to win event, plus lap money, still has the interest of southern New England drivers. Fan interest in southern New England has also waned because Ryan’s Oxford Plains hasn’t actively pursued the southern New England fans, either.
Granted with the high price of fuel and everything else, it makes sense to try and focus on the Maine and eastern NH fans to buy tickets to this big annual event. This year anyway due to the economy. But, let’s face it in order to sell $40, or thereabouts, tickets you need to have a unique show. That is a group of drivers and race teams that don’t compete with each other on a regular basis. Also, OPS needs to expand getting the copy out to media. Especially southern New England where there’s a larger fan base..
Mid-July is also vacation time for New Englanders. The weather is the hot and it’s a perfect time for a special event in New England. Most special events in the six-state area are in the spring and fall. Race fans will put out the money if it’s a unique show. Not withstanding current economic conditions. Especially if they are familiar with the drivers who race there home tracks.
When the Oxford 250 was at it’s peak in the early 80′s, we can recall one of the last events held during former track owner Bob Bahre’s aegis drew about 120 entries. We also recollect some of the biggest names in New England and northeast racing. Not just from the Pro Stocks but a big cross-section of top Modified drivers from southern New England who lined up Pro Stock driving assignments. That race had the largest purse ever paid to then Pro Stocks of about $150 grand. That event stands out and drew a standing room only crowd.
Bahre and his expert “rule smiths”, which included his brother Dick along with the late Tony DiPompo and the late Smiley Waterman, all worked hard to balance the Oxford 250 specs to include Pro Stock/Late Model cars from tracks all over New England, New York, eastern Canada and even the southeast USA. Once in a while even a few brave teams even came in from the mid-west in an effort to steal the money from New England racers.
Granted there were lots of problems blending in various Pro Stocks/Late Models with different rules. But, the effort was worth it because the Oxford 250 was, at the time, one of the most well know short track events coast-to-coast in both the USA and Canada. When one of those 250′s from the early 80′s was complete, track owner/promoter Bob Bahre carted a wheelbarrow full of cash to his Oxford Bank and Trust bank just up the road, north, on Rt. 26 from the Oxford track.
Bill Ryan, Jr. also prefers to schedule the TD Banknorth Oxford 250 when there’s no NASCAR Cup event. This year he brought in Kevin Harvick who no doubt brought in some fans. That’s Ryan’s prerogative but it’s expensive. We understand that it costs about five figures to get a name Cup driver, and getting more expensive every year. Maybe putting that extra money in the purse to draw drivers from southern New England and elsewhere would be better served?
We asked Bahre, back then, about an attendance figure on one of the last Oxford 250′s run under his ownership. He did some quick calculations and estimated it at over 19,400 paid. Ryan would consider a crowd of 8,000 to 9,000 last weekend to be a major success and what promoters/track owners, these days, consider to be a “homerun”.
Back in the early days of the event not only were there Pro Stock drivers from all over New England, Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, there were southern New England Modified drivers who wouldn’t ever give the Pro Stocks a thought. What brought them to Oxford was the big money that the race paid and all of the hoopla associated with the 250. Having an Oxford 250 win on a driver’s resume was as coveted then as it is now. It was very important especially for a driver who wanted to advance into the top tier NASCAR divisions of that era.
Bob Bahre always made changes to the purse structure every year by kicking up the total payoff. He made the announcements just prior to the start of the 250 and peaked the crowd’s interest to buy tickets for the following year. Even back then, Bahre knew how to work the crowd.
Let’s do some brainstorming here. If OPS was still been under Bahre’s control the total purse, we think, would be at least over a quarter-of-a-million dollars and would pay 50 grand minimum plus the lap money. These are conservative estimates. It would still be one of the biggest paying short track events in the country. Granted $150,000 total purse is still a lot of money for the ACT type Late Model cars. But the purse hasn’t really changed much in the past 20 years! It would be difficult to take it up a few notches during this period of economic uncertainty. It should have been done when the economy was in better shape. Like five years ago or even earlier.
After following this race’s history over the 30 odd years, the 250 certainly does not have the prestige that it once held when Bob Bahre ran Oxford Plains. Granted the track fell on hard times under the Mike Liberty management when Bahre left Oxford for bigger and better things in the mid-80′s. Then Liberty sold it to Ryan. Though, we still think that Bill Ryan, Jr. should do something about rebuilding the 250′s importance.
This big mid-summer event at OPS has not moved in the upward direction and is still living on it’s past laurels. It’s just a regional event for northern New England Late Models that pays some very good money. It’s a shame to see a marquee event like the TD Banknorth Oxford 250 spinning and still stuck in low gear. The 250 is still not up to its potential after being on the racing scene for over three decades. This isn’t just our opinion and it’s shared by lots of folks who are familiar with the history of the 250.
On last weekend’s 250, no doubt due to the unsettled weather, the entries ended up reaching in high 80′s. In between heavy showers, the track managed to get all of the heats in with 24 qualified. The track continued to get hit with rain on Sunday afternoon when Bill Ryan, Jr. pulled the plug and scheduled the remainder of qualifying to go at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon.. In the process, some race teams left for home as did those fans who bought tickets. Because they had to be on the job or had committments on Monday. The Monday afternoon the consolation races began to fill out the rest of the field. And when the starting grid was set there were 41 starters including Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, MA and Derek Ramstrom of W. Boylston, MA. More rain caused another delay for the 250-lap event. However, the race was completed late on Monday night.
As the ringer arrived with bells on Thursday, waited out a weekend awash with rain and basked in a deluge of adulation in TD Banknorth 250 Presented By New England Dodge Dealers victory lane at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine.
Kevin Harvick won the 35th annual summer classic, dominating the second half of the event and becoming the first to carry the checkered flag as an active NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. The 32-year-old California native, a champion of both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500, denied runner-up Glen Luce and third-place Joey Polewarczyk Jr. the victory of a lifetime.
Just don’t assume with his thick resume that Harvick puts these grass roots short track win in small print. “This race is a big deal,” said Harvick. “You look at the history of it and see names like Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon, and those true short track drivers like Junior Hanley who have won it. Chuck Bown, too. They can keep the check if they want. I wanted that trophy.”I’m not sure I really believe Harvick would give back the winner’s check and keep the trophy.
Here’s something to think about. Harvick no doubt got some hefty appearance money, took most of the Oxford 250 purse ($37,300) and ended up selling his racecar to a local driver. So at the conclusion of the two-day Oxford 250 Kevin left the Pine Tree State with a gym bag full of money. That must have been tough for the rest of the 250 competitors to swallow.
Like those getting the rest of the Oxford 250 leftovers including fourth place finisher Shawn Martin and local Ben Rowe of Turner, Maine for the top five. Then Nick Sweet, Brent Dragon of VT, Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, MA, Dennis Spencer and Randy Potter of NH to round out the top ten. The only other Bay State driver to make it into the 250 via heats, consis and the last chance race was Derek Ranstrom of W. Boylston, MA who ended the night in 16th. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS REPORT CAME FROM THE OXFORD PLAINS SPEEDWAY, SUN-JOURNAL AND SPEED 51 WEBSITES ALONG WITH OUR PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORY OF THE OXFORD 250.
