OXFORD – Butch Keene and Billy Childs Sr. don’t waste much time charging to the front and overwhelming the Mini Stock field at Oxford Plains Speedway when the four-cylinder cars contest their customary 20-lap features.

Was there any reason to watch, then, when the Minis attacked the track for the annual New England Dodge Dealers 100?

Plenty. Keene crashed out on the second lap, Childs led more than half the event before crashing harder, and Bill Thibeault smartly made his winning move with a dozen laps to go to capture the long-distance challenge Saturday night for the second time in four years.

“I think Billy Childs probably would’ve won if he hadn’t had his problem,” Thibeault said.

Childs led from lap 28 to 79 before he experienced difficulty negotiating his way around a lapped car. He dropped to fifth and hit the wall six circuits later in his effort to regain the advantage.

Favorites and leaders were an endangered lot. Scott Audet was the leader on the restart that followed Childs’ crash, but he dropped the spot due to advancing transmission or clutch troubles. Rich Sirois, Childs’ nephew, inherited the spot and appeared poised to spring the upset in his first start of the season before his own mechanical woes set in.

Thibeault drove around Sirois on lap 90, becoming the fifth different leader. Long before he pondered what happened to each of his predecessors, Thibeault had ample reason to believe setting the pace was a mixed blessing.

Early in the race, during a lengthy period of green-flag activity, the temperature gauge in his Volkswagen was in red-line territory. Thibeault also was worried about right front tire wear and a thirsty, five-gallon fuel cell.

“It started sputtering on the last lap,” said Thibeault, who won $700. “I just kept my fingers crossed.”

Rookie Mike Warren finished second. Occasional competitor Ron Morris edged his son-in-law Mark Collins for third. Longtime Sportsman, Charger and Legends driver Doug Coombs ran fifth, and Craig Moore crossed the stripe sixth as the final car on the lead lap.

Although the Mini Stock special was contested first among the six features, the wrecker and ambulance drivers logged plenty of mileage over the remainder of the evening.

Sixteen times the caution flag appeared during the feature round. In the only race to unfold without a yellow, Pro Stock winner Tim Brackett carried an OPS checkered flag for the 41st time.

Brackett drove his Dodge around Dave “Poncho” Darveau Jr. with a dozen laps left in the 35-lap finale.

Darveau held off Jeff White for second and his first-ever Oxford trophy.

“Tim had a better car. He deserved to win the race,” said Darveau.

Ricky Morse, Steve Bennett Sr., Peter Hafford and Shawn Knight also took top honors in support features.

Morse ruled the Late Model Stock feature for the third time in five starts, overpowering Ron Henry, John Donahue and eventual third-place finisher Matt Sanborn on the outside and getting underneath rookie Jeff Moon with 10 laps to go.

“It should have been five in a row, to be honest,” said Morse. “Last week was the win I wanted, and I just overdrove the car.”

Hafford had a mirrorful of past champions Jon Brill (second) and Larry Emerson (third) on the final lap of the Strictly Stock ‘A’ feature, but he applied his foot to the floorboard and walked away with his first OPS win since 1996.

“It’s real nice racing with Larry and Jon. I know they’re not (crowd) favorites here, but they race clean,” Hafford said. “My hand was probably shaking on the steering wheel a little bit.”

Knight snagged his second career Strictly Stock win in the ‘B’ feature when the ride height in apparent winner Guy Childs’ car checked in too low at the post-race inspection shack. Mark Bowie and Brian Dennison moved up to second and third.

Kenny Harrison’s bid for his third Limited Sportsman win in five starts fell victim to a spin and a flat tire. That didn’t make life any easier for Bennett, who had a rearview mirror full of Dana Grover and Carey Martin until the checkers.

[email protected]