Locals feel knowledge overcomes fatigue
OXFORD – In this corner at a combined weight of more than 70,000 pounds boasting at least 20 championships at speedways throughout northern New England the local Pro Stock heroes of Oxford Plains Speedway!
“We’re just more familiar with the racetrack,” said Scott Robbins. “This year, especially, it took us about a month and a half to get it going the way we are now. There are at least 10 of us who are out there every Saturday night that could win this thing.”
And their opponent from parts unknown needing no introduction to fans the region over bringing years of experience to the bullring the touring series titans!
“We’re out there running long races every weekend,” Dale Shaw said. “I think we expect the 35-lap fatigue factor to set in with some of those guys.”
Those are fighting words, embellished by the proud, diverse history of the heavyweight championship tussle known as the True Value 250.
From Bobby Tibbetts’ sixth-place finish in the inaugural event in 1974, the race’s record book is loaded with locals who at the very least forced the bigger-name stars to bandage the underdog’s bite before posing for their victory lane photos.
Leland Kangas, Billy Clark, Bruce Haley and Darren Bernier are among those who served home cooking to southerners and maritime visitors alike in the race’s heyday.
Leading laps and cashing top-10 paychecks was one thing, however. Putting together the perfect package of horsepower, teamwork, pit strategy and old-fashioned luck and actually winning the True Value 250 surely was another.
Two victories by OPS institution Mike Rowe, who graduated to the status of regional touring giant long before those triumphs, were the closest thing the hosts could claim to bragging rights.
Gary Drew changed all that in 2001, taking the lead when three-time champion Ralph Nason spun with another OPS regular and dominating down the stretch on his way to a watershed win worth $35,400.
“He was the classic, 35-lap driver,” said Robbins, “and he proved everyone wrong.”
Robbins followed that lead in 2002, using what was long believed the out-of-towners’ area of expertise, two flawless mid-race pit stops, as the springboard to a brilliant, breakthrough victory.
Oxford’s weekly contingent believes that the depth of its weekly roster and uncertain tire conditions on a newly paved asphalt racing surface give it the inside track to a third straight triumph on Sunday night.
“Tire wear is going to dictate everything,” said Mike Maietta Sr., who has one win and one second-place finish in weekly competition.
“I haven’t raced up there since the first race in April,” said Pro All Stars Series point leader Ben Rowe. “The track was pretty green. I’ve watched a lot of races and talked to a lot of people. Of course, you don’t know much of what you hear is the truth.”
Despite the locals’ one-two punch the last two summers, Shaw remains a believer that touring drivers who are more accustomed to pacing themselves on the track maintain the overall advantage in a two-hour race.
Shaw recalled his first encounter with the 250 as an OPS Late Model Sportsman regular in 1984, when he finished 31st.
“I didn’t know you needed neck restraints or anything like that,” he said. “I was driving with my head hanging down to the side. We got about 100 laps into the race when the motor blew, and that was the happiest event of the day for me. I wasn’t about to quit, but I was some glad the car did.”
As his counterpoint, Robbins said that the closeness of competition at OPS this year makes a traditional 35-lap feature more of an endurance event than ever.
“Things are so bottlenecked out there and you’re concentrating so hard that at the end of 35 laps, it feels like 250,” said Robbins.
Track owner Bill Ryan said that his track’s Pro Stock talent pool stacks up against the three major regional touring series.
“When you race against 28, 29, 30 guys every week, that’s a real test. We have guys drive a long way to race at Oxford at a time when other tracks are struggling to field eight, 11 or 14 Pro Stocks,” Ryan said.
Even struggling OPS drivers such as Maietta, Drew and Jeff Taylor are weighed on most observers’ short list of favorites. Eight-time track champion Taylor has finished only four races at OPS this season, but he is the only multiple race winner in the top division after 10 weeks.
Current point leader Andy Shaw, Dale’s nephew, bridges the gap between the touring drivers and their not-so-gracious hosts. He enjoyed four successful seasons on the regional Pro Stock scene before returning to his home track, primarily for family reasons.
“I had some success on tour,” he said. “Hopefully that’s an advantage.”
If the younger Shaw wins the big check Sunday evening, though, it may be because his present proves more valuable than his past.
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