OXFORD – There is at least one more impressive list in the world of short track activities than the roll call of drivers who have won the True Value 250.

Where to find this list, you ask?

Try the microfilm at your local library.

Yeah, go through the list of drivers picked to win in this pre-race column since 1991 and you’ll find a veritable who’s-who of local stock car racing.

Or perhaps that should read a veritable ha-ha of local stock car racing.

In my world, Jamie Aube and Mike Rowe already are three-time champions. Jeff Taylor, Tracy Gordon, Scott Fraser and Ben Rowe all won the 250, and Ralph Nason never did. Larry Gelinas won it, just not the year you remember it happening.

And on it goes. Please don’t ask what fumes your friendly neighborhood columnist inhaled the summer he picked Mike Weeden to win this bloody race.

Let’s face it. Presumed knowledge is a liability, at best, when forecasting the champion of Maine’s time-tested summer classic.

Having attended almost every race contested at Oxford Plains Speedway since I was five years old hasn’t done a blessed bit of good.

The official lifetime batting average: 1-for-12. That’s .083. American League pitchers fare better than that in interleague play, for crying out loud.

In pondering that pathetic performance, it seemed for a moment that I’d be better off asking my own five-year-old to handicap the race. So I asked him for a favorite.

“The Irving Mainway car,” he said.

That’s Mike Maietta Jr.

He’s out with a back injury.

Nice to see that the genetic predisposition to lovable loser-hood didn’t skip a generation.

If it weren’t such an ethical conundrum, flaunting the jinx could become a cottage industry for me. Many drivers, becoming wise to the instant karma that strikes after a mere a mention of their name in my pre-race column, have all but offered payola in return for my promise of short-term memory loss.

Last year, it was in the back of my mind that Scott Robbins could improve upon his runner-up effort of the previous summer and wear the winner’s wreath.

Then he cornered me at the press conference and pressed me for a pick before it went to print. He asked me to forget that he’d ever been born. I didn’t have the heart to ruin his weekend.

My treatment was so friendly that when we featured Robbins and his pit crew in a feature story on the eve of the 250, I commissioned someone else to write the thing.

I’m still waiting for my thank-you card, Scott.

Only kidding. I could exact my pound of flesh this year, except that I don’t see Robbins winning.

The town of Dixfield just collectively smiled.

Robbins, and Gary Drew before him, represented a trend of OPS weekly drivers setting the pace at the 250.

Their streak will continue.

Before I unveil the name of the driver who will keep it going, let the record show that my pick sincerely is not a reflection of any ill will toward the guy. In fact, I like him. He’s an asset to Oxford Plains Speedway and a driver who represented the track well in several touring endeavors before returning to his roots this season.

He has been one of the few consistently fast Pro Stock drivers at OPS this season. While the out-of-towners are bemoaning their blistered hands and tires Sunday night, he’ll be hoisting a trophy that weighs almost as much as he does.

Andy Shaw will win the race that eluded his uncle, Dale, and so many talented weekend warriors before him.

In the process, bringing my slugging percentage a little bit closer to Bob Uecker territory.

Or adding another name to the list of drivers who won’t speak to me the first two weeks of July.

Kalle Oakes is sports editor. He may be reached by e-mail at koakes@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link