OXFORD – Oxford Plains Speedway is under siege thanks to the Banknorth 250, and OPS media coordinator Mark Turcotte couldn’t be happier.

According to Turcotte, he expecting a sellout crowd of over 14,000 for Sunday’s race and another 19,000 will visit the racetrack over the weekend.

At this point, reserve seats are sold out and there are only general admission tickets remaining.

Turcotte added that between 115 and 120 media credentials will be issued by the day of the race.

Bourque Grand Marshall

Nextel Cup drivers Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch will not be the only nationally renowned athletes visiting Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday.

Boston Bruins legend Ray Bourque will serve as the Grand Marshall of the Banknorth 250.

Bourque, who was recently named to the NHL Hall of Fame, played 21 seasons with the Bruins and served as captain from 1988-2000. He holds Bruins career records for games played (1,518) assists (1,111), points (1,506) and playoff points (161).

He ended his career by helping the Colorado Avalanche win the 2002 Stanley Cup and received a hero’s welcome when he brought the Cup back to Boston for a day.

Bourque was a 19-time all-star and was honored five times wit the Norris Trophy, which is given to the NHL’s best defenseman.

His duties Sunday are expected to include making the call for drivers to start their engines and dropping the green flag to start the race.

Drawing it up

The major point of emphasis Wednesday at the Banknorth 250 media day was how important the pre-race draw is to qualifying for the race.

Defending champion Ben Rowe and 2002 champion Scott Robbins admitted that they felt less pressure entering the race after winning Maine’s premier auto race.

But leave it to two-time champion Mike Rowe, and father to Ben, to put everything in perspective and tie up all the loose ends.

“If you draw a bad number, you’re going to get nervous,” he said. “I don’t care who you are.”

On a roll

Past champions Robbins and Gary Drew are both entering this weekend with momentum that they hope will land them the championship trophy and the $25,000-plus winner’s share.

Few drivers have been as hot as Robbins this season at Oxford. The Dixfield driver is the current points leader in the Pro Stocks.

“I think we’ve finished in the top five every week except for one,” he said. “Hopefully Sunday is no different.

“All you can hope for is to have a good car, a little bit of luck and maybe by the end of Sunday night holding the trophy.”

Drew, who won the race in 2001, ran into a string of bad luck earlier in the year and only sits 20th in the points standings. But his results have improved considerably in the recent weeks for the Otisfield racer.

“We’ve had a lot of debris on our tires, getting flats,” said Drew. “We’ve been tied up in a few accidents, but the last two weeks we’ve changed that around. We’ve been real fast and won one two weeks ago and got second last week. Hopefully we’ve got all the bad luck out of the way.”

NASCAR background

Another 250 entrant with NASCAR credentials on his resume is Joe Bessey.

Bessey, who now lives in Rangeley, is a former car owner on NASCAR’s top circuit. He competed several season on the Busch North and Busch tours after getting his start at OPS and Beech Ridge.

Bessey currently the car owner for Andy Santerre, who is dominating the Busch North Series. Santerre, who leads the points race, has won four times in the circuit.