OXFORD – He couldn’t have picked a better day to end the drought. Former track champion Ricky Rolfe took the lead for the final time with just two laps remaining and held off a big charge from defending ACT champion Jean Paul Cyr to win the New England Dodge Dealers 150 for the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Saturday afternoon at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Rolfe started on the pole in Oxford’s season-opening event and led the first 146 circuits. Just qualifying for this race was a major chore, as 50 cars attempted to qualify for 30 starting positions. Rolfe hadn’t been in an ACT Victory Lane since August of 2002, but had the dominant car in this battle between Oxford regulars and the visiting touring teams.

Matt Williams, David Mooney, David Childs and Cathy Manchester were also feature winners on opening day at the 3/8-mile paved oval. Cyr, who hadn’t won a tour race since August of 2006 (at White Mountain Motorsports Park), took the lead briefly from Rolfe on lap 148 but couldn’t quite seal the deal. A big opening day crowd cheered as Rolfe battled back, determined not to let this one slip away. His margin of victory was just two car lengths, enough for the big trophy and winner’s purse.

“I love running these long ACT races,” said an elated Rolfe in Victory Lane. “After the qualifying race we had a hole in the radiator. My crew fixed it quickly and we seemed to be alright. This is the same car we ran last year, we put a new body on it and made a few tweaks here and there. It sure ran pretty good today. I saw Jean Paul coming up the outside there late, and I moved up a little so he would have to go under me. When the final caution came out, I knew I’d have to race hard to hold him off. We ran pretty close but it was clean, and we managed to hold him off. It feels great to actually win of these things again.”

Brent Dragon made the biggest move forward in the 150, finishing a solid third after starting 24th on the grid. Brent is the son of legendary Vermont driver Beaver Dragon and is often a frontrunner in ACT events. Eddie MacDonald came from 17th in the field to claim fourth at the finish, while John Donahue completed the top five.

Only two cautions slowed the pace, neither for serious incidents. The first came out at lap 50 when Cyr and John Donahue spun in some fluid atop Turn 4. On the ensuing restart, everybody settled in and they ran until lap 143 before Ben Rowe spun out in Turn 1. During the long green run, Rolfe looked strong as first Shawn Martin and then Donahue gave chase. As the laps wound down, former ACT winner Eddie MacDonald started a late-race charge. MacDonald grabbed the headlines last year when he claimed a NASCAR touring race and an ACT feature in the same season.

“I think we passed quite a few cars a couple of times today,” said a calm Cyr at the conclusion. “A win sure would have been nice, but I guess after the bad day we had last week (he finished 28th after crashing out on lap 4) we’ll take second and be happy. Ricky raced me clean, I raced him clean and we had a good finish. That’s the way it supposed to work.”

Twelve cars finished on the lead lap, and 28 were running at the finish. Finishing sixth through 10th was Shawn Martin, Patrick Laperle, Donald Theetge, Cris Michaud and Ben Rowe. The feature was completed in just under 55 minutes, a smooth run for the first race of the year. Defending Oxford champion Travis Adams had the worst possible start to his season, suffering electrical trouble early on, which relegated him to a 33rd place finish. It was not at all what was expected of the Canton native who dominated the division last year.

Heat winners were Scott Dragon, Jonathan Urlin, Ron Henry and Ben Ashline. Consolation round victors included Eddie MacDonald and Donald Theetge. Dale Verrill claimed the B-Feature to tansfer into the 150.

In earlier feature action, Manchester posted a wire-to-wire victory in the first Ladies divison feature of 2008. The Gray driver gained control on the first lap when polesitter Debbie Marston experienced mechanical trouble. Dottie Patria followed Manchester across the line to claim second, while Kim Sessions finished third. Annie Chartier of Turner and Marston completed the top five. There were no delays during their 10-lap run on a nearly-perfect afternoon for stock car racing.

David Mooney accomplished quite a feat in the Mini Stock feature, holding off defending champion Jimmy Childs to post the win. The Wales driver ran outside of Childs for the first 20 circuits as former division champion Don Mooney led the field. After Don Mooney got caught up in a lap 16 melee in Turns 3 and 4, David Mooney took command and never looked back. Darrell Moore started 12th on the 17-car grid and drove up to third, while Shane Kaherl and Ashley Marshall completed the top five.

Childs dominated the Chimney Tech Outlaw feature as the other class from Oxford’s Wednesday Night Acceleration Series took center stage. The Oxford native powered out to a sizable lead in the caution-free affair as Ryan Robbins gave chase. With no breaks to help, Robbins settled for second while Guy Childs Sr. was third. Steve Moon edged Kevin Lawrence for fourth at the line in another touble-free support race. line as the first Outlaw feature of the year went in the books.

Williams went wire-to-wire in the 30-lap Strictly Stock feature to open his 2008 season in fine fashion. The Brownfield driver started on the pole and led every lap as nobody had anything for him. B.J. Chapman got by Auburn’s Mike Short in the early laps and hung on for second, while Short stayed the course for third. OPS veteran and local favorite Sumner Sessions passed Skip Tripp on the last lap to take fourth in another caution-free affair for the support divisions.