OXFORD – It started as a simple conversation, just filling down time with some friendly discussion.

One thing led to another, and before they knew it, Kevin Harvick was going to race in Maine and Shane Wilson was building a car for that purpose.

“It was kind of a whim,” said Wilson, Harvick’s crew chief and a native of South Royalton, Vt. “We got talking about it. He showed interest. I got excited, and it went from there.”

Harvick is this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup heavyweight racing in Sunday’s TD Banknorth 250. Harvick was at the track Friday to test his car.

Drivers such as Kyle and Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley and Terry Labonte have been among the prime-time drivers who visited OPS in previous summers.

Usually, track owner Bill Ryan solicits potential drivers to commit their off week to race in the 250. He didn’t have to do that with Harvick. Ryan didn’t even instigate the notion with Harvick.

“It’s not very hard to talk me into going somewhere to race,” Harvick said. “You have to talk more to my wife and talk her into it than you do me.”

Harvick and Wilson both have ties to the 250. Harvick’s wife, DeLana, came to Oxford with her father, John Linville, in the 1980s. He attempted a qualify for the 250 and failed.

“They came up here a couple of times to try to qualify,” Harvick said. “They never made the show. He talked about coming up here. This race has been a big race since the early 1990s and late 1980s. When you hear a lot about something, you want to experience it for yourself.”

Wilson was part of a crew that worked for a Vermont driver in the mid 1990s. He said he never quite figured out how to succeed in the 250. That lack of success always bothered him.

“We struggled so much up here,” Wilson said. “One year, we didn’t even come up to the 250 because we weren’t good enough. I’ve definitely learned a lot since then. We were a pretty small deal back then.

“I always wanted to do good in the Oxford 250. That’s kind of what’s drawn us to do it.”

Since moving South, even if Wilson had the money, he could never find the time to commit to the 250. It just so happens he now has the time, support and a pretty good driver.

“I’ve got a pretty good driver/sponsor combination here,” Wilson said with a laugh.

Harvick, 32, who finished third last weekend at Chicagoland, is currenlty ninth in the Sprint Cup points standings. His best finish in the standings was fourth in 2006, when he won five races.

He has victories in some of the most prestigious races on the Cup circuit, including the 2007 Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 2003. He has captured five championships as a driver and team co-owner, including the 2001 and 2006 Nationwide Series.

When the two decided to enter the race, they also chose to provide their own car. The ACT-legal ride was built in North Carolina by his NASCAR Nationwide Series team.

“Shane wanted to build the car,” Harvick said. “They raced up here a lot and didn’t have a lot of success. So, he wanted to put the car together.

“Just from a safety standpoint, it makes my life a lot easier to convince (NASCAR team owner) Richard (Childress) that it’s OK to do these things if we take care of the safety side of things.”

Harvick began racing with go-karts as a kid in 1980, winning seven national and two Grand National titles. He moved into stock cars as a teen and even raced in the Craftsman Truck Series at one time. Harvick eventually became the first NASCAR driver to run full-time on both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series – a total of 70 races. That love of racing and desire to compete in new places made the 250 enticing.

“It’s a pretty historic race in itself,” Harvick said. “It’s one of the biggest late-model races that you can race in the country. I like going to places I haven’t been to before. So it’s a unique experience to come and be part of it.”

Harvick walked the track Friday morning and then took his No. 29 out for testing. He had only driven the new chassis at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina last month.

“We didn’t really know where to start because we don’t have any race tracks like this to go practice on,” said Harvick, who planned to take in a Sea Dogs game Friday night. “We made a couple big adjustments, and it was OK after that. I think we ran a decent lap time. We never got a chance to put new tires on it, but I think it was OK for the day.”

Wilson was pleased with the way the car performed. He admits he’s much more knowledgeable about prepping an engine than he was in previous trips to OPS a decade ago.

“I have a lot better clue to what we’ve got to do,” Wilson said.. “We made three runs, and I already know what we need to do tomorrow. Once we run out here with the competition tomorrow, we’ll know what we need to do Sunday night.”

Right now, he says the car is close, but not quite where it needs to be.

“We need another tenth to be able to run with Ricky Rolfe and those guys,” Wilson said. “Maybe a tenth-and-a-half.”

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