OXFORD – Despite a monumental effort by track officials, persistent showers forced the postponement of the 35th annual TD Banknorth 250 Sunday evening at Oxford Plains Speedway.

After a three-hour-and-20-minute delay, qualifying races finally got underway but were interrupted by rain showers on three occasions. Five of the six scheduled qualifying races were completed, filling 20 spots of the 40-car starting field. Speedway owner Bill Ryan made the announcement at 8:12 p.m. that weather conditions just weren’t cooperating and the race would be postponed until today. The plan is to resume qualifying activities with the final heat starting Monday at 2 p.m.

In the previous 34 years this race has been run, rain has only interfered on four occasions. In 1979, all qualifying heats were completed before the rain arrived, and the 250 itself had to be run one week late. In 1986, rain also delayed proceedings and forced the 250 to be completed on Monday. On two other occasions, rain delayed the event (1988 and 1991) briefly but the race was run on the originally scheduled day.

“It was a tough weekend all the way around,” said Ryan after the decision to postpone was made. “We had rain affect practice on Friday, and there was rain all around us on Saturday. Those showers had an impact on our Modified race. We definitely had a good crowd, but I’m sure we would have done better if the weather had cooperated.

“Today (Sunday) it started off nice. We got some practice in and then the showers returned. We were studying several different radar maps, trying to decide what the weather was going to do. All afternoon, it looked like we were going to be alright by about 5:30 p.m. Sure enough, it had stopped raining at that time, we dried the track and got qualifying under way.

“But then, we got clipped by a couple of showers that looked like they would miss us and the knockout blow came with heavy rain at about 8 p.m. I had told folks all day that if it was still raining at 8, we would be forced to postpone. It takes roughly an hour and a half to two hours to dry the track completely, so it would have simply been too late to continue at that point. It was a difficult decision to make.

“The reason we made the huge effort to get it in today was for all the teams and fans that have invested so much time and money to be here. We wanted to give them a race, and we will still do that. It just won’t be quite the same because some folks won’t be able to stay.”

In the five heats that were run, several big name drivers had yet to make the show. In heat No. 1, 2002 Banknorth 250 winner Scott Robbins showed the way while Patrick Laperle, T.J. Watson and Nick Sweet all transferred to the main event. Notable drivers who were headed for a consi round today included Donalt Theetge of Quebec, Trampas Demers and Phil Scott. All three are fixtures on the ACT Late Model tour.

OPS regular Tommy Ricker set the pace in Heat No. 2, leading Cris Michaud, Derek Ramstrom and Travis Adams across the line. Drivers of interest that failed to transfer included 2004 Oxford Late Model champion Shawn Martin. Martin was in the fourth and final transfer spot late in the race, but left the bottom lane open for Adams who was quick to pounce.

Heat No. 3 saw Eddie MacDonald lead the field into turn 1, and the veteran from Rowley, Mass. stayed right there for all 20 circuits. The biggest mover in this one was 19-year-old sensation Joey Polewarczky, who flew from the sixth starting spot up to second at the finish with a strong run in the outside groove. Drivers of note who struggled in this contest include Oxford regulars Kurt Hewins and Ricky Morse. Hewins drives for Auburn resident Conrad Childs and will go all out to qualify in his consolation round today.

Two-time NASCAR Camping World East Series champion Brad Leighton set a blistering pace in heat No. 4, wheeling his Irving Oil-sponsored machine to a big lead in the first 10 laps. Rick Thompson Jr., Dale Verrill and Scott Payea also transfered to the main event with solid runs. Payea, one of the top ACT drivers entered this year and last year’s third-place driver, took advantage of a late-race bobble up front late in the going and dove for hole which put him into the fourth and final transfer position. It was a quick move that made his Banknorth 250 hopes look a while lot better.

In the fifth and final qualifying race of the day, Oxford veteran Carey Martin was the man to beat. The driver from Denmark set a fast pace, but it was NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Kevin Harvick that drew everybody’s attention. Harvick ran the outside lane for several laps, holding his own against Bill Whorff Jr. who was protecting the bottom groove. Harvick looked like his car was nicely set up for the tricky 3/8-mile oval, finishing second ahead of two-time 250 champion Ben Rowe and Whorff. Drivers of interest that failed to transfer include ACT veterans John Donahue, Brent Dragon and seven-time champion Jean-Paul Cyr.