Rules and expense are what caused a group of racers to flee the asphalt oval in Oxford for a circle of ice in Minot.

“Take a $50 tractor and $80 in parts” and you’re racing on Tufts Fire Pond.

“It’s wicked cheap,” said tractor racer Joe Bowie of Hebron. Bowie used to race stock cars at Oxford Plains Speedway “but it got too expensive.”

“Good cheap fun,” said Rick MacKenzie of Minot of the mower races.

“Mine was a freebie,” said Dave Tufts of his 11-horsepower lawn tractor. “It was thrown away twice before I got it.”

Four different tire sizes, bicycle handlebars found on the side of the road, a back bumper made with a curl weight bar and a choke made with a glue bottle helps Tufts keep his race budget in check.

“Screws in the tires and some slime is as technical as we get,” said Tufts, a plumber who has been racing for 15 years on the pond that bears his family name.

The pond at the corner of Route 119 and Verrill Road was made for the Fire Department’s use. “If they ever had to use the water, they would screw up the ice,” Tufts said.

“I never knew, while going so slow on a lawn mower, how much fun it could be,” said Rick “Curly” McLaughlin of Mechanic Falls.

Changing a 10-inch gear to a 4-inch one makes all the difference, said Steve Ames of Poland. Top speeds reach 45 mph on dirt and about 25 mph on the ice, on a “tractor that is made for 5 or 10 mph,” said Fred Carroll of Poland.

“It’s kind of dangerous,” said Carroll, who broke his knee after being pushed off the track and into a tree. “The crowd went crazy” though, he noted.

Cheap speed is a priority, but Tufts doesn’t hold back on fuel costs. He stops at the airport in Auburn and buys 100 octane “airplane fuel” at $4 a gallon. But he doesn’t tell the other racers of his premium blend.

“It’s a top-secret cheater thing,” Tufts said. “We do cheat. If you’re fast, you’re a good cheater. A lot of these guys like to cheat and break the rules.”

“We don’t have any rules,” McLaughlin said. “We toyed around with a few but they always got broken.”

“As long as it’s a tractor,” Carroll said.

Races are typically held at night under the lights.

“It’s a lot less stressful than racing Saturday nights at Oxford,” said Mark Bowie of Poland. “We are all friends. We all get along and try to help each other out.”

Racing continues until “you get tired, run out of gas or break it,” MacKenzie said.

“That’s usually the winner; whoever can drive their tractor off the ice,” Joe Bowie said. “Most get pushed off.”