OXFORD – That old cliche that you can’t keep a good man down sure applies to former champions in auto racing.

After a slow start in 2009, veteran stock car driver Ricky Rolfe took the lead from Scott Luce on lap 29 and drove away to victory in the Late Model feature Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Rolfe, of Albany Township, started sixth on the 20-car grid and began a steady march to the front using the outside lane. Four-time champion Travis Adams, last week’s winner, made his traditional late-race charge but settled for second, while Luce hung on for third. Jeff White of Winthrop and Oxford veteran Timmy Brackett completed the top five.

Skip Tripp, Justin Karkos, Dustin Salley, Kyle Hewins and Ross Spurling were also feature winners Saturday at the western Maine oval.

Rolfe seemed thrilled with his performance given the fact his Saturday plans didn’t go quite as scheduled.

“This isn’t even the car we were going to bring tonight,” Rolfe said. “We were going to bring my own car, but we had a terrible vibration in it. We worked all week to fix it, even this morning, but it was so bad we didn’t dare bring it. I want to thank Mark Brackett for letting me bring this car down, it’s the one we’ve been running on the ACT tour. This car was terrible when we got here, but the crew worked on it and got it hooked up. This feels great to finally win again.”

Finishing sixth through 10th in the Late Model feature were Corey Morgan, Donnie Wentworth, Shawn Knight, Doug Coombs and Tommy Ricker. Only one caution slowed the pace when Jason Larrabee spun. Eighteen of the 20 starters finished on the lead lap, while Rolfe’s margin of victory was just under one second.

In earlier feature action, Spurling drove underneath early leader Kevin Oliver going down the backstretch and held off a hard-charging Ryan Farrar to claim the Sport Truck race. Oliver led the first nine circuits before the second-year driver from New Gloucester slipped by. Oliver held on for third behind Farrar, while Doug Stevens and Jeff Schmidt completed the top five.

Salley picked up his first career win at Oxford in the first of two 20-lap battles for the Runnin’ Rebels. The Auburn-based driver led wire-to-wire in this entry-level division from Oxford’s Wednesday night program. Scott Farrington made a big late-race charge, but settled for second, while Jason Berry of Turner was third. Veteran Zach Audet brought his machine home fourth and Josh Lovell was fifth. Only one incident slowed the pace, when Chad Coolidge brought out the red flag when he slammed the outside retaining wall on the backstretch. Coolidge was uninjured.

Hewins earned his second straight victory with an impressive performance in the Rebel nightcap. The driver from Leeds started 14th on the 15-car grid, took the lead from Jamie Heath on lap 10 and hung on for top honors. Heath hung on for second, while Corey Beaulieu finished third. Charlie Webster and John Childs stayed within sight of the leaders the entire distance and came home fourth and fifth.

Karkos ran away with the Mini Stock feature once the field got settled down. Kevin Bishop kept thing interesting as he provided a couple of cautions to slow the leader’s progress. Karkos started seventh and wasted little time getting to the front. Larry Melcher came from deep in the field to finish second, while Jimmy Childs was third. Calvin Rose Jr. and Darrell Moore completed the top five in a high-spirited affairg.

Tripp captured a wild Strictly Stock feature that looked like it was going to produce another first-time winner. The defending champion from Poland took the lead from Mike St. Germain on lap 17 and survived a big melee in turn 3 that took several cars out of contention. Zach Emerson drove from 13th to claim second, while Kenny Harrison was third, Matt Williams fourth and Jeff Merrill fifth.

“It’s been a long time,” said Tripp, who hadn’t recorded a feature win since the third weekly program of 2008. “The car is still tight in the center, but we’ll get it right here soon. I’ve got a lot of good people that help me, that’s the only reason we can run like this.”