OXFORD – As the most important time of the season draws near, the veterans are starting to hit their stride.

Two-time champion Dennis Spencer Jr. took the lead from Gerald Parlin on lap six and held off fellow veteran Tommy Ricker to claim his second Late Model feature of the season Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Ryan Farrar, Ryan Hewins, Butch Keene and Jim Davis were also feature winners.

With temperatures up where they belong for early July, families visiting the area for the holiday and what is billed as the state’s largest fireworks display, the grandstand held the biggest crowd seen thus far in 2010.

In the feature event, Parlin got the early jump as a healthy 27-car field gave chase. Spencer wasted little time in making his move, working the outside line to his advantage. With just one caution to evaporate his lead, nobody had much of a chance to run him down. Ricker looked like he was in line for a possible third victory, yet he came up just short. Donnie Wentworth came from outside the top 10 to finish third in a solid performance. Former champion Shawn Martin and Lewiston’s Corey Morgan completed the top five.

Morgan has been fast in recent weeks, while Martin finally has his new car figured out after an unusually-slow start to the season. 

“The car was pretty good tonight,” Spencer said. “They told me (on the radio) with about 10 laps to go that Tommy was coming. He’s fast, but we were able to hold him off. Keeping that guy behind you is no easy task in 2010. I’d like to do it again next week.”

Finishing sixth through 10th in the Late Model tilt were Timmy Brackett, ACT regular Joey Polewarczyk Jr. (preparing for the TD Bank 250), Scott Luce, Carey Martin (making his 2010 debut) and nine-time Oxford champion Jeff Taylor. Only one caution slowed the pace, coming out at lap 33 for Tyler Knightly’s spin off the top of turn 3.

With the 250 just two weeks away, it looks like Spencer, Ricker, Rolfe and a few others are ready to take on the expected 80-plus cars from around the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada. Yet having a good chassis setup for a 40-lap feature is a whole lot different than being around at the finish after 250 grueling laps. One thing is a safe bet, the ACT regulars and Canadians headed to Oxford will have plenty of competition from the local contingent.

In earlier feature action, Farrar powered his way around the outside of early leader Jeff Schmidt on lap two and pulled away to claim the 10-lap Truck division battle. Schmidt hung on for second, while Corey Williams was third. Joe Farrar completed the field in this Wednesday night Acceleration Series class.

Hewins went wire-to-wire in a 20-lap tussle for the Runnin’ Rebels division. The driver from Leeds was fast down low and could pass on the outside, as well. Matt Dufault edged Scott Farrington at the line for second, while Corey Beaulieu and Jeff Hebert completed the top five.

“This is the car I ran last year,” Hewins said. “We’ve had some issues with our new car, but this one ran pretty good tonight. It’s exciting to win in front of such a great crowd. We can’t have Troy (Jordan) and Matt (Dufault) winning all of these things this season.”  

Keene made it look easy as he drove to victory in an exciting Mini Stock feature. The driver from Turner powered past Matt Moore on lap seven, then held off a hard-charging Jimmy Childs for top honors. Childs did all but get alongside Keene on two occasions but settled for second, while Calvin Rose finished a distant third. Ashley Marshall and Kevin Bishop rounded out the top five.  

“That was all this car had,” Keene said. “I didn’t know if I had any more wins left in me, I’m old. This is getting to be a young man’s sport, but this time it was a veteran up front. Jimmy (Childs) got up close to me early on and again in the closing laps. He’s a tough competitor, but we held him off tonight.”

Davis put an end to Kurt Hewins’ five-race win streak with a fabulous performance in the Strictly Stock feature. He got the jump on a lap-20 restart, using the outside line to his advantage to get by Gene Hatch. While Hewins has been ruling the division, Hatch has been his fiercest rival. Jerry Freve made a late-race charge on Hatch but settled for third, while Skip Tripp returned from a two-week suspension to claim fourth. Former champion Larry
Emerson completed the top five.

“We had some overheating issues with the car earlier,” Davis said. “The car isn’t really finished. You need to have quite a car to come up here and compete with these guys. The Outlaw division, I don’t belong there. I won seven races there last year, but was getting kind of bored with it. Hewins’ domination is what got me back up here, I thought it was time somebody else won one of these things.”