OXFORD — The imaginary line in the court of spectator opinion was drawn in black tire rubber the moment Kevin Harvick crossed the checkered finish stripe to win the 2008 TD Bank 250.

Some whooped, hollered and otherwise exulted, digesting the fact that one of their NASCAR racing heroes had just won the lucrative, time-honored race at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Others didn’t bother to boo. They were busy muttering to their neighbors, concocting conspiracy theories or rushing home to post their accusations of unbridled cheating on interactive racing forums.

And so it goes when a racing superstar brings his overflowing bank account and a best-of-everything car to one of the richest little-guy races in America. For every new fan the ringer lures to the fray, there’s someone from the old school who grouses that it’s taking away from the drivers that make up the annual fabric of the race.

It begs an obvious question: What do the local drivers think of sharing a sandbox with Kyle Busch?

Most of them — at least before the green flag is unfurled — say they’re honored and privileged to test their mettle against the driver who just won his 100th race in NASCAR’s three national series.

“It’s fun to have guys like that come in. You’re already running against some of the best guys in New England, plus such a great driver as that,” said Austin Theriault, a 17-year-old driver from Fort Kent. “He just hit a huge milestone last week. You can’t find anybody better than that.”

Drivers are fans, too.

Many climbed into their cars Sunday morning and followed the same spectators who watched them compete at Oxford Plains Speedway on Saturday to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Lenox 301.

Busch crashed out of that race, reminding some of his TD Bank 250 competition that he is, indeed, human.

“I’m a fan of Kyle Busch. I’m hoping to get his autograph on Saturday, and then give him mine on Sunday,” Corey Morgan said.

The Lewiston driver paused and waited to deliver his punch line.

“With my bumper,” he added. “Once he‘s on the other side of the fence, there’s no security guard out there.”

Busch barnstormed two previous TD Bank 250s without winning, although he charged to the front in both 2005 and 2006.

Other than Harvick’s rain-delayed, Monday night victory in ’08, NASCAR drivers have met with mixed results. Matt Kenseth finished third in 2004. Busch faded into the fringes of the top 10 a year later.

His brother Kurt struggled to solve the nuances of OPS. So did Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley in 2006, Steve Wallace in 2009 and Brad Keselowski last year.

Having them in the field subjects New England racers to the same phenomenon that Nationwide or Camping World Truck series mainstays encounter every week when they see Busch or Harvick in the lineup.

They know their chances of winning plummet. On the flip side, though, the value of going to victory lane increases exponentially when one of those household names is on the same track.

“It makes you want to step up your game and do better,” said OPS Late Model point leader Jeff White of Winthrop. “It’s good for racing.”

Other drivers greet Busch’s arrival with caution.

Busch took a break from his New Hampshire weekend schedule July 14 to test a brand-new car at Oxford. He contracted with Dale Shaw to furnish the ride for this race.

That was a reminder of 2008, when Harvick had his own car built at his shop in North Carolina, later selling it to Canada’s Karl Allard with a 1.000 batting average.

Wallace and Keselowki borrowed a car from an American-Canadian Tour team for the weekend, as others have done in the past.

“I trust that the race track will make sure there’s parity,” said Don Wentworth of Otisfield. “With a Race Basics chassis and a Crazy Horse engine, I know I’ve got a real good piece. I just hope there’s parity in the tech shack. If there’s anybody you know is going to have the best equipment he can, it’s Kyle.”

Not many drivers in the field have turned more laps around OPS with more success than Wentworth, who began racing there in the 1980s.

With that experience comes the assurance that not even the man widely recognized as the most talented and versatile driver in the sport will outfox him.

“When my spotter tells me who’s around me on the track, he refers to them by the number on the door. (Busch is) just another guy holding a wheel. Of course he’s very talented,” Wentworth said. “You always have that driver’s arrogance that if you’re in equal equipment, you’ll beat him. If I didn’t think I could win, I’d be better off staying home and playing bridge.”

Tommy Ricker of Poland, one of Oxford’s leading and most fun-loving weekly drivers, takes solace in Busch’s penchant for going all-out, all the time.

That isn’t usually a prescription for success in the 250. In 2010, Brad Leighton joined a lengthy list of drivers who have dominated the race but didn’t win.

And Busch’s misadventure with a blown-out tire and contact with the wall in New Hampshire wasn’t the first time he has wrecked a car that was good enough to win.

“I hear, ‘Kyle Busch this’ and ‘Kyle Busch that’ and ‘He goes fast.’ But how long can he go fast? Everybody’s fast at the beginning of the race, but you have to make it hold up for 250 laps,” Ricker said. “I keep telling people that if I can consistently get 16.4 (seconds per lap) all night, I’ll win the race. A lot of guys start off running 15.9 and end up running 16.8.”

At least one driver with NASCAR credentials has entered the 250 every year since Kenseth and Kurt Busch competed in 2004.

That exposure to star power has quieted a few stomachs. Any sense of awe the locals harbored for the TV stars was cured many Julys ago.

“I’m not going to race him any differently than I do anyone else,” Shawn Martin of Turner said. “I have a lot of respect for Brad Keselowski, but last year he chopped me a couple of times, and after the third time I got him back and went around him.”

And while Busch climbs into a style of race car that is relatively foreign to him, Martin has steered the same Distance Racing machine for four years.

“With the ACT cars, the cost containment is in place,” Martin said. “He’s running the same stuff we’ve got.”

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