Many of America’s greatest short track drivers have struggled and failed to win the TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Brian Hoar simply would love to win a race at Oxford. Any race. Period.

The 40-year-old Vermont driver is arguably the most successful active late model racer in the region. He has captured the American-Canadian Tour championship a record eight times, including the past three in a row. His 35 feature wins on the circuit are nearly double the total of his closest challenger.

But OPS remains a riddle for which Hoar hasn’t heard the punch line. He has never won at the track, a streak that covers more than 20 appearances dating back to the mid-1990s.

You can bet that Hoar will embrace that history, maybe even gladly accept 20 more close-but-no-checkered results, in return for a victory Sunday night.

“It’s history. It’s that simple,” Hoar said. “It’s not about the money. It’s just a huge, huge race.”

Drivers from Hoar’s neck of New England have been stymied by the 250 in general. Mike Barry (1983) and Jamie Aube (1987 and 1989) are the only Vermont winners.

To say Hoar has knocked on the door since making his 250 debut in 2009 is putting it mildly. He won the 2010 pole and has finished fourth, second and fifth.

“That’s definitely the one thing that’s missing for us,” said Rick Paya, Hoar’s crew chief and car owner. “We’re working hard. I really want it bad, just like everyone else. We tested (at the track) last week and we learned some stuff, but we still need to find some more. Some of those other guys there have really stepped up.”

Hoar’s current run at the big race is mildly reminiscent of fellow Vermonter Robbie Crouch, a regional racing legend who finished second at the 250 three times in a six-year span of the 1980s but never won it.

“You look at everybody that’s won that race, everybody that’s not won that race, been in that race,” Hoar said. “You win it and you’re forever in the history books in this part of the country, if not the rest of the country. It’s one of those races. It’s a big deal.”

Hoar is third in 2012 ACT points with two wins in five starts.

Roster moves

Speculating who will, won’t, could or might show up and attempt to qualify for the TD Bank 250 is half the pre-race fun for longtime fans of the event.

Every year the speedway’s compilation of a “probable entry list” fuels that discussion. This week was no exception. OPS released a roster with more than 120 names on it.

Since the race format changed from super late model cars to late models in 2007, the field has fluctuated between 75 and 95 cars, and the general expectation is that the number will fall in that range once again.

The probable entry list is not a disingenuous move by the track. It keeps with tradition dating back to the days when Bob Bahre founded and promoted the race. Then, the preliminary list included most every touring driver in the region and anyone else who made an inquiry prior to the event.

This year’s list is an accounting of those who already have entered the race, all drivers who attempted to qualify for it in 2011, and any driver who has entered at least one 2012 race either at OPS or in either international division of ACT.

Racing tonight

The 250 is hailed as one of the most prestigious single-day racing events in the country, but Oxford’s wild race weekend is already well underway.

Acceleration Series drivers kicked off the party with a full card Wednesday night. Winners were Joe Morey, Dan Brown, Jason Berry, Kevin Oliver, Tasha Dyer and Geoff Low.

Those same drivers will fire the engines tonight at 6:30 p.m. along with Oxford’s Strictly Stock and Mini Stock divisions.

Friday’s main event features the Pro All Stars Series Modifieds. That division has blossomed to a field of nearly 20 cars this season, with local fan favorites Alan Wilson, Dale Shaw, Andy Shaw, Poncho Darveau and Sumner Sessions in the hunt.

Wilson, a TD Bank 250 veteran who lives less than five miles away from the speedway in Hebron, is the defending race winner.

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