Oxford 250 news and notes: Brackett draws No. 1 with Aspire Higher car

OXFORD — Late Model division points leader Tim Brackett drew the pole in Heat 1 of Sunday’s Oxford 250, the first time he has drawn the coveted first position for qualifying.

After losing his power steering in the first heat, Brackett qualified for the feature as a result of his standing in points. Unfortunately, the Aspire Higher team from Oxford Hills Middle School still had an early exit, as Brackett’s day was done after 46 laps.

• Joey Doiron, second in the race three years ago, won the first heat, capturing his first Oxford 250 pole. Doiron, walking with a noticeable limp, recently suffered a leg injury, tearing the tendons in his left ankle. He was just cleared to race this past Monday.

Doiron led the first lap, giving him at least a one lap lead in the past four Oxford 250s, and finished 11th.

• Defending champion Glen Luce won his heat to qualify in third position. Last year, he started at 22nd before racing to victory. Being closer to the pole didn’t change anything for Luce in preparing for the race.

“It’s a long race and our car has been running well on long runs during tests so I think we should be good. There’s a lot of experience at the front,” Luce said.

He ended up placing 10th.

• Wes Weed, who has Maine ties, came in from North Carolina to work the Garrett Evans, who traveled from Washington state to race. Evans, who went on to place 23rd in the big race, qualified in the first heat after a disqualification.

Weed has worked all over the place including with many different drivers including NASCAR star and former Oxford 250 champion Kyle Busch and newcomer Spencer Davis.

• Farmington’s Jeff Taylor drew a bad draw in his qualifying heat but through some timely yellow flags and patient driving, Taylor finished fourth to qualify. In only his second race of the year, Taylor felt the car was handling well.

“Traction is always the key here,” Taylor said. “Hot during the day, cool at night, you have to have the right set up for your tires.”

Taylor, a nine-time track champion, is still looking for his first 250 victory. He finished 30th Sunday, completing 193 laps.

• Winthrop’s Jeff White, a veteran of the 250, qualified by finishing fourth in heat No. 5. White’s has raced this race enough to know that it’s a long race, not a sprint.

“Cars will jump out to the front, I like to stay back and let things work out,” White said.

White started in 23rd. He ended up taking 17th and was one of 22 drivers to complete all 250 laps Sunday.

• Twenty-four cars qualified via the heats early on in the afternoon leaving a lot of idle time on this sunny afternoon. Most of the drivers stayed hydrated, ate a light lunch, or just stayed out of the sun. Some, on the other hand, took the time to work with their crews in making final adjustments on the car.

• Hot and cool temperatures kept crews on their toes when it came to tires. Each team is allotted 10 tires, including the four they qualified with. Each driver must start the 25o with the those four qualifying tires.

With the race starting at dusk, the track had already cooled off, prompting teams to switch tires just over half the race.