Rowe, 64, of Turner, powered his way to victory in the PASS North 150 for Super Late Models, while Polewarczyk Jr., of Hudson, N.H., led all 150 laps in the ACT feature event. It was Rowe’s record 151th career victory at Oxford and first since 2005. He is the first driver to win at OPS in six different decades.

Andy Shaw (PASS Modified), Josh Childs (Street Stock) and Anthony Nocella (Wicked Cool Midgets) were also feature winners on opening day at the 3/8-mile western Maine oval.

Polewarczyk led the 38-car PASS North field to green in the day’s final event. His time up front was brief, as Rowe asserted himself early in his new Petit Motorsports ride. After a brief challenge from Trevor Sanborn, the veteran reclaimed the lead until Polewarczyk turned up the heat.

“I knew I had a good car here today,” Rowe said. “I just sat back and waited after I led early, and it paid off in the end. A driver can’t win one of these things alone, it takes a good crew and I sure had one here today. D.J. (Shaw) got into me once just as little, but he lifted and that was good. He ran me clean all the way, and that’s all you can ask for. I’m thrilled to start a new season with a new team in Victory Lane.”

Shaw, the defending PASS North champion, kept the pressure on Rowe throughout, yet seemed happy to begin his title defense with a runner-up finish.

“We weren’t quite good enough on short runs today,” Shaw said. “I think we had the better car today, but catching Mike is different than passing him. He earned it today. I’m happy with a second place finish after the way our weekend unfolded. We struggled all through practice and have a lot of new stuff in this car. I’ll take a solid finish like this. It’s better than being the last car on the lead lap.”

PASS veteran Tony Ricci had a career-best finish in third, while David Oliver and rookie Garrett Hall completed the top five. Finishing sixth through 10th were Cassius Clark, Reid Lanpher, Joey Doiron, Brian Hoar and Bobby Therrien. Sixteen of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap, while four cautions slowed the pace. Rowe’s margin of victory over Shaw was a scant quarter of a second.

In the ACT feature, Polewarczyk simply never gave the competition a chance. The young lion from the Granite State overpowered the field, despite a mix of veterans and series newcomers giving chase. Former series Wayne Helliwell Jr. came home second, while Vermont star Nick Sweet finished third. Rising stars Emily Packard and Jimmy Hebert rounded out the top five.

“We were lucky enough to start from the pole, and the plan of keeping it up front worked out pretty nicely,” Polewarczyk said. “I’m really happy to be back racing at Oxford. I’ve missed this place and it’s a good track for our team. Wayne (Helliwell) came out of nowhere at the end. I had to give it all I had to try and stay in front of him.”

Helliwell was pleased with his efforts after starting ninth on the grid. After a few years away from the Maine oval, the Dover, N.H., veteran got back up to speed pretty quickly.

“I knew the car was pretty stable at the start,” Helliwell said. “I just tried to get down on the bottom and bide my time for most of the race. I’ve used my stuff up too early here before and learned a lesson. I was hoping for a late yellow to make a charge, and that’s kind of the way it played out. I did my best to try a run at Joey, but he had us covered today.”

This long-awaited doubleheader with PASS and ACT was something of which fans only dreamed in recent years. To see it come together in front of a huge crowd was the reward for both series promoters. It may have been a day late, but the quality of racing more than made up for it. Most fans stayed to the very end, despite temperatures that dropped quickly. 

Oxford kicks off its 2015 weekly championship program on Saturday, May 9. The ACT teams now move to Lee Speedway on April 26, while PASS North drivers will prepare for a visit to Beech Ridge in two weeks.

pwhipple@sunjournal.com

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