OXFORD – It was only fitting for the young driver from Canton who stole most of the headlines in 2007.

Travis Adams, this year’s Late Model track champion, took the lead on lap 141 and hung on to record his first American-Canadian Tour victory in the New England Dodge Dealers 150 on Saturday at Oxford Plains Speedway.

“This feels wonderful,” Adams said. “My father said he really wanted to see me win one of these ACT races, and we were able to get it done today.

“We won six races during the regular season here and finished third in the last ACT race. Prior to that, we had suffered some mechanical trouble in the ACT shows. Thankfully the car held together today. I was a little concerned with fuel but we had enough to finish.”

With rain threatening, Adams survived a nine-lap sprint to the checkers after the sixth and final caution of the afternoon. The race took a dramatic change at that juncture when leader Scott Dragon saw what looked like his first victory since August 2003 disappear in a heartbeat.

Local racer Doug Coombs of Livermore spun his car to the inside of Turn 4. He returned to the track in front of the leaders. Dragon, who had led from lap 124, slammed into Coombs, ending his day.

Adams’ margin of victory was roughly two car-lengths.

Roger Brown, of Lancaster, N.H., backed up his TD Banknorth 250 victory by finishing second, while Quebec native Donald Theetge was third. Brent Dragon brought his machine home in fourth, while Eddie MacDonald completed the top five.

“We didn’t have a car capable of running front today,” Browns said. “I rode around trying to save the car for a late charge, but we basically had a top five run going. My heart really goes out to Scott. He had the race all but wrapped up. When you have bad luck like that, you really get depressed.”

Finishing sixth through 10th Saturday were Shawn Martin, Alan Tardif, John Donahue, Randy Potter and Tracy Bellerose. Tardiff, of Lyman, drove up into the top 10 after starting 27th on the grid, an impressive feat for anybody.

Six cautions slowed the proceedings, none for serious incidents. Seventeen of the 34 starters finished on the lead lap, while 28 were running at the finish. The race took just over one hour, 21 minutes to complete.

Jean-Paul Cyr made it into the history books Saturday when he wrapped up his record fifth straight ACT championship and the seventh of his 20-plus year career. Cyr captured the title without winning a race, a point that didn’t make him very happy. He carried a 75-point advantage into Saturday’s ACT finale, and locked up the title when he won his qualifying heat.

“This isn’t the way I wanted our day to go,” said Cyr, who finished 12th in the 150. “I really wanted to cap the season with a win here at Oxford, but we’ll settle for the championship.”