By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer
The addition of a big-name driver gives the TD Banknorth 250 even more appeal.

OXFORD – Alisha Jack thought she had an inside track to getting Matt Kenseth’s autograph.

“His wife’s actually getting it for me,” Alisha said as she and her family made their way back to the grandstand during Sunday afternoon’s qualifying heats for the TD Banknorth 250.

Jack, from Oxford, wasn’t ashamed to admit she had perhaps curried Mrs. Kenseth’s favor by leaving a lot of green at the Kenseth souvenir trailer.

“I bought a lot of stuff,” she said.

Enough to cover her literally from head to toe in Kenseth black and gold. There was the Kenseth visor, the Kenseth earrings, the Kenseth silk pajama bottoms with the black Kenseth boxer shorts underneath (with the 2003 Nextel Cup champion’s name in gold across the back), and, to complete the ensemble, the Kenseth toe ring on the second toe of her right foot.

Her husband, Chris, and their 11-year-old nephew, Kaullen Winter, limited their modeling of the Kenseth collection to caps and T-shirts, but they were no less excited about seeing their hero on the hometown short track.

“We’re just going to a Matt Kenseth concert,” said Chris, a truck driver. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

Neither would his nephew.

“My uncle takes me to this every year,” said Winter, from Livermore Falls.

Winter was worried that he might not get to see his idol race in the feature after Kenseth finished sixth in the third qualifying heat of the afternoon. Things started to look up after he placed third in the consolation heat, good enough to draw the 32nd spot on the starting grid, four spots behind fellow NASCAR draw Kyle Busch.

Some fans lost their rooting interests early, though. Josh Boucher and Josh Morse, 14-year-old friends from Manchester and Readfield, respectively, hoped to see Jim Weymouth and Scott King make it to the spotlight race, but Weymouth crashed in morning practice and King crashed in his afternoon qualifier.

“I’ve been here a couple of times, but it’s never been anything like this,” Morse said.

The boys lounged under the grandstand in the late afternoon sun as a Pro Stock feature roared in the background. They were contemplating their next move, whether to stay or go. It seemed something would ultimately make them straggle back to their seats.

“The crashes,” Boucher admitted.

Some of the estimated 14,000 spectators found other reasons to stay at the oval. Concessionaires were doing a brisk business on the warm afternoon.

“It’s been steady the whole day,” said Tony Fortin, who was pouring beer from his “Pit Stop” concession stand just outside of Turn One. “The crowd is smaller than last year’s crowd, I think, but as far as the beer sales, they’re going about the same.”