NAPLES, Maine – For Maine race fans, the wait is finally over as short track racing returns to Oxford Plains Speedway this weekend.
Following a postponement two weeks ago due to snow still being on the ground, the Pro All Stars Series North super late models will make their first stop of the season in Maine on Sunday for the Honey Badger Bar & Grill 150.
If that’s not enough, a full slate of weekly racing at Oxford Plains Speedway will kick off on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. featuring the headlining super late model division. The PASS Modifieds will have their first action of the season on Saturday and Sunday as well.
To cap it all off, the Road To The Oxford 250 begins on Saturday on the opposite side of the map in Washington state at Wenatchee Valley Super Oval and then on Sunday it continues with the PASS race at Oxford Plains.
Memorable PASS North finishes at Oxford Plains are part of the track’s legend. In the 2016 Honey Badger Bar & Grill 150, three of the biggest names in PASS history battled three-wide late in the going to determine the victor. The all-time winningest driver in PASS, Ben Rowe, prevailed over six-time series champion Johnny Clark and three-time champion D.J. Shaw in one of the most exciting finishes Maine race fans have ever seen.
Last year, Curtis Gerry held off Cassius Clark and Travis Benjamin for the win at Oxford Plains. Perhaps that could be a precursor for Gerry, who will be competing full-time at Oxford Plains in 2019 in the track’s weekly super late model division.
As if that were not enough for the motorsports-hungry fans of New England, the American-Canadian Tour will begin their season on Sunday at Oxford. Nearly 40 ACT late models competed in a non-points race at Richmond Raceway in March and another stacked field is expected to fill the already crowded pit area. After seeing nearly 50 cars take the green flag at Richmond, the North East Mini Stock Tour will compete the weekend of action.
The field for Sunday afternoon’s Honey Badger Bar & Grill 150 is full of potential winners, featuring former Oxford 250 winners Rowe, Travis Benjamin, Curtis Gerry and Glen Luce. Former PASS champions Clark, Shaw, Mike Rowe and Derek Griffith are entered, as well as top series runners like Tracy Gordon, Bryan Kruczek, Reid Lanpher, and Garrett Hall.
Defending Oxford Plains Speedway track champion Gabe Brown is entered, along with fellow Oxford regulars Tim and T.J. Brackett, Scott McDaniel, John Peters and Ryan Robbins. ACT Late Model champion Nick Sweet is entered, along with fellow Vermonter Evan Hallstrom. Among the drivers entered from Canada are New Brunswick’s Ashton Tucker and Nova Scotia’s Cole Butcher.