OXFORD — At this point in his career, Jeff Taylor has nothing left to prove.
With nine track championships to his credit, the man who’s won nearly every major short track race around the northeast — except the Oxford 250 — has done it all.
Taylor powered around the outside of Scott Robbins on lap 25, checked out on the field during a 139-lap green flag run and pulled away on a green-white-checkered finish to win Sunday’s Pro All Stars Series North 2015 season finale.
Dave Farrington Jr. of Jay battled up front all afternoon and came home second, while Oxford 250 winner Glen Luce filled out the podium in third. Scott Robbins started third on the 35-car grid and finished fourth, while 2015 Oxford Super Late Model champion Tim Brackett was fifth.
“That was quite a day; you don’t get cars like that very often,” an emotional Taylor said in Victory Lane. “That long green flag run really helped; I didn’t have to race anybody very hard. If we would have a lot of cautions, it might have been a different story. It’s been a tough summer, we’ve had a lot of changes. This win was for my father, who was a big part of this team and a huge influence in my life.”
Taylor’s father, Conrad, passed away in January. Sunday’s win was Jeff Taylor’s first of the season.
Farrington, the 2014 NASCAR Pro Series champion at Beech Ridge, didn’t have the best of results this season but was dialed in with the best of them for Sunday’s finale.
“Today it was just a matter of should we pace ourselves or push it early on, Farrington said. “We had those two wrecks in the early laps, but it was a clean race after that and we just saved our equipment for the end. Once we got by the 36 (Robbins), we just set sail and wondered where Taylor went. We didn’t have anything for him, but we’re very happy to come home in second today.”
Luce, who enjoyed a career-best season in 2015, started 16th on the grid, was up to eighth by halfway and penetrated the top five by lap 125. Once he and crew chief Seth Holbrook got things squared away on the No. 7L this summer, it was lights-out for most of the competition.
“I’m happy for Jeff today; he’s a good friend of mine and has built a lot of cars for me,” Luce said. “I told everybody he was going to win one of these things, just give him time. I’m happy for my crew; to finish out the year like this is satisfying. We’ll look back on 2015 as an incredible and almost surreal season.”
The other big storyline at Oxford on Sunday was 65-year-old Maine racing icon Mike Rowe of Turner. Rowe wrapped up the 2015 PASS North points championship. He won the season opener at Oxford on April 19, and won three of the season’s first six races. He finished eighth Sunday.
“We were a little bit loose out there today, I just couldn’t get on the gas,” Rowe said. “I have to thank my crew; it takes more than a driver to win one of these championships. If it wasn’t for these guys, I wouldn’t be standing here. I know we didn’t have a great day today, but I’d like to dedicate this title to Sandra Mosher, who lost her life to cancer last week. She was a dedicated fan, so this championship is for her.”
Finishing sixth through 10th in Sunday’s 150 were Joey Doiron, Reid Lanpher, Rowe, Scott Mulkern and Spencer Morse. Only nine of the 35 cars that took the green flag finished on the lead lap, while 25 were still running at the finish. Only three cautions slowed the pace, with Taylor’s margin of victory over Farrington just a tick over eighth-tenths of a second.
Other drivers of note in Sunday’s 150 include Jeremy Davis (13th); Bryan Kruczek (14th); recent winner at Beech Ridge Johnny Clark (15th); Shawn Knight (24th); and two-time 250 winner Ben Rowe (28th).
Other feature winners on Sunday include Ryan Robbins of Dixfield (PASS Mods); Jimmy Childs (Mini Stock); and Cory Hall (INEX Legends). The only event remaining on Oxford’s 2015 schedule is the Armageddon on October 17.
pwhipple@sunjournal.com
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