This is the final part of a series of recaps of the first 49 editions of the Oxford 250, in honor of the race’s 50th edition today. In the fifth decade, a fourth three-time winner emerged, a big name from the South came and won, and some longsuffering local drivers finally had their day. Here is a look at the 41st through 49th races:
41. JULY 20, 2014
Somewhat unknown only a year earlier, Morrill’s Travis Benjamin put himself in elite company by winning his second Oxford 250 while at the same time becoming only the fifth driver (alongside Geoff Bodine, Ralph Nason, Ben Rowe and Eddie MacDonald) in the race’s 41-year history to win back-to-back titles.
Benjamin started 27th but battled his way through the field. He took the lead on lap 227 and then had to hold off Fort Kent’s Austin Theriault, who finished second — his fourth top-4 showing in this first four Oxford 250s. Richie Dearborn, after two years away from racing, placed third.
42. AUGUST 30, 2015
Turner’s Glen Luce was often a contender but rarely a winner. But he’ll forever be known as a champion after winning the 2015 Oxford 250. He might have won seven years earlier if not for the presence of one of the best stock car racers of all-time, Kevin Harvick, who won in 2008 and forced Luce to settle for second place.
This time, the 48-year-old Luce took the lead on the 200th lap then held off the challenge of 17-year-old Reid Lanpher to earn the checkered flag. Lanpher was the runner-up by about a second. Ben Lynch took third.
43. AUGUST 28, 2016
Dover, New Hampshire’s Wayne Helliwell Jr. made a nifty move by using lapped traffic to slip past two-time winner Travis Benjamin with six laps remaining, then holding on to win the 2016 race.
Helliwell also had the winning pit strategy, staying out longer on his first set of tires. That made his car stronger at the end than Benjamin’s, who changed tires 37 laps earlier. Benjamin took second and DJ Shaw, son of 1992 runner-up Dale Shaw, earned a third-place finish.
44. AUGUST 27, 2017
Waterboro’s Curtis Gerry took the lead with 52 laps remaining and held onto it through four restarts to claim the 2017 crown. Gerry was in the hunt for much of the race and even led laps 124 to 171 before losing his spot to make a pit stop. He quickly worked his way back to the front, overtaking Scott McDaniel on lap 198.
Reid Lanpher, still a teenager, placed second for the second time in three years. Farmington’s Cassius Clark was out front for the first 123 laps but lost the lead and couldn’t get it back. He finished third, his highest finish to that point and his fifth consecutive top-6 showing.
45. AUGUST 26, 2018
Many big-name drivers roll into Oxford Plains Speedway and are promptly humbled by the Oxford 250. Rare are those who show up and immediately own the place and the race. Georgia’s Bubba Wallace, one of the country’s top short-track drivers, came in 2018 and won the 250 in his first attempt.
That’s not to say it was easy. “That was one of the toughest races I’ve ever run,” Pollard said after the race.
Runner-up Joey Polewarczyk Jr., the 2012 champion, was frustrated but applauded Pollard for proving his adeptness. Reid Lanpher, only 20, earned his third top-3 in four races by finishing third.
Pollard has since learned the other side of the Oxford 250. He has made the trek to Maine each year since his title, but has only finished in the top 30 once — a 10th-place showing in 2021.
46. AUGUST 25, 2019
Morrill’s Travis Benjamin joined the most elite club the Oxford 250 has, becoming the fourth driver to win the race three times. Of the other three — Dave Dion, Ralph Nason and Mike Rowe — only Nason, who won three straight from 1998 to 2000, reached the pinnacle is a shorter time frame than Benjamin’s seven years (Benjamin’s first two wins came in 2013 and ’14).
“I just can’t believe we’ve won it three times,” Benjamin said.
Derek Griffith placed second and DJ Shaw notched his second third-place showing in four races.
47. AUGUST 30, 2020
Fan favorite Johnny Clark finally won, but the fans weren’t there to celebrate with him. After years of success in other races and of coming close in this one, the Hallowell wheelman survived the relentless rally by Farmington’s Jeff Taylor — another successful driver trying to exorcise Oxford 250 demons. Taylor placed second and Joey Doiron was third.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down the world for much of 2020, the number of spectators was limited a few hundred rather than several thousand. Clark noted the lack of noise after the race, but he also noted the gravity of what he just accomplished: “It’s still the Oxford 250. It’s awesome.”
48. AUGUST 29, 2021
Another set of Clarks have often been denied at the Oxford 250. Billy Clark, known as “the Farmington Flyer,” experienced one of the most heartbreaking losses in 1987 and came close a few other times. His son, Cassius, led the first 123 laps in 2018, but his car faded in the second half of the race — the latest in a string of close calls.
Cassius Clark, though, was not to be denied in 2021. Clark took the lead from two-time champ Eddie MacDonald after the two collided with 73 laps remaining. The right side of Clark’s car was destroyed, but the engine and wheels were still in top form. Curtis Gerry, the 2017 champion, had a chance take out Clark right before the finish line, but Gerry’s championship character prevented him from making that type of move.
Cassius Clark held on for the win. For his family and for Farmington. Gerry took second and Derek Griffith was third.
49. AUGUST 28, 2022
The winner of the Oxford 250 becomes a hero to many — but that wasn’t the case for Cole Butcher in the 49th running of the race. Not after making contact with fan favorite and 2020 race winner Johnny Clark with eight laps to go.
Butcher took the lead at that point and raced to the win, beating two-time winner Eddie MacDonald, who had his best showing since his back-to-back wins in 2009-10.
Clark, who dominated the last half of the race, leading from lap 156 until getting knocked off the spot by Butcher, settled for a fourth-place finish behind Gabe Brown. It could have been a worse result for Clark, who rammed his car into Butcher’s in victory lane after the race, which resulted in the loss of 100 points in the Pro All Stars Series standings and a $3,000 fine.
Sun Journal assistant sports editor Wil Kramlich contributed to this report.
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