OXFORD – Before last Friday morning, Kevin Harvick had never seen Oxford Plains Speedway.
With just a brief practice session that morning, followed by an abbreviated session on Saturday and the qualifying races, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series star had the place pretty well figured out.
Harvick took the lead from Eddie MacDonald on lap 133 and drove off to victory in the 35th annual TD Banknorth 250 Monday evening.
Harvick is the first driver to win the race as a current Sprint Cup driver.
When he first announced his intentions to compete in the 250 several months ago, Harvick said he intended to come to Maine and win the race. With a fast car, which was built at his shop in North Carolina, and the right breaks, he did exactly that.
Local favorite and Oxford veteran Glen Luce made a terrific late-race charge but settled for second. Teenage sensation Joey Polewarczyk ran among the leaders all night and claimed third at the finish, while Turner’s Shawn Martin was fourth and Ben Rowe fifth.
“I saw Glen coming there at the end and had to pick it up a notch,” Harvick said in Victory Lane. “I knew he’d be right there on a restart, but we were able to hold him off.
“It’s been quite a weekend, I can’t believe how the fans have hung in there through all the rain. Luckily, it worked out for us in the end, and we won the thing. Those cautions actually helped us because my right rear tire was burning up, and that gave it a chance to cool off.
“I have to thank Shane Wilson and this whole Quirk Chevrolet crew. They put a strong car under me, and I could put it anywhere I needed to go. This caps a pretty awesome off-weekend for me away from NASCAR. I want to thank all the competitors here at Oxford, everybody has been so nice and made this trip enjoyable for us. It’s been a real blast.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
