7.21.2007

Now we can get serious about this 250 thing

And now we can focus all our energy on everything Oxford 250...

2-time True Value Modified Series champion Kirk Alexander passed Les Hinckley with 6 laps remaining to win the Maine-ly Action Sports 100 Saturday night at Oxford Plains Speedway. It was Alexander's 3rd win of the year.

Hinckley made a great move to try and get the lead back, twice tapping Alexander's rear bumper on the frontstretch, but he couldn't make the move.

Dwight Jarvis, the 2006 series champion, was 3rd.

And now that that's over, some thoughts....

* What Ben Rowe and Richard Moody Racing get out of skipping the TD Banknorth 250 and staying in Nova Scotia to run a PASS North Series race that only pays $7,500 to the winner makes no sense. He's a 3-time champion, and even if he skips out on Antigonish Sunday, he'll still be in really good shape in the series standings (for a paltry point fund), at most 20 or 25 points behind his father. Coming to Oxford, on the other hand, gives the team a shot at at least 25 grand -- plus lap leader money -- in a car more than capable of winning.

I don't think there should be any discussion. I'd but a $20 bill on the fact that Rowe is probably already on his way to Oxford by now. Just a hunch.

* It was decided that when competitors were asked to pick the 250 winner and came up with Mike Rowe, Travis Adams and Jean-Paul Cyr as a consensus, it really wasn't about those drivers at all. It was who they represented.

Picking Mike Rowe means you think one of the veterans in this race -- Labonte, Lepage, Aube, Leighton, Crouch, etc. -- have the shot at victory. Taking Travis means you like the Oxford weekly guys to get to victory lane. A vote for Jean-Paul Cyr, who, ironically has never fared that well on this track, is a vote for an American-Canadian Tour regular.

* Why Modified racing can't catch on other than in Connecticut, New Jersey and a couple of other small pockets around our country is beyond me. The cars look fantastic, get around tracks extremely quickly and race side-by-side.

What am I missing here?
* Question: How many people where like t-shirts can you cram into one sponsor's booth at OPS?
Answer: Depends how much free beer you can give them. Saturday night, it was a lot. Of both.

* I can smell campfire smoke and there are fireworks bursting in the sky over the turn 1 grandstands at the track. Must mean the pre-250 parties are getting underway. I swear, first sign of a guitar riff from that concert behind the pit area and I'm going to grab a cold beer and get crazy.

Well, maybe I'll just grab a cold beer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

With lap money it's more than $7500.00 to win isn't it ? And with Jeff Taylor in the #4 isn't Richard Moody Racing making the best of both races ? Why bring Ben back after traveling 10 hours to get there and leave the Pro Stock seat empty ?