Wilson's the happiest runner-up in the world

Alan Wilson remains best-known not for what he's accomplished at Oxford Plains Speedway but for the 1 thing he didn't do.

Wilson came up 11 laps short of winning the 2004 Oxford 250, a flat rear tire claiming what would have been biggest payday and most prestigious win -- and filing it away in that cabinet under the label "What Could Have Been."

Sunday afternoon at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Wilson again came up just a bit short.

Numbers created out of yellow duct tape on the door of a car that even Wilson himself doesn't know the age of ("Ah, I don't know. Eight, 9 years, maybe."), the Hebron driver rolled from 18th starting spot to finish 2nd to Mike Rowe in the D.J. Equipment 300.

All that after being a lap down and needing the "Lucky Dog" to get back on the lead lap in the 2nd half of the race. All that after himself believing the car wasn't good enough to even qualify on Saturday. All that after driving the same car to just a 6th place finish in a 100-lapper for the Outlaw Late Models on the undercard of Sunday's 300.

And -- after all that -- Wilson was all smiles.

"I felt we lucked into qualifying. I went home and read some books about what I've done down here before, chassis set-ups and stuff, and I thought we was close," said Wilson, who has 50 career wins at nearby Oxford Plains Speedway, 10th all-time there and 3rd among active drivers. "I realized it was just me driving the track wrong.

"I was driving too hard, using too much brake. You've got to let it coast in here. It feels like you're going slower, but you're going faster."

Wilson's luck was further compounded and steered in the wrong direction when he pitted prior to lap 100. The sun created such a glare on pit road, Wilson said, that he couldn't even see where his pit stall was. He got blocked in, couldn't get out of his stall and ultimately went a lap down.

After getting that Lucky Dog with fewer than 120 laps remaining, his car began flying to the front. And people were obviously taking notice.

"(The last 100 laps), that's when the guys that are handling good are going and that's when the guys on bad tires start to fade," Wilson said. "This car was just unbelievable all day. We were just set up for long green-flag runs."

His late-race charge through the top-5 may have come up short when restarts foiled his bid, but he emerged from his race car in victory lane to cheering from those remaining in the grandstands. And, as a colleague pointed out, by finishing with the car in one piece and having made no apparent enemies on the day, Wilson truly had accomplished something for a low-budget race team trying to compete head-to-head with the big guys.

It's too bad that he's remembered for what he has yet to accomplish.