At Oxford Plains Speedway, and especially on the weekend of the Oxford 250, the Super Late Models are undeniably the main attraction for the thousands in the stands and camped around the speedway grounds.
But those fans who prefer their race cars sans fenders had plenty of action to follow, too.
Seven feature races for five unique touring divisions, from popular Tour-type Modifieds to scaled-down dwarf cars, presented an intriguing open-wheel focus at Oxford’s signature race weekend.
Gabe Brown (#66) made his first Tour-type Modified start in Saturday’s Milton CAT Modified Racing Series feature. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Saturday’s action-packed prelude to the 250 featured four open-wheel touring series on the schedule, with the New England Dwarf Car Series, the Milton CAT Modified Racing Series, the Pro All Stars Series Mods and the PASS-backed New England Supermodified Series making laps on the legendary Maine oval.
And Sunday’s buildup to the evening’s 50th Annual Spencer Group Paving Oxford 250 included return appearances for the PASS Modifieds and NESS Supermodifieds, as well as a feature for the New England Pro 4 Modifieds.
The Milton CAT Modified Racing Series played the role of undercard on Saturday to the headlining American-Canadian Tour. Founded in 2004 by New Hampshire Modified racer Jack Bateman, the series offered a credible regional alternative to the grind of the NASCAR Modified Tour, with champions Jon McKennedy and Anthony Nocella going on to win in the NASCAR ranks.
After spot appearances over the years, the MRS was added to 2021’s Oxford 250 festivities, giving the weekend a Tour-type Modified presence in four of the last five years.
Matt Swanson (#25) leads Jacob Perry and Richard Savary early in the Milton CAT Modified Racing Series feature Saturday. Savary would go on to win his first series race in several years. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Matt Swanson led the MRS field to green for their 75-lap feature, but Richard Savary put on the drive of the evening. The Canton, Mass. veteran, an MRS stalwart who has focused for the last few years on the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series, started third in his first MRS start since 2020. Savary grabbed the lead from Swanson early, then drove away from the field to earn his first series win since 2018.
Joey Jarvis races past his crew en route to a career-best second-place finish. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Vermont’s Joey Jarvis raced his way to second, then held off advances from defending race winner and champion Jacob Perry to earn his best career MRS finish. Swanson slipped to fifth at the finish. Super Late Model racer Rusty Poland was eighth for car owner Rick Kluth.
Gabe Brown made his Tour-type Modified debut for spotter and car owner David Weir, finishing ninth just over an hour before he would celebrate his first ACT Tour victory.
While the Tour-type Modifieds have become a more regular visitor to Oxford, the PASS Mods are a far more familiar sight on the flat oval. PASS introduced the open-wheel division in 2004, opting for a platform far closer to a fenderless street stock than the ground-pounders of the NASCAR Tour. The PASS Mods are PASS’ traveling undercard to the Super Late Models, both a destination for touring-minded racers on a budget and a stepping stone for rising stars like current Super Late Model racers Kate Re, Garrett Lamb and Max Cookson.
Saturday and Sunday features were on deck for the PASS Mods, and points leader Brandon Varney swept both features to match last year’s four-win season with four races left on this season’s calendar.
Colby Benjamin and Silas Ripley led the field to green for Saturday’s 40-lap feature, while Varney started midpack courtesy of PASS’ past-winner handicap. The third-year driver worked his way forward, sniffing the lead with about ten laps remaining and testing Benjamin’s outside for several laps before taking the point. From there, Varney was home free, cruising to his third win of the year over Benjamin and 2020 PASS Mods champ Spencer Morse.
Dan Brown (#83) holds the advantage on Alex Ricker (#9) in Saturday’s PASS Mod showdown. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Sunday’s feature added another ten laps, and it took mere seconds for chaos to erupt, with Chanler Harrison making an early exit courtesy of a wreck. Dan Brown paced the field early on, but Varney once again found his way to the front to take his fourth win of the season. Brown held on for second. With his Sunday focus on making the Oxford 250 field, Benjamin handed the reins to two-time PASS Mods champion and Supermodified racer Ben Tinker, who raced to third in his first series start since 2020.
Brandon Varney celebrates his first win of the weekend, going on to sweep Saturday’s and Sunday’s PASS Mod features. (STS/Jeff Brown)
With a win in his second Super Late Model start a couple weeks ago, Varney may be on a similar track to Re, Lamb and Cookson.
Unlike the Tour-type Modifieds from which they draw inspiration, the PASS Mods are a somewhat boutique platform, with only Wiscasset Speedway hosting a similar division on a regular basis within the region. Oxford flirted with a weekly “OPS Mods” points championship in 2022, but did away with the division in the offseason.
The same is true of the other proper Modified presence at the track, the New England Pro 4 Modifieds. A staple of southern New England, the Pro 4 Modifieds are unique scaled-down Modifieds running four- and six-cylinder engines. The bespoke series fits somewhere between a vintage club series and a Modified touring program, carrying the torch for a concept that first found traction in the 1970s.
Sunday afternoon’s Pro 4 show was the debut for the division at Oxford, with Lee USA Speedway winner Brayden Meservey prevailing over Doug Meservey, Jr. for the feature win. The Meservey family is a big part of the Pro 4 Modifieds’ legacy, promoting the series in its 53rd season.
A similar spirit lived on at the northernmost end of the pit paddock, where the New England Supermodified Series was assembled for a pair of feature races. With the International Supermodified Association’s presence waning in New England, PASS promoter Tom Mayberry organized NESS early last year to provide an outlet for the region’s devoted big-block Supermodified racers.
Vern Romanoski (#52) battles Matt Swanson in Sunday’s NESS Supermodified feature. After finishing second the day before, the winged veteran broke through for his first NESS win that afternoon. (STS/Jeff Brown)
NESS was initially slated for a Saturday-night appearance, with touring 350 Supermodifieds on the Friday schedule. But late changes swapped the small-block Supers for their big-block progenitors. And when Friday’s racing card was rained out, the NESS teams took a slot on Sunday’s busy itinerary.
One of the younger big-block Supermodified drivers, Bobby Timmons III has become an ambassador for the discipline. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Saturday’s feature opened with a duel between Maine natives Bobby Timmons III and Vern Romanoski, each hungry for their first NESS victory. Timmons nosed out front early, but Romanoski powered past the popular Timmons to take the point. The veteran lapped half the field, but Timmons reeled him in late in the race, diving low to take the lead down the backstretch.
In a 50-lap feature that took just eleven and a half minutes, “BT3” stormed to his first NESS victory. The third-generation Supermodified stalwart has wins in a small-block Supermodified, but Saturday’s checkered flag was Timmons’ first in a big-block car. Romanoski held on for second, while Matt Swanson wheeled one of legendary car owner Howie Lane’s entries to a third-place finish.
Matt Swanson’s busy weekend started with a ride in Howie Lane’s #9 entry, but engine problems forced him to hop rides for Sunday’s NESS feature. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Swanson swapped rides Sunday morning, though, taking the wheel of Mike Mayberry’s NESS house car after losing an engine in practice. Swanson and Romanoski led the field to green in the first feature of Sunday’s busy program, and for a while it looked like the open-wheel double-threat might deliver the Mayberry family a win in their own series.
Romanoski had other plans. As the handle on Swanson’s car faded, Romanoski charged to the point and took command, leading to the finish for his own first victory under the NESS banner. Swanson finished second in the Mayberry ride. Timmons finished third after starting sixth, but could not close the gap on the leaders.
The finicky 900-horsepower winged cars are a spectacle to see at Oxford, though they remain slim in numbers. Support from entrenched car owners like Howie Lane and Vic Miller goes a long way, but the barriers to entry for new prospects are sky-high.
Two years in, NESS remains a work in progress, but the Mayberrys are committed to playing the long game.
Timmons, who won an Oxford 250 last-chance qualifier in his Super Late Model career, was proud to score his first big-block Supermodified win in front of a home crowd. (STS/Jeff Brown)
Rounding out the open-wheel action was Saturday’s feature for the New England Dwarf Car Series. Renamed last year after several seasons as the North East Classic Lites, the series is the region’s only touring sanction for the scaled-down coupe replicas.
Tom Harwood had won the series’ last three Oxford 250 appearances, but the driver of the familiar orange #29 was sidelined this summer by an off-track accident. Reigning series champion Cody Hodgdon hopped into the Buxwood Racing entry in Harwood’s stead, leading all but one lap en route to victory.
Hodgdon’s performance extended the Buxwood #29’s Oxford 250 weekend win streak to four. And combined with Harwood’s dominance before his injury and Justin Harris’ four wins since, cars bearing a form of the number 29 have won the last nine events on the New England Dwarf Car Series circuit.
Open-wheel cars were also in play late Saturday evening, as festivities closed with the annual exhibition by the Wicked Good Vintage Racing Association. The club’s “Outlaw” class features a selection of Modifieds dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.
Open-wheel racing is not the bread and butter of weekly or touring racing in the state of Maine. And in some forms, like the winged Supermodifieds and the historic Pro 4s, it can be nearly exotic. But it is a big part of the Pine Tree State’s rich racing heritage.
And every August, it remains a big part of Oxford 250 weekend.
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