Prior to the 51st Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, there was plenty of action leading up to the main event.
For the PASS Modified race, 18 cars took the green flag with Tom Harwood and Cody Macomber in the front row. Both drivers led the early portion of the 50-lap race.
However, Ben Tinker was working his way forward and took the lead on lap 10. A caution for Macomber came out after he was spun on lap 12 sending him to the rear.
From there, Tinker and now Spencer Morse ran first and second in a two-car breakaway. With 15 to go, Morse let his presence known by repeatedly tapping Tinker’s rear bumper. In the waning laps, Tinker shut down the second-place driver’s efforts and pulled away to take the win.
Of the eight PASS Mod races run this year, there were eight different winners with Tinker’s victory keeping the streak alive.
“On lap 27, the car started to get really free in the turns,” Tinker said. “I had to back up the corner a bit to make it run better. These cars are the best race cars money can buy.”
The 30-lap feature for the Limited Division was a wild one. For the first 24 laps, it was Shawn Knight and Charlie Sanborn showing the way. Behind them, mechanized mayhem broke out several times keeping the tow trucks busy taking damaged cars to the pits.
With six laps remaining the, after several contact incidents between Knight and Sanborn, the fate of the race changed. Going into Turn 3, Sanborn buried the nose of his car into the back of Knights resulting in him spinning.
As a result, both gave up their 1-2 running positions when officials sent them to the rear. This gave first and second to Chad Monroe and Bubba Pelton, respectively.
Monroe led until the final lap when he bobbled just enough in Turn 4 allowing Pelton to get by and take the victory.
“It was wild, I’m not sure how I avoided all those messes,” a smiling Pelton said in Victory Lane.
Street Stock drivers Rick Spaulding and Jordan Russell had a race within a race. While each was looking for the 30-lap feature’s checkered flag, they were also looking to claim the prestigious Triple Crown Champion.
The honor is determined by who has the division’s highest average finishes through the three-day weekend. It was Russel taking the race victory, but it wasn’t enough as Spaulding bested him by just one point to earn the Triple Crown honors.
“I’m really happy for Rick (Spaulding), that’s awesome,” Russell said in Victory Lane. “I wish were a little better in this race, the car was tight in the centers and free off the corners.”
“Winning this Triple Crown for this weekend feels really good,” said Spaulding. “I’ve never won anything like this, so that makes even more special. Great job by the whole crew, this is really great.”
-Photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America
