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Gary Drew
was the “new magic in town” at the 250 (Lee Truman photo) |
The king was finally dethroned at the 28th annual
True Value 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway as local standout Gary Drew ended the
three year reign in the mid-summer classic by Ralph Nason. The race is still the premiere short track
race in the northeast and one of the top races for local and regional touring
racers in the country. “The richest one
day short track race in America” has
always been a stage of the unexpected, and on Sunday night, it lived up to its
reputation one more time. Drew pocketed
the $25,000 winners share of the purse plus $10,400 in lap leader money to take
home a total of $35,400 in front of 10,000 appreciative race fans. It wasn’t easy for the Windham, Maine
driver, however, as just getting into the True Value 250 is the dream of many
racers.
There were 88 Pro Stocks in the pits on Sunday morning as
drivers from as far south as North Carolina and as far north as Ontario made
the trek to match their skills, and horsepower, at one of the toughest
bullrings to master anywhere. Practices
for the race brought about its own attrition and 84 cars actually took to the
track for post time. The True Value 250
qualifies through a “luck of the draw” system that assigns drivers to a heat
race. The six 20 lap heat races
transfer the top four finishers to the feature while everyone else must go into
one of the three 20 lap consolation races.
Only the top four qualify from those races and the remainder of the field must try to win the 50 lap last
chance qualifier, known as the Hooligan Race, to get their way into the True
Value 250.
The first heat race of the afternoon was won by Gary Drew
and continued his momentum in the 2001 racing season. Drew showed up at Oxford Plains Speedway in 2001 to race in the
weekly Pro Stock division in an unsponsored Cheverolet Camaro and promptly won
the feature. Since then, he’s won
another weekly feature and had positioned himself on top of the point standings
heading into the weekend. It was no
surprise to see the maroon #71 at the front in the first heat. Winning that first heat race in True Value
250 qualifying also starts you on the pole and Drew was the recipient of the
Pole Award. The other heat race winners
were Jeff Taylor, Scott Chubbuck, Mike Maietta Sr., Bub Bilodeau, and Ralph
Nason. The three consolation race
winners were Steve Knowlton, Bruce Haley, and Paul Bosse. Don Whitten claimed the Hooligan Race to
gain entry in the field and had raced 90 laps just to GET IN to the True Value
250!! Tim Brackett received the
provisional for the highest Oxford Plains Speedway weekly driver while Larry
Gelinas and Dave Dion got into the race via past champions provisionals. Ricky Rolfe, a Late Model Sportsman driver
at Oxford Plains, won a 50 lap feature on Saturday night to qualify his car
into the big race. Rolfe had to buy
some tires and make minor modifications to his Late Model setup, but he wasn’t
about to miss the biggest race in the northeast.
The list of drivers who did not make the race was impressive
in itself as Busch North Series regular Kelly Moore, multi-time Seekonk
Speedway champion Rick Martin, and long time New England racer Bobby Dragon
failed to transfer to the feature. They
should not feel alone as 43 cars were forced to load back up and watch the race
from the grandstands.
The pre-race comments were some of the best as Dave Dion
eased the tension when he was asked what it was like getting a provisional and
starting 41st on the grid.
“I’m just happy to get in and I’m glad I did something good when I was
younger.” Dion is referring to his three
True Value 250 championships (1975, 1985, 1992) “I guess I’m also glad that people remember those days!”
As usual, Ralph Nason, the three-time (1998, 1999, 2000) and
defending True Value 250 champion got the loudest ovation (or boos, depending
on where you were sitting) when he was introduced. As is customary, Nason responded by pumping his fist and inciting
the crowd to make more noise. Of
course, they obliged. When asked if
history could be in the making and a possible fourth straight True Value 250
championship, Nason stated simply, “Hold onto your seats, we’re going for
it.” The packed crowd of 10,000 reached
new levels of cheering and jeering and the stage was set for the green flag to
drop.
Drew jumped out to the early lead and pocketed $100 for
every lap led, but with that sort of money on the line, the other top guns had
him in sight. Jeff Taylor is a six-time
Oxford Pro Stock champion and is no stranger to leading laps in the True Value
250. On lap 9, Taylor worked his way
around the outside of Drew who found himself in a spirited battle for position
with Maietta, Nason, Bilodeau, and Chubbuck.
Nason’s charge to the front began at lap 17 when he got by Drew for 2nd
place and glued himself to the back bumper of Taylor. With 41 cars on the flat 3/8th mile oval, the leaders
began to navigate lapped traffic by lap 22 and when they finally emerged from a
large pack of cars at lap 42, Nason was clear to make a solid pass to the
outside of Taylor. As True Value 250
fans know, when Nason gets to the front, good cars tend to get passed quickly,
and this race was no exception. The
first caution didn’t fly until lap 62 when Dale Shaw and John Phippen had an
excursion off turn 1. Many cars decided
to pit at this time, including pre-race favorite Ben Rowe, Chubbuck, and
Bilodeau (who actually went a lap down while pitting). Rowe fought an ill-handling race car all day
and was never a factor in the race.
After the field had a typical restart caution, things got underway again
with Nason setting a torrid pace.
The car on the move to this point in the race was Scott
Robbins. The 28 year old from Dixfield,
Maine started 14th on the grid, but had passed his way up to second
place just as the first caution came out.
As the green flag flew on the restart, Robbins was actually able to keep
Nason in sight. While Nason’s sleek
black Ford Taurus ate up the lead lap cars, Robbins hung around about 2 seconds
back and ticked off the laps patiently.
Robbins: “I figured
if I just took it easy on the tires and followed Ralph I’d be near the front at
the end.”
Behind the two leaders, Taylor, Alan Wilson, Drew, Maietta,
Sr., and Louie Mechalides traded spots 3-6 many times as they weaved in and out
of traffic. Two-time True Value 250
winner Mike Rowe (1984, 1997) made his way into the top 8 by lap 80 and brought
the fast Steve Knowlton along with him.
There wasn’t a lot happening at this point in the race as Nason continued
to set fire to the track and put many good cars down a lap before the halfway
point. Dion, Shaw, Ben Rowe, Tracy
Gordon, and Gelinas were all a lap down by lap 100 and Gordon and Rowe exited
the race under green at lap 126 with electrical troubles for Gordon and a poor
handling car for Rowe.
Ben Rowe: “The car
was too tight early in the race so we pitted on 62 to fix it. Well, it got so loose on me after when we
went back out that I decided I’d better park it before we hit somebody.”
All drivers got a reprieve from Nason’s beating on lap 130
as another caution finally flew for Pro Stock rookie Travis Khiel in turn
1. The lead lap cars of Drew, Taylor,
Robbins, Mike Rowe, and Alan Wilson hit the pits while Nason and Maietta opted
to stay out. There were only 9 cars on
the lead lap and the race was barely halfway finished!! Maietta would pit just 9 laps later as Steve
Knowlton got right front damage in a turn four skirmish that actually managed
to give Robbins some damage as well.
Robbins did pit to assess the damage to the rear of his car, but it was
mostly cosmetic. In fact, the driver of
the RoweAuburn.com Ford Taurus indicated that it might actually have helped.
Robbins: “We checked
up and got tagged in the rear. The car
was fine and the spoiler was actually shoved up over the roofline!” (He indicated that the raised spoiler would
help his handling out a bit)
The big surprise on that lap 139 caution was that Nason
elected not to pit. Instead, the short
track ace elected to stay out and lead more laps while the competition was forced
to sit back and watch him blister the field.
Nason: “The car was
working good and Ron (son and crew chief) kept reading me off the lap
times. We were running about as good as
those guys with fresh tires still so we stayed out.”
Nason had clear sailing as the logjam of lapped cars between
himself and second place runner Drew kept the three-time champ in the clear and
he kept clicking off those $100 laps. A
big wreck occurred on lap 156, just the fifth caution of the night, as Ricky
Rolfe, Jeff Taylor, and Justin Belfiore tangled out of turn 2. Something seemed to go awry on Taylor’s
Camaro and Rolfe and Belfiore just got caught up in it. This caution gave Nason the chance to pit
and get four fresh tires for the last 94 laps.
Robbins also decided to pit at this time to make sure he had no
damage. Drew regained the lead with
Mike Rowe now in second place, Wilson, Mechalides, Maietta, Robbins and then
Nason. Just seven cars were on the lead
lap but there were still 33 cars running on track and traffic would play a
major factor in the outcome of this race.
The restart on lap 157 all but determined the winner of the
race as cars got a little bunched up out of turn 4 and all drivers checked
up. Nason was at the end of that line
of cars and when he checked up, the car behind him got into him and sent him
around in a circle on the front stretch.
No caution flew as Nason was actually in the infield and out of harms
way. Luckily, he managed to get turned
around and back on the track just ahead of the leader, Gary Drew, and remain on
the lead lap.
Nason: “It was just
one of those deals. Everyone checked up
and I got tagged. I was quite happy
that we didn’t go a lap down and Ron told me I’d better get my ass going!”
Drew: “The crew
didn’t have to tell me what happened. I
saw that black and yellow #10 (Nason) and I just wanted to keep him in sight
ahead of me. “
Most fans in attendance obviously felt that Nason would get
another shot at the win because there was no chance the race would go the last
93 laps under green. After all, there
were so many cars still running that something was bound to happen. But in a race where strange occurrences are
the norm, this group of local racers DID manage to hold it all together and the
final caution would not fly until lap 244 as Scott Chubbuck blew a right front
and collect the wall on the front stretch.
During that long green flag stretch, Mike Rowe had to pit with a blown
right front, while Scott Robbins raced his way into second place by getting
around Maietta, Mechalides, and Wilson.
Nason did manage to pass his way up to third and was closing in on
Robbins when the final caution flew, but he was still a half a track behind
Drew.
As the cars lined up for the final 6 laps, Drew was in the
catbird seat with no less then 12 lapped cars between himself and Robbins. Robbins also had a couple of lapped cars
between himself and Nason and nobody was able to make a move over the last 6
laps. Wilson was able to make his way
past Mechalides and Maietta over the final 10 laps to claim fourth while
Maietta finished off a solid evening by claiming his second True Value 250 top
five. Mechalides was the final car on
the lead lap. Surprising local
campaigner Kevin Kimball finished in 7th place, the only car that
was ONE lap down!!!
Drew was very excited in victory lane and the first words
out of his mouth were loud and clear.
“I can’t believe it!! I JUST WON
THE TRUE VALUE 250!!” Drew led 104 laps
which put his winners share of the $200,000 purse at $35,400 and he was aware
of his dethroning of Nason. “I guess
there was a new magic in town tonight and it was Gary Drew, not Ralph Nason!” It was a popular win for Drew, who thanked
his sponsors.
Drew: “I’ve really got to thank Millenium Motors and Inofin
Financing for helping us out. We’ve
been under-financed all season and I’ve tended to be a bit over aggressive at
times. But I’ve learned to be more
patient, win some races, and gain a little financial support and we’re starting
to see some success.”
Drew’s drive to victory lane was truly indicative of his
newfound style of patience and preserving the car. “We had a game plan. We
let Jeff and Ralph go so that we could sit back and save the tires. I tried to stay in the top five or ten and
then adjust the car on our pitstop. We
came in a little earlier then we wanted to (lap 130), but the car was getting a
little loose. I didn’t want to burn up
the tires late in the race either, but I didn’t want this old dog (Nason) to
catch up up to me.”
Nason agreed about the track changing. “I actually came in a few laps earlier then
I wanted to. But the track seemed to
change a little and I started to get a little loose. We saw Taylor down in the wall (on lap 156) and knew that would
take awhile to clean up. We were able
to get four tires at that point.” Nason
didn’t seem overly disappointed in the outcome, showing the grace of a champion
in defeat. “We had a good shot at it
and we’re happy to take some more of True Value’s money. I hope everyone out there enjoyed it,
because I know I did.”
When asked if the car was fine after his spin, Nason was
forthright and had a gleam in his eye, “The car was fine. And if we’d have gotten a caution earlier
(then lap 244), then we’d have had a race.”
An emotional Scott Robbins had trouble believing that he was
in victory lane at the premiere race of its kind in the country. “Is this actually the 250?” he asked as
tears streamed down his face. “Me and
my brother (crew chief Spencer) have dreamed of this since we were three years
old. We used to watch guys like Dion
and Rowe battle it out. I can’t believe
that I’m up here with guys like Ralph….it’s unbelievable.” Robbins was quick to put some of the focus
back onto his brother. “He’s the reason
I’m sitting here. He built the engine
and does the shocks. I’m just fortunate
to get to drive it. He really deserves
all the credit. This is a dream come
true.”
“The real key for us was that Ralph put all those good cars
a lap down early in the race so we didn’t have to battle them at the end.”
Nason was also surprised at the quality of drivers who
couldn’t find the setup. “I was
wondering what the hell is going on (with) all these cars going a lap
down. I mean, when you lap a Tracy
Gordon and some of those other guys…I just couldn’t believe it.”
What was going on was a strict tire rule that didn’t allow
drivers to receive their race tires until 8:00 am on race day. This was designed to alleviate any potential
tampering by competitors as various chemicals seem to have become popular in
the region over the last couple of years.
The 28th annual True Value 250 came down to the wire and the
guys with the best setups on this day battled for the win.
Robbins: “The tires sure did make the playing field
even. The good cars were still the good
cars, but hitting the setup was even more important this year.”
The day belonged to Gary Drew and a hard working,
blue-collar race team. Drew put himself
into position to win and then had enough car to make it stand as the laps wound
down. When asked if he’d be back to
defend his title next year, Drew gave a truthful response. “As long as I’ve got money and a car, I
won’t miss this race.”
Miscellaneous Quotes:
Robbins: “Gary was
fast early and then seemed to fade. We
figured that once we put on new tires that we’d be better, but it looked like
Gary made some changes and he was better then we were and took off. The tire wear was great all night and when
the crew said we were past halfway, it was time to go.”
Robbins: “We’ve got
a special place in mind for this trophy already.”
Drew: This got a
good laugh…“I remember when I was younger and watching my dad race here, I saw Ralph
up in this press box and they had all kinds of champagne! Where’s the champagne??”
Robbins: “I always
wondered what it was like to be in one of these post race press conferences at
the 250.”
Drew: “I basically
just ran my Saturday night setup and tried to take it easy on the tires.”
Race Notes:
-
6 cautions
-
3 lead changes among 3 drivers
-
Leaders: Drew (grid-8), Taylor (9-42), Nason (43-156), Drew
(157-250)
Other Notes
- Drew’s father is Maine racing legend Homer Drew.
- Robbins led briefly in last years 250 before settling for sixth place.
- Drew finished 3rd in the 1997 True Value 250.
- Robbins made $12,500 for finishing in second place.
- Nason led for 114 laps, pocketing $11,400 in lap leader money alone and $18,900 total…for third place!
- Along with Roweauburn.com, Robbins is sponsored by D.B. Child Motorsports and drives a car built by RaceBasics.
- The first four starters drove Distance Chassis, built by Jeff Taylor.
- Ben Rowe, the runner-up the last two years, pulled off the track on lap 117 with handling problems.
- Andy Shaw, the third place finisher last year, pulled behind the wall just 49 laps into the race with engine failure. The team had changed the engine after qualifying because that engine had expired as well.
-
Kevin Heath from North Carolina made the trip to Oxford and
failed to qualify.
28th Annual
Oxford 250 Pictures
