OXFORD — Travis Benjamin finally has things back where he wants them.
The two-time Pro All Stars Series champion from Morrill had just one top five all season entering the 46th annual Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway — a fourth-place run at Thunder Road in Vermont in late May. He wasn’t enjoying going to races this summer, he was trying to juggle too many cars and too much work for car owner Peter Petit and he needed something to change.
So what he did was go back to focusing on one car, and he got back together with the guys that brought him his Oxford 250 wins in both 2013 and 2014.
It paid off with a record-tying third Oxford 250 win Sunday night, when pit strategy and four new tires led him to a race-winning run over the final 40 laps. Benjamin becomes the fourth driver in the race’s history to win it three times.
Nobody has ever won four.
“We struggled all year, and we finally went to the one car that I’ve always liked the best,” Benjamin said. “We just keep making it better and better and better. I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
Crew chief Ryan Leadbetter, crew member Kyle Keene and tire specialist Nate Littlefield all played key parts Sunday. They’ve been there, too, now for all three of Benjamin’s Oxford 250 victories.
“Ryan, I tell you what, he calls some awesome races,” Benjamin said. “He knows what I’m looking for. Nate, he’s very good at what he does. Kyle Keene’s been working his tail off. These guys just work so hard.”
Pit crews bring their equipment onto the infield to prepare for the 46th annual Oxford 250. Brewster Burns photo
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Johnny Clark’s weekend started off promising as one of the fastest cars from start to finish from practice through qualifying. When he pulled off a three-wide move to go from 10th to fourth on the first lap of his qualifying race, it looked like he had a shot to finally win his first Oxford 250.
Instead, things never really clicked for the six-time PASS champion, who finished fourth Sunday night.
“Better than we’ve been, but fourth is about the worst we were all weekend,” said Clark, of Farmingdale. “We had a tire issue the first half of the race … Ride it out, ride it out, ride it out and tried to work on the car (during pit stops) but it made it no better.”
Fourth marked the best finish in a PASS race for Clark since early May. In four previous races at Oxford this season, he posted an average finish of 14.7.
Clark was He 12th in his previous start at Oxford on Aug. 11.
“We salvaged a top five out of it, but it’s so disappointing,” Clark said. “We made so much noise this weekend as fast as we were. It’s just disappointing to finish fourth, but at the same time the last time we were here we went down a lap. So, that’s a positive.”
PASS North points leader DJ Shaw held the lead at 100 laps. Jake Johnson is in second and former 250 winner Scott Robbins in third. Brewster Burns photo
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D.J. Shaw led a handful of laps in Sunday’s race, the first laps the Center Conway, New Hampshire, driver has ever led in the Oxford 250 in seven career starts in the event.
It marked progress for the second-generation driver whose father, Dale Shaw, never won an Oxford 250 in a Hall of Fame career. It also equaled his third-place effort in 2016.
“Me and (Derek Griffith) were on the bottom,” said Shaw, who finished third despite having one of the most consistent cars for all 250 laps. “I can’t complain too much. I wish we could have chased Travis down, but it just wasn’t the year. In hindsight, it was a good day still.
“I don’t know what we could have done different. It’s a whole new setup for us, but we’ve got it going in the right direction.”
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There were plenty of Cinderella stories to go around Oxford Plains on Sunday.
None was better than last year’s Late Model track champion at Seekonk (Massachusetts) Speedway, Ryan Kuhn, winning the pole by virtue of winning the first of five heat races.
Kuhn, of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, was making his first career Oxford 250 appearance.
Jake Johnson, another Massachusetts driver, was poised for a breakout night, too. After drawing 57th out of the 57 cars entered — starting him dead last in his qualifying race — Johnson qualified 15th in the 44-car starting field.
The Rehoboth native then went up and drove to the lead on lap 120.
The good vibes couldn’t last, however, as Johnson ended up against the front-stretch wall on lap 182 to end his night.
Others weren’t fortunate enough to have such good moments on Sunday.
Nine-time track champion Jeff Taylor did not qualify for the one race missing from his Oxford Plains resume. Defending Oxford 250 winner Bubba Pollard of Senoia, Georgia, retired from the race on lap 140 after going two laps down. 2015 Oxford 250 champion Glen Luce of Turner, making a return from illness this year, needed a provisional to start last in the event and was never a factor.
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