OXFORD – Veteran Oxford Plains Speedway racer Jeff Taylor was asked what was different about the True Value 250 compared with his normal weekly racing at Oxford.

“Dave was here,” chuckled Taylor, who drew a good laugh from the media contingent on hand following the True Value 250 on Sunday night.

The Dave he was referring to was Petrolia, Ontario’s Dave Whitlock, who won the race by approximately half a lap.

Taylor, who finished second, said he knew Whitlock would be a serious contender.

“After the last ACT (American-Canadian Tour) race here (won by Whitlock on June 4), I knew he was the man to beat,” said Farmington’s Taylor, who has won seven of nine races at Oxford this season. “He was so dominant that day.”

Third-place finisher Tracy Gordon of Strong said, “our car was loose as were the others. But Dave’s was unbelievable.”

Whitlock said he had his sights set on the True Value for a year. He was 19th a year ago after finishing 32nd in his first True Value 250 a year ago.

“We had serious intentions of being back this year,” said the 29-year-old Whitlock, who co-owns a construction company in Petrolia with his father, Doug.

“We set a goal four years ago to win the ACT championship and we’re still striving for it,” added Whitlock. “I didn’t know if we could win the race but we started working toward it a year ago. We’re really happy to be here (in the winner’s circle).”

Whitlock’s Ford Thunderbird was the same vehicle Junior Hanley used to win the 1993 True Value 250 “but we’ve rebuilt it” said Whitlock.

Whitlock joked that his goal this year was to “make sure our car was on pit row before the national anthem.”

Last year, Whitlock totaled his car in Saturday qualifying so he had a couple of friends tow a show car 17 hours from Toronto to Oxford just in time to qualify on Sunday.

Whitlock had spun in Saturday qualifying as a result of a minor accident but Whitlock’s Thunderbird passed several cars in the next few laps to qualify in second place.

The car was fast again on Sunday.

“The car was going good. We set it up for cooler weather and it cooled off just before the race started, which was good. The car was fast right from the start,” said Whitlock.

“Jeff ran me good. He used a lot of room but I would have done the same thing if I had been leading the race. It’s $100 a lap to lead and I can’t hold that against him. I’ve run Jeff quite a bit and I’ve raced Tracy and they’re both excellent racers. I’d race with them any day of the week.”

Whitlock will pocket more than $50,000 but don’t expect him to spend it lavishly.

“I still owe my mother (Janet) $20,000,” laughed Whitlock, who will use a lot of it to help defray costs incurred to pursue his racing career.