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As Maine’s racing fans turn their attention to the yearly festival that is the True Value 250, one number looms large, dominating conversation across the state.
Ralph Nason’s car may have a big No. 10 emblazoned on it, but don’t believe it: The magic number this weekend is three.
Three, as in three straight titles. That, for your information, is unprecedented. Unlikely? Undoubtedly.
But after capturing his first win in the short-track classic at the age of 58, and his second last year at 59, that’s exactly what Nason, the hard-driving cole slaw king from Unity, is shooting for.
Qualifying starts in earnest at 2 p.m. on Sunday (one driver will get in based on his performance in a Saturday 50-lapper), and the main event is set for 7 p.m. at Oxford Plains Speedway.
Only NASCAR Winston Cup vet Geoffrey Bodine has ever won two straight versions of the race billed alternately as either “The Super Bowl of Short Track Racing” or “The Richest One Day Short Track Race in North America.” He turned the feat in 1980 and 1981.
The race is 93.75 miles long, but drivers can log many more miles than that, depending on how many caution flags wave: No matter what happens, 250 green-flag laps of the three-eighths mile oval must be completed. The total purse approaches $200,000 and the winner can make nearly $50,000 if he cashes in on enough of the $100-per-lap bonus money. Nason took home $46,500 for his ’98 victory.
“We’re going down there with every expectation of being very good,” said Nason on Thursday from his business, Jim’s Salad Company, a day after testing his brand new Ford Mustang on the Oxford track.
“But you’ve got to have lots of luck to win this race. If preparation and luck go together, then maybe something will happen.”
At Oxford, luck plays a large role in part because more than 100 drivers flock to the track to vie for 40 starting slots.
Matt Lee, a top Pro Stock driver at Unity Raceway, said that the luck of the draw plays a big part in success when the qualifying heats are being contested.
But even Lee admitted that some drivers are affected more than others.
“If you start at the back, unless you’ve got a car like Ralph Nason, you’re not gonna end up blistering your way through,” Lee said.
Lee said the driving at Oxford is challenging, too: the qualifying rounds are held during the hottest part of the day, while the race itself is run at night. That can make for some interesting conditions.
“[Maine racing legend] Stan Meserve used to tell me, it’s about who can slip and slide the fastest,” Lee said.
One person many people say may be this summer’s fastest slipper and slider – especially at his home Oxford oval – is Jeff Taylor of Mercer.
Taylor has won five of his last eight Pro Stock starts at Oxford Plains and is the only driver with a chance at the $25,000 Megalink Mega-Bonus.
That prize would be his if he can add True Value 250 and Coca-Cola 150 wins to his victory in the 100-lap segment of the May 28 New England Dodge Dealers 500.
Taylor raced at Oxford on Friday and hoped he’d be able to take an unblemished car back to the track on Sunday.
“It’s racing,” Taylor said of his decision to drive in a regular points race with the True Value 250 looming. “You could wreck it hauling it down there.”
Taylor did admit that because he owns Distance Racing Products and builds cars for a living, he might have a little advantage.
“Knock on wood, if anyone could wreck [on Friday] and get away with it, it would be us,” he said with a wry laugh. “I hate to think that way.”
Taylor said that though anyone could theoretically win the 250, he expects the victor to come from a core group of proven vets that include Nason, Ben Rowe and Mike Rowe, Dale Shaw and others.
“It’s like anything,” Taylor said. “The same front-runners are gonna be the same front-runners if they made us put it in reverse and back around the track.”
Taylor has never won the race.
Nason said the race tests a driver’s patience and skill because of the number of racers crowded on the track.
“You’ve got a lot of guided missiles out there when you start 40 cars on that small of a racetrack,” Nason said. “There’s a lot of bullets out there. You’ve got to dodge ’em.”
When you do dodge ’em, anything can happen. But as Lee points out, actually knowing what’s happening – and appreciating it – amid the confusion – is another story.
The True Value 250, after all, is every Maine driver’s biggest race of the year. Many will tell you they’d go to watch even if they couldn’t race in it.
Lee remembers working his way through the pack the second year he qualified for the race.
“I didn’t even know what place I was in,” Lee said. “I looked up on the back stretch one time and it said double-zero is in second place. I said, `Ho-ly crap.”
Past champs
1999 Ralph Nason, Unity 1998 Ralph Nason, Unity 1997 Mike Rowe, Turner 1996 Larry Gelinas, Scarborough 1995 Dave Whitlock, Petrolia, Ont. 1994 Derek Lynch, Norwood, Ont. 1993 Junior Hanley, Campbellville, Ont. 1992 Dave Dion, Hudson, N.H. 1991 Ricky Craven, Newburgh 1990 Chuck Bown, Ridgeway, Va. 1989 Jamie Aube, No. Ferrisburg, Vt. 1988 Dick McCabe, Kennebunkport 1987 Jamie Aube, No. Ferrisburg, Vt. 1986 Chuck Bown, Franconia, N.H. 1985 Dave Dion, Hudson, N.H. 1984 Mike Rowe, Turner 1983 Tommy Ellis, Richmond, Va. 1982 Mike Barry, Bolton, Vt. 1981 Geoff Bodine, Pleasant Garden, N.C. 1980 Geoff Bodine, Pleasant Garden, N.C. 1979 Tom Rosati, Agawam, Mass. 1978 Bob Pressley, Ashville, N.C. 1977 Don Biederman, Toronto, Ont. 1976 Butch Lindley, Greenville, S.C. 1975 Dave Dion, Hudson, N.H. 1974 Joey Kourafas, Sharon, Mass.
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