OXFORD – West Buxton’s Gary Drew and Mercer’s Jeff Taylor are leading the pro stock division at Oxford Plains Speedway. Drew has a 25-point lead atop the standings.

That was also the starting grid for the Oxford True Value 250 as Drew won the first heat and Taylor triumphed in the second heat to notch the pole and outside pole spots.

“And I’m driving a Jeff Taylor car,” grinned Drew referring to Taylor’s Distance Racing Products Inc. business which fabricates racing chassis. “The top four cars are Taylor’s.”

Drew went on to win the race.

Wiscasset’s Scott Chubbuck started third and South Portland’s Mike Maietta Sr. qualified fourth.

“This is my biggest thrill since I finished third here in 1997,” said Drew, a 36-year-old native of Raymond who has raced since 1983. “This is my first pole [for the Oxford True Value 250].”

Drew, a construction worker for A.L. Doggett Inc. in Gray, said he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary to prepare for the 250.

“I didn’t practice a lot. We went with our Saturday night set-up.”

He said having Taylor starting on his outside adds to his pleasure.

“Jeff is a good friend. We’re fierce competitors. It’s good to run against him.”

Two drivers who weren’t as fortunate were Scarborough’s Kelly Moore and Stetson’s Gaarry Bellefleur, who failed to qualify.

Moore, who is battling for the points title on the Busch North series, had his new car sail off the track in the heat race and then he accidentally shut his car off during an accident in the consolation race.

“When I was involved in the accident, my elbow accidentally hit the kill switch on the car and that shut off the electrical system. I could still drive the car as long as the RPMs were up but when they started going down, the car shut off and I had to coast it in,” said Moore, who added that he repeatedly hit the switch without knowing it. “I mounted it in the wrong place too close to my elbow.”

The kill switch problem finished off a frustrating day for Moore, who also broke a throw-out bearing and a transmission.

“This is one of the problems when you have a brand new car,” Moore said.

He had hoped to receive one of three owner’s provisionals but those were given to former three-time Oxford True Value 250 winner Dave Dion, 1996 winner Larry Gelinas and local racer Tim Brackett.

Moore said he would run the car in some Oxford Open races later this year.

Moore had finished sixth in the Busch North race at Thompson International Speedway (Conn.) Saturday night.

Bellefleur said his car wasn’t right all afternoon.

“It was too tight and I couldn’t get it to do anything and then it was too loose,” said Bellefleur, who currently lives in Litchfield. “This is a hard deal. It’s the hardest place to get the right set-up. I spent three grand and am getting just $100 back. We worked day and night for a week. But I’m going to keep trying.”

Bellefleur has tried to qualify “six or seven times” but only made the show in 1995 when he finished 23rd.

Qualifying strategy necessary

There is a ton of strategy just involved in getting into the True Value 250.

Just ask Detroit’s Adam Friend.

“When they drew the numbers out of the hat for the heat races, I drew 13th. I knew if I tried to pass nine cars to get one of the four qualifying spots, I would have wrecked it. So I tried to finish sixth or seventh to get a good spot for the consolation race and that’s what I did.”

The top four finishers in the six 20-lap heat races earned spots 1-24. The top non-qualifiers started up front in the three qualifying consolation races and the top four finishers in those races made the field in spots 25-36. The winner of an Oxford Saturday night late model sportsman race, a 50-lapper, earns another spot and the winner of a 50-lap hooligan race for non-qualifiers earns one. Then there were three provisionals. Eighty-six cars tried to qualify for the 41 spots.

The drivers said the track is significantly slow than it used to be and the track could use another paving.

“It’s seven-10ths slower than it used to be,” said Friend.