Drew hoping Oxford 250 rights season

loading...

Two years ago, Gary Drew bought a new home in Otisfield.

He had come into some money, $35,400 to be exact.

That is what he won for taking the checkered flag at the Oxford True Value 250.

“I’ll never forget that. It was great. And we had a car plenty capable of winning last year. Scott Fraser and I were setting a torrid pace. Then he crashed right in front of me,” said Drew. “So I figured I’d go into the pits, put on some tires and I’d come out in pretty good shape. I knew we had to loosen the car up a little bit.”

But, unfortunately for Drew, “the guys [in my crew] grabbed the wrong tires. They mixed Saturday night tires with one of the new ones and that threw the car off balance.”

The result was a 12th-place finish.

By his own admission, he hasn’t had a very good year in the Pro Stock class at Oxford Plains Speedway this season.

He has won only one race.

But he also knows that his troubles, which include two disqualifications (one for failing the post-race tech inspection and another for spinning somebody out after they had spun him out), won’t matter when he climbs into his Chevy Monte Carlo for the 30th annual Oxford True Value 250 on Sunday.

“I feel good. I feel we’ve got a strong car. If we get qualified, stay out of trouble and keep tires on the thing, we could be there at the end,” said the 38-year-old Drew.

He said the track is different than it was a year ago because it has been repaved.

“It seems like it’s three, four or five-tenths quicker than it was and it definitely has more bite,” said Drew. “There will be a tire wear problem. It [track] will eat up right-side tires. I’m still seeing signs of blistering at 30-35 laps.

“If tire wear is the way it has been, the crews will be really important. How quickly they can change tires and get us out to gain track position [will be pivotal],” Drew said.

“I wish they had never paved it. I thought the track was fine last year,” added Drew.

He admitted he has been “kind of bummed out because we have had a shortage of sponsorship money for tires. Things have started to come around a little bit but I’m still a little concerned.”

Drew said he plans on buying 20-24 tires at $130 apiece.

Who does he expect to contend for the checkered flag?

“Jeff Taylor has been doing a lot of experimenting. I think he has gotten to the point he feels pretty comfortable with his car,” said Drew. “Then you have the Rowes [father Mike and son Ben], Dale Shaw, Sammy Sessions and a bunch of those guys.”

He said defending champ Scott Robbins of Dixfield, who he races against at Oxford, has had a “real rough year but has been doing half-decent lately.”

Ryan Moore won’t do Oxford 250

One driver Drew and the rest of the racers at the True Value Oxford 250 won’t have to worry about will be Scarborough’s Ryan Moore.

Moore finished third in his first Oxford True Value 250 a year ago and he is currently running third in the Busch North series points standings.

The 19-year-old Moore and Tim Andrews are tied for points in the Rookie of the Year standings.

The Busch North series will run the Pepsi Racing 150 at Thompson International Speedway (Conn.) Saturday night.

“He really wanted to run the 250 and win it. But he’s got so much going on and that’s so much at stake,” said his dad, team owner and fellow Busch North driver Kelly Moore. “But by the time you get home from Thompson, you have to sleep quick because you have to get up to go to Oxford at 6 the next morning. I did it a few years ago and it didn’t work that well.

“He has a bunch of volunteer guys on his crew and you don’t want to wear them all out,” added Kelly Moore. “It would also cut into next week at Loudon (N.H.) and that’s a very, very important race. We’ve got a new [Jack] Roush engine for that race. And we’ve got to be there on Wednesday to do some promotional stuff for the sponsors.”

Since there will also be Winston Cup and Busch Grand National races, it will give Ryan Moore a chance to be noticed by the owners of the Cup and BGN teams.

Tony Stewart coming to Bangor

Love him or hate him, he’s coming to Eastern Maine.

Tony Stewart, the defending Winston Cup points champion, will be featured at an autograph session at the GM Goodwrench Pro Shop at Quirk Chevrolet within Quirk Auto Park in Bangor on Thursday from 1:30-3:30 p.m.

The 1999 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year has 15 wins already in his career including one this season.

Stewart had been mercurial and was even fined by his sponsor, Home Depot, for his bad behavior a year ago.

But he sought help for his temper and, with the aid of a sports psychologist, he has been much calmer this season.

He is currently an uncharacteristic 11th in the points standings due primarily to four Did Not Finishes.