Oxford Plains Speedway owner Bill Ryan Jr. said as soon as he received the 2004 Nextel Cup schedule and discovered there wasn’t a race on the weekend of July 18, when the Banknorth Oxford 250 will be held, “I burned up the phone calling everybody and anybody I knew in that world.”

Not only did he land defending Winston Cup champion and current Nextel points leader Matt Kenseth, Ryan said there is a “50-50 chance” two more Nextel Cup drivers could race at Oxford Plains.

What did it cost him to attract Kenseth?

“We did what we had to do to get him up here,” said Ryan, who wouldn’t elaborate.

He is guaranteed a spot in the race.

“It’s the defending Winston Cup champion’s provisional,” quipped Ryan.

“He’s coming up here to have fun but he also made it clear he wants to win,” said Ryan, who added that landing Kenseth is “pretty incredible.”

Several Nextel Cup drivers have run in the Banknorth Oxford 250 in the past, although the race has taken on much more of a local flavor in recent years.

Kenseth’s inclusion already has had an impact, according to Ryan.

“We sold 50 tickets in the first 15 minutes,” said Ryan, who is hopeful the event will sell out.

“We’ve been getting 10,000 [in recent years] but we can actually fit in close to 14,000,” said Ryan.

Ryan said he contacted approximately 15 Nextel Cup teams about the prospect of running the Banknorth 250.

Defending champ Ben Rowe of Turner said racing against a defending Winston Cup-Nextel champion will be “fun.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Rowe.

“I’m sure they’ll draw some fans up here that might not have gone [without Kenseth],” said veteran racer Jeff Taylor, owner of Distance Racing Products in Fairfield.

“It has been a long time since they’ve had anybody from Winston Cup show up,” Taylor said. “When I first started, Rusty Wallace and Michael Waltrip came up. I don’t know if this will make it any better of a race. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Rowe said the increase in attendance and the additional media exposure “will be good for our sponsors. It’s good publicity.”

Taylor said Kenseth used to race late-model cars so “we can all try to learn something from him.”

Rowe said he wouldn’t be surprised if a few more Nextel Cup drivers showed up.

“It’s the week before Loudon [the New England 300 at Loudon, N.H. on July 25],” said Rowe.