OXFORD – Ben Rowe of Turner had a long road to travel if he was going to defend his Banknorth 250 title at Oxford Plains Speedway Sunday night. He started 25th on a track which had one dominant groove, the inside one.

It was going to be difficult to pass.

But Rowe patiently maneuvered his way up to second, and when leader Alan Wilson of Hebron got loose on the backstretch with 11 laps to go and wiggled into the dirt, Rowe cruised past him and was never threatened the rest of the way.

Two-time defending Pro All-Stars Series champ Rowe pocketed $29,600 for the win.

“This is unbelievable. I didn’t believe, after last year, that we could top that,” said Rowe.

“This was awesome,” he added. “We started 25th and got back up through there. After the heat race, I was discouraged. I thought we were going to be in trouble. We were going to be single file and that’s it. But all week long, everybody was talking about [Nextel Cup regulars] Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth and that took the pressure off me. I didn’t have to worry about anybody. You guys were all talking about them. We just came out and did our own thing.”

Rowe said that as the race wound down, he thought he could catch Wilson.

“But I didn’t think I’d have anything for him [to pass him]. I think he had tire trouble. I got within 15 car lengths of him and I was catching him. I was really pouring the coals on. Then I could see him get tight, tight. The 29 [Scott Chubbuck of Wiscasset] tried to go around him. Then he washed up and the 29 shot under him. On the very next lap, he [Wilson] drove right off the backstretch. I think it was his right front [tire] or something like that,” Rowe said.

Albany Township’s Ricky Rolfe, who started 13th, finished second and Kenseth, the defending Nextel Cup points champion, wound up third.

Kenseth didn’t make the field through qualifying and earned a provisional that saw him start dead last (41st).

Mike Rowe of Turner, Ben’s father, was fourth, and Wilson finished fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Dave Gorveatt of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Chubbuck, Dale Shaw of Center Conway, N.H., Patrick Laperle of St. Denis, Quebec, and Bub Bilodeau of Standish.

Nextel Cup contender Kurt Busch, who started 35th, wound up 13th.

Just the top seven cars finished on the lead lap. There were seven cautions.

Johnny Clark of Farmingdale won the pole and led the first 117 laps before Scott Mulkern of Falmouth took the lead from him.

But that lasted just two laps as Clark, Mulkern and Donnie Whitten of Biddeford got tangled and Clark was the benefactor.

The collision between Mulkern and Whitten produced a caution and Clark was the leader on the restart.

Ben Rowe maneuvered up to second on the restart with Rolfe, Shaw, and Gorveatt right behind.

Eight laps later, a nine-car pileup reshuffled the field.

Ben Rowe was the leader on the restart followed by Rolfe, Shaw, Gorveatt, and Wilson.

A few laps later, Busch spun Steve Knowlton of Ipswich, Mass., and Mulkern wound up catching the aftermath and getting spun out.

The race’s next wreck occurred on lap 167 and took Clark out of contention.

Chubbuck spun Paul Bosse of Gray on the frontstretch and Clark nailed the sideways Bosse right in front of the stands.

Clark’s car was badly damaged, but he returned several laps later and wound up 24th.

Shaw led on the lap 170 restart, but Chubbuck bumped him, knocking him out of contention, and then was black-flagged for it.

Wilson had the lead on the lap 173 restart and continued to lead until he got loose on lap 239.

Rowe credited his crew for making his win possible.

The 40-year-old Rolfe was ecstatic about his finish. He was the OPS pro stock champion and rookie of the year last season, but he has managed only two top-five finishes this year and has had a couple of DNFs (did not finish) this season.

“I didn’t expect this at all. Just making the race was a plus. Everything else was a bonus,” said Rolfe.

He said the last 50 laps were a real challenge.

“I was pushing terrible with about 50 laps to go. I just kind of slowed down and made sure I kept the right front [tire] on it,” said Rolfe, whose previous best finish at the Oxford 250 was 24th last year.

However, he said he “loves long races because I’m really patient. It fits my style of driving.”

Rolfe did sympathize with Wilson.

“I felt bad for Al. He’s a low-budget operation just like I am,” said Rolfe.

There were three drivers in the field who ran in the original Oxford 250 in 1974: Mike Rowe, Unity native Stan Meserve, and Al Hammond.

Hammond finished 12th Sunday and Meserve was 17th.