OXFORD – Nextel Cup driver Kurt Busch recently had the opportunity to sit in the front row at a Boston Red Sox game in Fenway Park.

“[Red Sox owner] John Henry hooked us up with great seats,” said Busch, who thoroughly enjoyed himself.

“But Fenway is still number two [behind the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field],” said Busch, a diehard Cubs fan.

“I was raised in Las Vegas, but my parents are from Chicago,” said Busch.

Busch qualified 35th after finishing fourth in a consolation race and was enjoying his time in Maine.

“I’m having a blast,” said Busch, who was pleased to qualify without requiring a provisional.

Fellow Nextel Cup driver Matt Kenseth required a provisional due primarily to the fact he drew the last starting spot in the first heat race.

Kenseth, who won the Nextel Cup points championship last year, started last [41st].

Busch is currently ninth in points in the Nextel Cup series, while Kenseth is fifth.

“We’ve had a couple of bad breaks. We had been leading the points for a while,” said Busch, who has one win this season and nine in his career.

Busch said he is looking forward to the second half of the Nextel Cup season beginning with next Sunday’s Siemens 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

“New Hampshire is one of the tracks that will be among the final 10 [in the 10-race sprint to the points championship],” said Busch.

Homecoming

It was a homecoming of sorts for two former prominent Maine pro stock drivers.

Stan Meserve of Unity and Joe Bessey of Scarborough were among the entrants at the Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday night.

“I love this race,” said Bessey, who owns Andy Santerre’s race team and the shop in North Carolina where the Cherryfield native works on his Busch North cars.

Meserve, who once owned Distance Racing Products in Unity, currently lives in North Carolina where he works on the setup for Michael Waltrip’s Nextel Cup series car at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

“I just wanted to go racing,” said Meserve, who won his heat and qualified fourth for the 250.

Bessey failed to qualify.

Meserve was running his second race of the season. He ran the DNK Select 250 at Unity last month but got wrecked early and finished back in the field.

“That was a tough race,” said Meserve.

Meserve said things are going well at DEI.

“We got NAPA [Auto Parts] and Michael signed on for next year. We had a slow start, but Michael has 10 top-10s in his last 11 races,” said Meserve. “He has moved up from 38th to 18th in the points.”

Meserve continues to enjoy his job and said it is never dull.

“They keep me busy every hour I’m there,” said Meserve, who likes the fact he has his weekends off.

“Too many people, too many crowds,” said Meserve of the hustle and bustle at Nextel Cup tracks on race weekends.

Bessey, a former Nextel Cup team owner and Busch Series driver, is spending most of his time in Rangeley these days.

Bessey and Santerre have teamed up to win the last two Busch North points championships, and Santerre already has four wins this season and is leading the points.

“We’re very happy with the team and Andy. He does a nice job,” said Bessey.

Santerre and his crew work on the cars in the shop “and I manage the cash flow,” said Bessey.

He said the sport has changed and he sympathizes with the plight of Nextel Cup driver Ricky Craven and his single-car PPI-Motorsports team. The Newburgh native is 31st in points and his average starting position is 29.7.

He said because Craven knows all aspects of the business, he knows when the car he has isn’t going to be competitive.

“The two-, three-, four-car teams have money to burn,” said Bessey.

Bessey said he intends to race more this summer.