Ellsworth-area friends gave Saunders a boost

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OXFORD – Ellsworth’s Andy Saunders had always wanted to enter the Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

But, due to a lack of finances, Saunders had never had the opportunity.

Until this year, that is.

And it was people in Ellsworth and the surrounding communities who made it happen.

“My friends raised a lot of money,” said Saunders, who not only entered, he wound up qualifying 29th and finishing 29th.

He estimated that his friends raised in the vicinity of $5,000 for him.

The 32-year-old Saunders was running well but fell victim to a multi-car wreck that ended his day.

He pocketed $1,325 for his efforts. He was credited with finishing 129 of the 250 green flag laps.

In looking back at the race, he said, “There was a lot of traffic. It was quite an honor. A lot of big names have run in that race. Things were going pretty decently up until that point. I was surprised. I’m not sure what happened [in the accident]. When the cars stacked up, I thought we’d be okay. But someone from behind wasn’t able to slow down.”

“The car was good. It was the same on lap 120 as it was on lap five. And a lot of other cars had dropped off,” said Saunders, who drives a Chevy Monte Carlo.

He said having Nextel Cup drivers Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch in the field served as added incentive to give it a shot and the fact he has had a good year racing at Speedway 95 in Hermon was another motivating force.

“Part of it was having my name on the entry list along with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch,” said Saunders, who has won six races and leads the pro stock class at Speedway 95. He won the pro stock points last year.

Saunders pointed out that Busch bumped him during the race.

He practiced his car at OPS Saturday morning, drove with his crew to Speedway 95 to drive Pat Thibodeau’s car in the pro stock division Saturday night, finishing fourth, and then returned to Oxford.

Since Speedway 95 and OPS are one-groove tracks, Saunders and crew chief Mark Austin said the setups were similar.

“Both are flat tracks. We changed just one spring,” said Austin.

Saunders was elated about making the field in his first try.

“I’ve come down here to watch every year for 15 years,” said Saunders who has observed that the luck of the draw for their heat race position, good fortune in avoiding wrecks and having a good car are all part of the equation.

“I’ve seen a lot of good drivers and a lot of good cars not make it into the field,” said Saunders.

He would love to give it another shot next year but said “right now we’re just still excited about yesterday [Sunday].”

He said it will boil down to finances.

“If we didn’t get the help we did this year, we couldn’t have run it,” said Saunders.

Impatience proves costly

Patience is a virtue.

That’s what Jeff White of Winthrop learned the hard way on Sunday.

White was riding second behind Ted Christopher during their 20-lap heat race. Both appeared en route to comfortably earning two of the four spots from their heat in the Banknorth 250 with just 10 laps remaining.

But the impatient White tried to pass Christopher and spun him out. Both Christopher and White were sent to the back of the pack.

Neither wound up qualifying.

The mistake cost both drivers at least $1,125 which is what last six finishers made.

Wilson, Clark earn hefty checks

Although Hebron’s Alan Wilson was the hard-luck victim of the Banknorth 250 when he got loose and slid off the track while leading with 11 laps remaining, he still took home a hefty paycheck.

Wilson, who led 63 laps and earned $100 per lap, finished fifth and took home $11,300. Fifth place money was $5,000 to go with the $6300 lap money.

Winner Ben Rowe of Turner won $29,700, second place Ricky Rolfe of Albany Township pocketed $12,000 and third place finisher Matt Kenseth, the defending Nextel Cup points champ, made $7,500.

Mike Rowe of Turner, Ben’s dad, earned a fourth-place check of $6000.

Another healthy paycheck went to Farmingdale’s Johnny Clark, who led the most laps (128) before falling victim to a wreck on lap 167.

He wound up 24th but, thanks to the lap money, put $14,250 in his wallet.