OXFORD – For a few minutes, Winterport’s Ryan Deane was on cloud nine.

In his first-ever appearance in an Oxford TD Banknorth 250, Deane finished fourth in the third and final consolation race which meant he qualified. He would start 36th.

But the 28-year-old failed to pass post-race inspection and decided to call it a day.

Deane would have had to start in the back of the 50-lap hooligan race and win the race to qualify.

“Our car is still in one piece so we’ll take it home rather than wrecking it in the hooligan race,” said a somber Deane.

A car can’t have more than 56 percent of its weight on its left side and Deane’s car had a 56.2 percent weight distribution on the left side.

Deane failed to qualify in a heat race first and thought his car was legal. “Then we changed our right-side tires and fueled it up,” said Deane.

“It’s disappointing for everybody, not just me. We tried really hard and we were hoping we were going to be in,” said Deane, a Pro Stock regular at Hermon’s Speedway 95. “We’ll just take it from here. We’ll take our lickin’ and go home.”

Deane didn’t think he would have been a threat to win the race but figured his car would have run respectably.

“We probably didn’t have a good enough car to run right up front but we could have run somewhere in the mid-pack,” said Deane. “It was better in practice this morning [than it was during the races].”

His thoughts on his first experience at an Oxford TD Banknorth 250?

“It was pretty interesting. It costs a lot of money,” said Deane.

He said he would run it again “if I could get sponsorship.”

Weymouth survives fiery crash

Jim Weymouth of Pittson didn’t qualify for the Oxford TD Banknorth 250 but that was the least of his worries.

According to track officials, the throttle on his car stuck during a practice session Sunday morning and his car flew off the track and hit a truck.

Weymouth’s car slid into the truck backwards and both vehicles caught fire. Weymouth climbed out of his car before the gas tank on the truck exploded and he wasn’t hurt.

In fact, Weymouth drove a backup car during qualifying runs.

Kenseth starts 32nd

Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Nextel Cup points champion, started 32nd after beginning last year’s race 41st courtesy of a provisional. He went on to finish third in his Oxford debut.

“It’s a little different [this year],” said Kenseth.

“Last year the track came up a little bit so it was a little easier to pass because people would mess up and get into the gravel. We just mainly can’t get our car to run like we got it to run last year. That makes it harder. No matter what kind of race you’re doing or what track you’re at, if you can’t get your car to do what it wants, it’s harder to compete. It always makes the driver look good when you can get your car to run good. Last year, we had it handling phenomenal. This year it has been more of a struggle to get it to do what we want it to do.”

His crew was doing a lot of work to improve it for the race after he earned a spot by finishing third in the second consolation. He finished 16th in the Oxford 250.

“We’re changing a bunch of stuff. It honestly could go either way. It could be no good or it could be a little bit better. My gut feeling is I don’t think we have a car to go and challenge for a win but hopefully we can get it good enough where we can put ourselves in a good position, stay out of trouble and be there at the end. It’s still a long race, a lot of things happen. The fastest car might not win this race so we have to get it the best we can.”

He enjoys the race.

“It’s fun. You get to race against a different group of guys,” he said. “Whenever you race against a different group, you always learn something. It’s a good time, it’s one of biggest short track races in the country. It’s something fun to go do. This is where we kind of grew up [in racing]. I didn’t grow up in this area but racing these kinds of races is what it’s all about. This is why we got into racing. Worked on our own stuff. And whenever you get a chance to come back, you do.”

Kenseth said Roush Racing teammate Ricky Craven of Newburgh “helped me a lot when I came here last year. He gave me a lot of advice how to get around here. That helped me a lot.”

Craven is driving in the Craftsman Truck Series for Roush.

“Hopefully, they can get that truck deal running a little bit better. Ricky is a great driver. He’s a great guy. He can get the job done, We’ve just got to get him in the right stuff,” said Kenseth.

The other Nextel Cup driver in the field, Kyle Busch, qualified 28th by finishing second in the first consolation race. He went on to finish sixth.

Rowe causes wreck

Turner’s Mike Rowe paid the price for impatience.

He would have had a comfortable second-place finish in the fifth heat race and a 10th place starting spot for the Oxford 250 if he had settled for second.

But he tried to pass Jeff White for the lead with just three laps left, the two got tangled up and Rowe was sent to the back of the pack for causing the wreck.

He didn’t qualify in the heat race or the consolation but got in by winning the hooligan race and started 37th, but went on to win his third race.

Scarborough’s Kelly Moore, who was hit from behind in a chain reaction resulting from the Rowe-White bumping incident, called Rowe’s decision “bad judgement.”

Moore didn’t’ qualify. He was driving in place of son Ryan, who pinched a nerve in his right leg during his third-place finish in a Busch North race in New York Saturday night.