OXFORD – Denny Hamlin has had a terrific rookie season in the Nextel Cup series.

Hamlin is currently eighth in the points standings and is the top rookie driver.

He has two Nextel Cup victories, both at Pocono (Pa.).

Hamlin, Kyle Busch and J.J. Yeley ran the Busch race at Gateway (Ill.) Saturday night and the race was delayed two hours by a thunderstorm. It didn’t end until midnight (EDT).

They had to fly to Maine and practice Sunday morning.

Hamlin led 169 of the 250 laps but had to pit for gas with under 20 laps to go and Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer eventually passed him.

He wound up third.

“We just got caught out there. We didn’t have the right strategy but it was still good for us,” said Hamlin.

Busch finished eighth and Yeley was involved in an accident which left him 65 laps down in 37th place.

“We didn’t get but an hour or so of sleep. It’s starting to catch up to me now. We’re just trying to get our second wind,” said Hamlin after failing to qualify in the first heat race.

Hamlin grew up in Chesterfield, Va., and is used to short-track racing.

“This is what I’ve been doing for years and years,” said Hamlin.

He liked Oxford Plains Speedway.

“It’s a lot of fun. The front stretch is real tricky, trying to get into [turn] one,” said Hamlin. “It’s definitely interesting.”

He added that he has exceeded his expectations in the Nextel Cup series so far.

“It has definitely been a good year so far,” said Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and won the last Nextel Cup race at Pocono last weekend. “We’re just trying to keep that momentum going. If we can do that, hopefully we can get in the chase [by finishing in the top 10 in points].

“It’s really been good lately. I wasn’t really expecting to go out and win races but it’s been pretty good for us,” said Hamlin.

What does a Nextel Cup driver learn from running in a race like the TD Banknorth 250?

“You really don’t learn anything. You just go out and really have fun. That’s the biggest thing,” said Hamlin.

Hamlin and Yeley had a busy week but not as busy as Busch.

Busch, who is running fourth in Nextel Cup points, attended his brother Kurt’s wedding on Thursday night and then headed to the Gateway International Raceway for the Busch race and then to Maine.

He may have been tired but it didn’t show in qualifying.

After getting involved in a wreck in his qualifying race, he started last (20th) in the 20-lap consolation race but went on to win it.

Busch was the only one of the three Nextel Cup drivers who qualified on the track. Hamlin and Yeley received provisionals as did former Nextel Cup driver Ricky Craven of Newburgh.

Hamlin started 38th, Craven was 39th and Yeley was 40th and the last driver in the field.

Meserve relishes Oxford return

Former Unity resident Stan Meserve may be living and working in North Carolina for Dale Earnhardt Inc., but the TD Banknorth Oxford 250 is always circled on his calendar.

“I always love coming back. This is the highlight of the year,” said the 65-year-old Meserve, who does the engine setups for DEI Nextel Cup rookie Martin Truex Jr., the defending two-time Busch series champion.

Meserve had qualified for 13 TD Banknorth 250s and finished a career-best fifth in 1996.

He won the pole last year and came across the finish line in eighth place.

Truex Jr. has struggled this season and it would take a miracle for him to qualify for the Chase for the Championship.

“Unfortunately, a rookie team is just exactly what it is. We struggled with some things early, learning what we needed to do for Cup. But we’re jelling. We’re doing good We’re going to be all right,” said Meserve.

“It’s a complicated business. There are a lot of pieces and they’ve all got to go together. We’re making progress,” said Meserve, who is in his fifth year with DEI after selling Distance Racing Products to Farmington’s Jeff Taylor.

He said his team is understanding “a lot more things” than they did at the beginning of the season but he also acknowledged that it’s a “performance business” and they need to continue their improvement.

Meserve has a lot of confidence in Truex.

“He’ll drive the wheels off the car to get it right,” said Meserve.

Meserve is certainly hoping Truex has a better day than he had Sunday as he was involved in a series of wrecks in the three heat races he was in. The last wreck, occurring in the 50-lap last-chance race, ended his hopes of qualifying for the 250.

A dream race

Two weeks ago, Gardiner’s Scott Maxim was tuning engines for Hendrick Motorsports at the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire Interntional Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

Maxim was on hand for the TD Banknorth Oxford 250 and recalled being part of the crew for Craven when Craven won the Oxford 250 in 1991. He did the engine work for Craven.

“That was our dream race. That race was our Daytona 500. To be able to come here and race against the guys we raced against was special]. You knew there was a lot of competition. The cars that were here were all very good from all over the country. It was an event you looked forward to every year,” said Maxim.

“To this day, I still have vivid memories of that evening. We’ll carry that forever,” said Maxim.

He said the race hasn’t changed much over the years.

“The cars are so close in time and track position is so important,” said Maxim.

Maxim was visiting friends and helping out Kyle Busch and Craven, who were using Butler-MacMaster engines.

The Butler-MacMaster shop is in Hallowell and Maxim worked for them from 1982-93.