Kevin Harvick Adds Another Crown Jewel Victory; Wins In Oxford 250 Debut
By
Shawn Courchesne


In 2007 Richard Childress Racing driver Kevin Harvick added a trophy to his mantle in the race many call the Super Bowl of NASCAR when he opened the Sprint Cup Series season with a victory in the Daytona 500.

Harvick Daytona Victory.jpgMonday Harvick added the winner's trophy from the Super Bowl of short track racing to his collection.

The Bakersfield, Cal. native drove away from the field in the late stages to win the 35th TD Banknorth Oxford 250 Monday at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Me.

"This is a big deal," Harvick said. "When you look back at the record books of this race you see Harry Gant, you see Jeff Gordon, you see a lot of the big short track racers, a lot of the guys that made short track racing what it is."

Harvick earned $37,300 for the victory.

It was the first appearance in the event for Harvick, who has been a full-timer in the Sprint Cup Series since 2001, when he replaced Dale Earnhardt at Childress after the racing legend was killed on the final lap of the Daytona 500 that season.

A weekend off from Sprint Cup Series racing, where he sits 9th in the standings, gave Harvick the opportunity to come to Oxford for the first time. He was the ninth former Daytona 500 winner to compete in the event.

"I know everybody is supposed to be asleep right now, but damn I'm happy," Harvick said. ". . . What a great race. It was a lot of fun."

Harvick started 11th in the Oxford field, which attracted 86 drivers attempting to qualify for 41 starting spots. He quickly made his way to the front but did have some issues getting there. About 50 laps in Harvick engaged in a full contact battle with Carey Martin of Denmark, Me. over 4 laps that saw Harvick lifting the back end of Martin's blocking car off the track.

Harvick took the lead for the first time on lap 127 from Camping World East Series regular Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Mass. MacDonald took the lead back on lap 132, but Harvick took it right back a lap later and led the rest of the way.

Harvick easily held off second place finisher Glen Luce of Turner, Me. on a restart with 10 laps remaining.

"It's been a great week," said Harvick, who had a car specifically built for the event. "What a way to end it. A great race all night. [Luce] was definitely coming. I had to pick it up a notch there. Luckily everything worked out. The only reason we came up here was to try and win this race.

Said Luce: "To finish second to a guy like that, that was awesome. We gave it our best. Came from 38th deep in the field, we had a rough time getting there."

Nineteen year old Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, N.H. was third.

Sixteen year old Derek Ramstrom, a regular in the Pro Stock division at Thompson International Speedway recovered nicely from an early race incident but spun on the frontstretch on lap 241 and finished 16th.

Ramstrom, of West Boylston, Mass., started the race 14th but found himself at the back of the field 10 laps in after spinning in turn 3. Ramstrom quickly rallied though, working his way back into the top-15 by lap 100. He was running eighth when he spun late.

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