Speedway's Cup runneth over

Friday, July 29, 2005

By TRAVIS BARRETT
Staff Writer

By TRAVIS BARRETT

Staff Writer

There is no clear-cut arrangement for either Matt Kenseth or Kyle Busch when it comes to guaranteed entry into Sunday's 32nd annual TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway, but rest assured both NASCAR Nextel Cup Series drivers will be in the starting field -- even if that means that Oxford Plains owner Bill Ryan has to balloon the grid to as many as 43 cars to get them in.

"I don't want to be burned in effigy," Ryan said, with a nod and a wink. "I think you'll see them both in the race."

Ryan is a shrewd businessman. He knows that his grandstands will be completely sold out for the second consecutive year, and he knows that it results from having Cup drivers in his track's most prestigious event. Kenseth joined Kurt Busch last year in running the Banknorth 250.

The impact on Oxford Plains Speedway and various business around the track -- convenience stores, restaurants, hotels -- would be difficult to quantify. Judging by Ryan's push to move the race date to coincide with a Nextel Cup off weekend and to bring back another pair of Cup drivers this year, though, it's safe to assume the impact is great.

"(The impact) is more on the fan side than the competition side," Ryan said, though early entries for this year's 250 are already piling up, according to published reports on the track's Web site. "When we announced Kenseth last year, it was all hands on deck answering phones.

"There are people all over the state of Maine that are television race fans, and the only races they watch are the ones on TV. Hey, I like watching Nextel Cup racing on TV, too, and that's great. But (the TD Banknorth 250) is a hundred times more exciting than your average Cup race, in my opinion."

Ben Rowe, of Turner, is the two-time defending champion of the event, and he saw a big difference the two times he visited victory lane. When he won the race in 2003, he said there were maybe six members of the media there to interview him afterwards.

Last year, there were 10 times that many reporters, he said.

"Just the amount of people that (the Cup drivers) bring builds the excitement of this race," Rowe said. "People might have showed up for them, but I know a sellout crowd is something I'd never seen before. It was awesome. A lot of people might come to watch the Nextel Cup driver, but the way I look at it is while they're there, they 've got to watch you, too. We get a chance to put on a show for them, and I think that's great."

Reasoning for the fans to fill the seats is two-fold.

First, of course, is the chance to a talent like Kenseth, the 2003 Cup Series champion, and either of the Busch brothers race a car for a fraction of what it would cost to attend a Nextel Cup race. At a tiny little bullring like the 3/8-mile Oxford Plains Speedway, the fan is closer to the racing action, too, and has a more realistic chance at seeing their favorite driver out of the car -- without having to use a pair of binoculars to do so.

The other reason fans are so rabid for seeing Cup drivers in the TD Banknorth 250 is sheer curiosity. It's a chance to see those drivers compete wheel-to-wheel, in extremely tight quarters, with the very same drivers they watch week in and week out on the very same track. Certainly, some want to see how everybody stacks up against each other -- and others are surely there to shout "I told you so" when those Cup drivers fail to either qualify for the race on their own merits (as happened to Kenseth in '04) or are unable to crack the top 10 at night's end (as happened to Kurt Busch, who finished 13th).

Bill Whorff Jr., who is preparing a car for Kenseth, just as he did last year, is among the sect that believes a race like this is a chance for the locals to showcase driving talents that he feels equals those of Cup drivers.

"Most of us Saturday night drivers, I feel like we can run with any of those guys," Whorff said. "Where they might have an advantage is that they know how to pace themselves. Matt demonstrated that last year (going from 41st to third). He was just very smooth. He showed that you don't have to be one of the fastest cars out there to win."

For the Cup drivers, it's a chance to break away from the grind that is a 36-race Nextel Cup schedule, plus two non-points races in a season that extends from mid-February through mid-November.

"Nothing against the TD Banknorth 250," Kyle Busch told reporters this week while testing his car at Oxford Plains. "I'm well aware of the tradition and what a great race it is, but it's almost like a break for me. There's a lot of pressure that comes with being a rookie in the Nextel Cup Series. Here, there's no real pressure to win. We can just go out and enjoy it."

Which is exactly what Ryan hopes the fans will do on Sunday. He's made great strides in putting the old Oxford 250 back on the national racing map once again.

Ryan has used his professional contracts to bring TD Banknorth in as a title sponsor for the race, and by all accounts, he's done the same to bring Kenseth and Busch to Oxford and to field cars for each of them. Steve Perry, of Windham, who co-owns Mike Rowe's regular ride in the IBG-Pro All Stars Series, also had the car built for Busch this year.

Perry declined to get into specifics, but he did say that he wasn't paying anything out of his pocket to provide Busch with what he expects to be a very competitive car.

"Let's just say that there were sponsorship opportunities that wouldn't have existed if it weren't Kyle Busch in the car," Perry said.

Kurt Busch knows firsthand just how great an event the 250 is, and he's already helped prepare his younger brother for what has evolved into more than just a race for the people who have followed it through the decades.

'Kyle understands that and he's going go up there and race with over 100 of the best late model racers in this region, and you can't take anybody for granted," Kurt Busch said. "No matter what you hear from one guy to another, it's a big event it's a big show and people would give their right arm to win that race.

"Hopefully, Kyle comes back with all his body parts intact."

Travis Barrett -- 623-3811, ext. 465

tbarrett@centralmaine.com