OXFORD -- Kevin Harvick came to Maine on vacation and a promise to race the TD Banknorth 250, and race it hard. He delivered on that promise, and much, much more.

Harvick made history Monday night, becoming the first NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to win the checkered flag at Maine's most prestigious auto race.

"This race, this is a big deal," Harvick said. "There are a lot of good things, good reasons to come up."

Harvick, who started 11th, took his first lead of the night on lap 127, then lost it briefly to Camping World East Series driver Eddie MacDonald on lap 132. But the NASCAR star used a nifty crossover move on lap 133 to regain the lead, and he never trailed again.

Harvick, who came to Maine ranked ninth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings, held off last chance race victor Glen Luce and Joey Polewarczyk Jr. after a caution and restart on lap 140, much to the delight of the thousands of spectators who sat through a three and a half hour rain delay to catch the 2007 Daytona 500 winner in action.

"Everybody's supposed to be asleep right now, but damn I'm happy," said Harvick in victory lane shortly before 10:30 p.m.

Luce of Turner pushed Harvick in the final 15 laps. He started 38th and slowly worked his way up the leaderboard.

However, he said his car started to tighten up after restarts, which hurt his chances on the lap 140 caution and restart.

"The caution hurt me and helped Kevin," Luce said.

Harvick, who dominated the last third of the race, takes home a purse of $37,300.

"The only thing that matters is the six foot trophy outside," Harvick said. "They can have the check if they really want it back."

There were 13 cautions in the 35th annual 250, far short of the record 21 set in 1997.

Polewarczyk, 19, finished third, his career best finish in the race. Shawn Martin of Turner finished fourth, followed by two-time 250 winner Ben Rowe.

Harvick, 32, of Bakersfield, Calif., has 11 career NASCAR victories on his resume.

When asked if he would return to Oxford Plains Speedway, Harvick replied, "I'd love to come back, (but) we're not going to be back next year. We'll be back at some point in the future."

On Lap 50, Harvick made his first enemy of the night, mixing it up with Denmark native Carey Martin. The pair were running fifth and sixth, when Harvick tried to come up under Martin by turn three, but was quickly shut off. Harvick then bumped Martin, which brought some spectators to their feet.

By lap 65, there were already six cautions and some big-name drivers were in trouble. Ricky Rolfe, the points leader at Oxford Networks Late Model Series who needed a provisional to enter the field, fell a lap down with car trouble and was never a threat. 2002 race winner Scott Robbins also fell out of contention as well.

Harvick began to make his move by lap 60, when he was just four cars behind. Although Harvick stayed low for much of the race, he started to take his chances up high, and the gamble paid off, He moved to fourth by lap 66 and third by No. 74. When the race moved into the 100th lap, Harvick had passed Polewarczyk into second place.

MacDonald of Rowley, Mass., who led 119 of the first 126 laps, did all he could to keep Harvick in his rearview mirror. Not much separated MacDonald, a four-time winner on the Camping World East Series tour, and Harvick when the race went under caution on lap 126 because of a wet pit road. Every car was allowed to pit and change tires without the risk of dropping or the potential to move up.

The race started slow with two cautions in the first nine laps. Tommy Ricker, a Poland native who started second, was involved in one spinout and he headed to pit row with a smoking car, the first casualty of the race. Ricker didn't return, his No. 6 car parked on the infield for the night.

Oxford Plains Speedway needed just an hour and 45 minutes to complete all qualifying Monday, including heat, consolation and last chance races. The 250 was set to begin at 4 p.m., but Mother Nature returned with more rain, bringing the track to a standstill. At 5:30, track officials and emergency personnel began the track drying process under a spectacular double rainbow.

Finally, at 7:28 p.m., after a shortened pre-race ceremony, the race began.

"As a racer, going week to week we deal with rain a lot," Harvick said. "You (do) run out of things to do at certain points."

Rolfe and Bath native Jeremie Whorff needed a provisional to earn a spot in the field. Rolfe leads the Oxford Networks Late Model series while Whorff is a former 250 champ, in 2006

The race is no stranger to NASCAR Cup drivers. The notable drivers who've made the trek to Oxford Plains include Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Kurt Busch, Ricky Craven and Matt Kenseth. Seven Daytona 500 winners have raced in the 250 as well, including Gordon, Jarrett and Bobby and Davey Allison.

However, NASCAR drivers historically haven't fared well here, until Harvick's impressive night Monday.

Kevin Lepage finished 21st after starting 43rd in last year's race. Terry Labonte finished 42nd in a 44-car field. In 2006, Kyle Busch finished 22nd while J. J. Yeley was 29th. Kyle Busch did finish sixth in the 2005 race while Kenseth took third in 2004. But Kenseth followed that strong showing up with a 16th place finish in the 2005 race.

Bill Stewart -- 623-3811, ext. 515

bstewart@centralmaine.com