Bubba Wins the 45th Annual Oxford 250

For the first time since 1983, the Oxford 250 trophy and winner’s check are headed south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Bubba Pollard of Senoia, Georgia took the lead from Travis Benjamin for the final time on lap 219 and survived multiple restarts late to win the 45th Annual Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway (ME).

 

Pollard’s win in one of the nation’s Super Late Model crown jewel races comes in just his first start at a race track that many consider to be one of the toughest in the country.

 

“It’s cool to come here in the first race and win it,” Pollard said.  “But what makes me feel good is that there’s so many people on that damn social media that talk.  They’re like, ‘Bubba Pollard won’t come up here because of heat races.’ But damn I just won the Oxford 250. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

 

For Pollard, driver of the No. 26, the stars aligned on Sunday evening, August 26 at the Route 26 oval in Oxford, ME.

 

After starting from the 29th starting position, Pollard charged to the front of the field early and cracked the top five before pitting on lap 129.

 

Driving through a field mixed with differing pit strategies, Pollard battled back to the front and took the lead for the first time on lap 207. Benjamin grabbed the lead back from Pollard on lap 208 and held it until Pollard beat him to the line on lap 219.

 

From there, Pollard fended off challenges from Benjamin, Ben Rowe and Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. to claim the victory.

 

Unofficially, Pollard will pocket $28,300 after leading 33 laps.

 

Pollard’s Oxford 250 debut began on Friday when he surprisingly finished fifth on the speed chart.  On Saturday, the speed in the No. 26 Super Late Model went the wrong way and left the Pollard Motorsports team with some work to do.

 

With two days of practice to learn the track and what the car needed, the team put together a perfect recipe for Sunday afternoon’s race.

 

“Hell, we worked Friday three hours after everybody left and then Saturday we worked another three hours,” he explained.  “It was seven or eight o’clock before we left again on Saturday night.  I hate it for my guys, they want to come out here and have fun but they want to win and they do what it takes to win.  I think we were the last team to load up both days.

 

“We went back to our baseline to start today and just worked off of it. We got better and better and took a little bit from what we learned from each day to apply it to today.”

 

After leading 27 laps in the middle stages of the race, Polewarczyk charged to the front late to finish second behind Pollard.  The 2012 Oxford 250 winner was pleased to finish second behind one of the best Super Late Model racers in America.

 

“Bubba, man.  What can you say about Bubba?  He’s the best in the country.  Florida, California, Oxford, Maine, the guy is good and you can’t take that away from him.  It was awesome to get a chance to race with him tonight.  I felt like I was catching him a little bit at the end, but he’s good.”

 

Reid Lanpher scored his third Oxford 250 podium finish of his career with a third-place finish.  Polesitter Garrett Hall finished fourth and unofficially netted a payday of over $20,000 after leading a race-high 166 laps. Joey Dorion turned in a strong performance late to round out the top five.

 

As a winner of big races such as the Winter Showdown, Rattler 250, SpeedFest, Slinger Nationals and All-American 400, Pollard expressed his appreciation for the Oxford 250 after his victory Sunday night.

 

“It is a big race.  I didn’t realize how big it was until I stepped into here this morning,” Pollard admitted.  “That’s what it’s all about.  I have a lot of respect for this place, these racers after running 250 laps.  The people, the fans, Tom (Mayberry), the series.  I don’t’ get to race with them much and there’s some people out there that need to take a look at some things.”

 

With all of his wins and success throughout the country, Pollard summed up his most recent achievement quite simply.

 

“That’s the most badass thing I’ve ever done in a racecar.”

Pollard Preparing for Oxford 250 Debut

Bubba Pollard has answered the bell.

 

After years of reading comments on social media asking him to compete in the prestigious Oxford 250, the Senoia, Georgia driver is ready to make the trip north to Oxford, Maine this August.

 

Pollard confirmed to Speed51.com on Tuesday afternoon that he will be competing in the 45th Annual Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on August 26.

 

“We’re excited about it.  We know it’s going to be tough.  It’s going to be a challenge,” Pollard said.  “There’s a lot of good race cars up there, a lot of local guys.  We’ve never been there.  It’s a tough place.  Nothing is easy, but I think it’s going to definitely be more challenging for us up there at the 250.”

 

For Pollard, many of his plans this season have revolved around his goal of competing in the Oxford 250.  Throughout the year he has competed at tracks similar to Oxford, such as Hickory Motor Speedway (NC), Berlin Raceway (MI) and Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC).

 

At each of those tracks, Pollard believes he took away pieces of information that will help his team during their Oxford 250 debut.

 

“We really worked hard this year.  My goal from the beginning of the year was to make it to the Oxford 250,” Pollard commented.  “We really worked hard going to places that we could take information from and apply it to Oxford.  We’ve been to Hickory, Berlin and Greenville Pickens, some of those places that are round and don’t have much grip.

 

“We tried to make our flat track program better and I feel we’ve done that.  I feel we’re better prepared this year than we would’ve been last year going into the race.  We’ve taken a lot of notes, been to a lot of places and raced against those guys to get familiar with what we need to do up there.”

 

One big challenge that awaits Pollard, as well as the rest of the 50-plus drivers currently entered for the race, will be the all-important qualifying heat races.

 

While Pollard is more familiar with qualifying formats that include time trials, he does have experience with qualifying formats similar to the Oxford 250.

 

“I know this is crazy, but I feel like running the dirt car has actually helped us.  Running dirt races has actually helped us with the heat races, qualifying, the draw and things like that,” Pollard explained.  “We’re accustomed to it, as crazy as it sounds, but in a totally different area, different spectrum and different type of racing.

 

“It’s definitely going to be different for us.  I’ve watched some of the races up there and the good race cars always make it in the race.  There are some that don’t, but the fast cars always make it in.  I feel like we’re just going to have to maybe take a different approach to things and use a different strategy towards the heat races; be more aggressive with heat races.”

 

Widely considered as one of asphalt racing’s few “Outlaws,” Pollard is looking forward to traveling to a region that he has not yet visited during his career.  The opportunity to meet new fans and compete against different competition has him excited for his first visit to the Pine Tree State.

 

“It’s been fun meeting new people and making new fans.  Short track racing is what I love, to be able to support it.  I caught a lot of hell on social media for not coming to Maine to race.  It’s tough.  We want to make sure we put 110-percent into doing it.  It’s not as easy as just packing up and going to race.  You need to make sure your ducks are in a row. I’m excited to race with all those guys, meet new fans and let those guys see what we’re capable of.”

 

In advance of his Oxford 250 debut, Pollard has spoken to a number of people to obtain advice on what he needs to be successful at the tricky track, specifically when it comes to the engine packages allowed in Pro All Stars Series events.

 

“I feel like they have different rules with several different engine packages.  I’ve talked to several different people and gotten help from competitors, people that probably don’t like me have helped me along the way for this race. I’ve had several people’s opinion. That was my biggest concern going into the race; making sure we took the right engine and things like that.”

 

As for what weapon Pollard will load into his Pollard Motorsports hauler for the Oxford 250, that will remain a secret for now.

 

“I don’t know if I should tell you what we’re going to bring,” Pollard joked.  “I’ll kind of surprise everyone on that.”

 

Hoping to secure himself a guaranteed starting spot in the Oxford 250, Pollard plans to compete in the PASS South “Roads to Oxford and Richmond” qualifying race this Saturday night at South Boston Speedway (VA).

 

Race fans throughout the country will be able to watch Pollard’s first Oxford 250 attempt via a live pay-per-view broadcast on Speed51.com.  Live video tickets for the weekend can be purchased now by clicking here.

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