Racing History Minute - July 17, 1983
Stock Car Racing History
Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine has long been a staple of NASCAR racing. The Grand National division ran at the track in the 1960s as part of its Northern Tour. The Late Model Sportsman cars frequented the track as did the modifieds.
Many of NASCAR's Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series (later to become the Busch Grand National Series) drivers from the south headed north to Oxford Plains for the Budweiser Oxford 250 on July 17, 1983. They were joined by drivers who dropped down from Canada and New England-area drivers from the NASCAR North Stroh's Tour series. I believe the NASCAR North series was originally the Eastern Late Model Division and later became the Busch North Series. - From Motor Racing Programme Covers
To give some context, one of the hottest movies at the time was the Day Akyroyd and Eddie Murphy comedy Trading Places (which also featured a very funny and smokin' Jamie Lee Curtis).
Track promoters Dick and Bob Bahre posted a big purse for the race. Part of the money was tied to leaders of each lap. I remember this incentive being the norm for several years. I'd like to see NASCAR's three major touring series return to some form of this payout to perhaps create more lead changes.
Race preview. The race was billed as an "open" one with drivers coming from four corners to participate. In practice, "open" ended up meaning lack of clarity of rules for the cars and limited inspections - interpreted by some as an effort to give some of the local guys a bit of an advantage over the out-of-towners.
The field was set with a non-traditional format. Rather than have a fast lap, qualifying session, drivers drew for random starting positions in heat races. Finishes in the heat races determined who got in the show and who went home. Apparently EIGHTY-FOUR cars showed up to earn one of the 40 spots in the field.
Bobby Dragon won his heat, started from the pole, and led 37 laps of the race. Engine troubles doomed his day, however, and he ended up with a DNF 24th place finish.
Local driver, Dick McCabe, won his heat, started on the outside of the front row and led the most laps in his #0 Buick.The other heats were won by Bobby Randall, Bobby Babb, and Jim Gerry.
McCabe took the lead early from Dragon and settled into a rhythm - a profitable rhythm. By leading lap after lap - 125 of the first 185 - he pocketed $50 each time he came by the starter's stand.
But McCabe's focus on the pocket change cost him a shot at the big prize. His crew called him to the pits during a caution around lap 174. McCabe made the call to stay on the track, manage his fuel mileage, continue to pocket the lap leader money, and go for the win. The strategy didn't work.
During the yellow, most of the cars up front hit pit road for fuel and tires. McCabe raced on, but later reneged on his strategy. He pitted during another caution at lap 211 but was then buried behind the long line of cars who had pitted about 35 laps earlier.
With McCabe trapped in traffic, Terrible Tommy Ellis went to the front and stayed there the rest of the way to claim the prestigious win. Interestingly, Ellis almost didn't make the show. He didn't fare well in his heat and had to win a consolation race to transfer into the 250-lap feature. (Randy LaJoie won the other consolation race.)
Because of a mistake in McCabe's pit strategy, he lost out on the opportunity for the win. From a 'grocery money' perspective, however, he may have made the right call. His second place winnings and lap leader bonuses totaled a few hundred dollars MORE than what Ellis made for winning (though the pot would have been even larger had he won).
Though the race was billed as a 250-lap event, the cars actually ran 287 laps - presumably because caution laps didn't count. What I don't know is whether anyone got paid $50/lap for the laps under yellow.
Though Ellis was happy with one of the biggest wins of his career, he was still highly critical of the qualifying format and number of what he perceived as non-competitive cars on the track.
The race was featured in the November 1983 issue of Stock Car Racing magazine.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Tommy Ellis | Grand Am |
| 2 | Dick McCabe | Regal |
| 3 | Claude Leclerc | LeMans |
| 4 | Mike Barry | LeMans |
| 5 | Pete Silva | Grand Am |
| 6 | Mark Martin | Grand Am |
| 7 | Robbie Crouch | Cutlass |
| 8 | Randy LaJoie | LeMans |
| 9 | Dave Dion | T-Bird |
| 10 | Beaver Dragon | Regal |
| 11 | Roger Laperle | LeMans |
| 12 | Tom Glaser | Malibu |
| 13 | Bobby Babb, Jr. | LeMans |
| 14 | Joe Millikan | LeMans |
| 15 | Hector Leclair | Ventura |
| 16 | Jamie Aube | Regal |
| 17 | Rick Mast | Ventura |
| 18 | Brent Hatch | Camaro |
| 19 | Jean-Paul Cabana | Cutlass |
| 20 | Reggie Gammon | Regal |
| 21 | Phil Gerbode | LeMans |
| 22 | Eddie Falk | Grand Am |
| 23 | Harvey Sprague | Cutlass |
| 24 | Bobby Dragon | LeMans |
| 25 | Jean-Paul Larose | LeMans |
| 26 | Bill Whorff | Regal |
| 27 | Terry Labonte | Omega |
| 28 | Mike Rowe | Cutlass |
| 29 | Stub Fadden | LeMans |
| 30 | Wes Rosner | Grand Am |
| 31 | Ron Barcomb | Cutlass |
| 32 | Jim Gerry | Regal |
| 33 | Butch Lindley | Grand Am |
| 34 | Dave Lynch | Camaro |
| 35 | Bob Randall | Cutlass |
| 36 | Jeff Stevens | Firebird |
| 37 | Chuck Bown | J6000 |
| 38 | Langis Caron | Grand Am |
| 39 | Jim Brown | Malibu |
| 40 | Jimmy Burns | Grand Am |
updated by @tmc-chase: 01/06/17 11:53:12AM
