OXFORD, Maine — The persistent spring rains once again aggravated officials, teams and fans of the American-Canadian Tour during the start to the season on their return to Oxford Plains Speedway.
While early morning rains dried off, grey clouds returned just after the halfway point of the American-Canadian Tour special and added area-wide lightning threats pushed both ACT and Oxford Plains officials to end the program early with the ACT Pine Tree State event official after completing 65 of the originally scheduled 125 laps.
Thirty-six drivers from across New England and Quebec, Canada joined the field at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday with championship hopefuls Derek Gluchacki, D.J. Shaw, Brandon Barker and Jonathan Bouvrette claiming the four heat race wins. By earning a plus-four handicap in the fourth heat, Gabe Brown led the American-Canadian Tour field to green with Rowland Robinson Jr. to his outside after earning a plus-three in heat one.
Brown made quick work in the preferred bottom groove of the three-eighths-mile Maine oval while several spins in the opening laps from the back-half of the field continued to show Brown’s restart dominance at the front. With the field getting their first long-term green flag run following a lap 19 scuffle, an adversary in Jesse Switser appeared in the rear-view mirror.
Stalking Brown from the initial green in the third-place starting position, Switser had followed the former Oxford Plains Speedway champion by just inches off his back bumper until he could wait no more.
With the help of a blanket of lapped cars ahead, Switser used the opportunity to split the Bryan Mason machine with Brown and seize the lead. During the same melee, Jonathan Bouvrette also crested into the top five and underneath Brown for second as the intensity continued at the front of the field. Unfortunately for the top pilots out front, ominous clouds once again filled the skies and two late-race spins allowed enough time for the rains to come and end the event two laps after the halfway point.
With the field reaching the halfway point, the Pine Tree State was declared official on the lap 65 caution for a stalled Reilly Lanphear and post-race technical inspection officially gave Switser his second American-Canadian Tour victory followed by Brown and Bouvrette.
All three had spoiled runs in the tour’s first event of the year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and all three found redemption under a grey sky at Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday.