Oxford Plains Speedway facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Oxford Plains Speedway

Location	877 Route 26 Oxford, Maine
Capacity	14,000
Owner	Tom Mayberry
Opened	1950
Major events	All That's Metal Oxford 250
Oval
Surface	Asphalt
Length	0.375 mi
Banking	0° (straightaways) 9° (corners)

Oxford Plains Speedway is a famous 3/8 mile (about 600 meters) racetrack located in Oxford, Maine. It's a popular spot for exciting car races and other fun events.

Racing at Oxford Plains Speedway

This speedway is a big deal in Maine! It has 14,000 seats, which is more than any other sports place in the state. Imagine all those fans cheering for their favorite drivers!

The Oxford 250 Race

The biggest race held here is the Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Oxford 250. This special race has been around for many years. It often brings in famous drivers from NASCAR, which is a huge racing organization. Many NASCAR champions and even Hall of Fame members have raced in the Oxford 250. It's a 250-lap race that tests the skills of the best drivers.

Track Features and Other Races

The track is known for its "wide-open turns." This means the corners are designed to let cars go really fast!

Back in the 1960s, the speedway even hosted three NASCAR Cup Series races. Racing legends like Bobby Allison and Richard Petty won those events.

Besides the big Oxford 250, the speedway hosts many other races throughout the year. These include Pro All Star Series races. They also have "motor mayhem" events, which are super fun! These events feature smokey doughnut shows, spectator drags (where regular cars race each other), jack and jill races, and enduros (long races where cars try to last as long as possible).

The track offers racing twice a week during the season. On Wednesday nights, you can see divisions like Outlaws and Sport Trucks. Saturday nights feature the main Super Late Models, along with Street Stocks, Bandits, and even Figure 8s, where cars cross paths in the middle of the track!

History of the Speedway

The idea for Oxford Plains Speedway started a long time ago. Construction began on April 10, 1950. Workers cleared land to build a new racetrack.

Building the Track

George Damon, who ran a lumber company, was a big part of building the speedway. His company helped create the wood for the grandstand. This grandstand was 600 feet (about 183 meters) long and could hold 5,000 people. It was the second-largest in Maine at the time!

The track itself was an oval made of clay and gravel. It had special banking in the turns to help race cars go faster. They even added lights so races could be held at night. Everyone worked hard to get the track ready, and it opened on May 27, 1950.

Big Concerts and Changes

In 1988, Oxford Plains Speedway hosted some huge music concerts. The "Monsters of Rock" festival brought in bands like Van Halen and Metallica. About 40,000 people came to that show!

The very next week, the Grateful Dead played two concerts, bringing in an amazing 140,000 people. Because of the large crowds and traffic, the town of Oxford later decided to limit event sizes to 25,000 people.

In late 2012, the speedway got a new owner, Tom Mayberry. He made some changes to the types of races held weekly. Now, the Pro All Star Series (PASS) Super Late Models are the main event. The Oxford 250 is also a PASS Super Late Model race, attracting drivers from all over.

In recent years, the American Canadian Tour (ACT) also returned to Oxford Plains. This means even more exciting races for fans to enjoy!

Super Late Model Track Champions

These are the drivers who won the championship for the Super Late Model division at Oxford Plains Speedway in recent years:

Annual Oxford 250 Champions

Here's a list of the winners of the famous Oxford 250 race: