OXFORD – Now that Eddie MacDonald has won back-to-back TD Bank 250 titles, he will set his sights on winning a third straight next summer.

“That would be amazing,” said MacDonald, of Rowley, Mass. “We’ll have to do our homework and make sure everything is right. Hopefully, our schedule will line up so we can be there for the full week and not just come in on Sunday.”

Ralph Nason of Unity is the only driver to win three straight years (1998-2000). 

BRAD KESELOWSKI, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series driver, said this was his first visit to Maine.

“It’s always good to learn new places,” he said. “I’ve never been to Maine. It has beautiful scenery. I passed some Poland Spring (and) I guess that’s where they make the water. So that was kind of cool.” 

WITH JUST two cautions in the first 140 laps, cars were quickly falling off the lead lap. At one point, just five of the 39 cars on the track were on the lead lap.

“In a race this size you can’t go 100 laps on a short track and have a lot guys stay on the lead up,” Oxford Plains Speedway President Bill Ryan Jr. said. “It’s tough, just the size of the track.” 

JEFF TAYLOR of Farmington earned a spot in the 250 by finishing third in the third qualifying heat. Taylor, a nine-time OPS champion, didn’t decide to enter until late Saturday afternoon.

“We talked ourselves into it,” he said. “We decided to give her a try. It was 50-50 (Saturday), but the car is good so we decided to race it. I like to have my ducks in a row and I didn’t have all my ducks before.”

Taylor, 43, has raced just twice this season. He finished 30th.

“Last year I did one race and two years ago I only did a couple,” Taylor said. “I do things a little different than everyone else. We were just hoping to draw good and win the lottery.”

 

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