Instead of its traditional mid-season July date, the Oxford Plains 250 will be held Sunday, Aug. 30 next year.

Oxford Plains Speedway owner Tom Mayberry made the announcement in a press release posted on the speedway’s website.

Since 2004 the Oxford 250, considered the richest single-day short track event in North America, has been held the third Sunday in July to correspond with an open date in the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

When NASCAR announced its 2015 schedule earlier this week, every weekend in July was booked and the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon is now slotted for the third Sunday in July.

“By announcing the move of the 42nd annual Oxford 250 to August 30, 2015, we feel this will give ample time to our fans who are looking to plan their summer vacations around this prestigious event,” Mayberry said in the release.

NASCAR’s top division does not compete on Aug. 30, 2015. Under former owner Bill Ryan, the 250 featured a well-known NASCAR driver in seven of the nine races from 2004-2012, with Kevin Harvick (2008) and Kyle Busch (2011) winning the race.

Reigning two-time winner Travis Benjamin of Morrill said he doesn’t think the move was made to lure Cup drivers to Oxford. Rather it was to avoid conflicts for drivers and fans.

“A lot of fans can’t go to Loudon and Oxford in back-to-back weekends,” Benjamin said.

The Oxford 250, which pays $25,000 to the winner and $100 bonus checks for each lap led, is a Pro All Stars Series-sanctioned event for Super Late Model cars. Mayberry also runs the PASS North and South Series. This year rival promoter Tom Curley scheduled a special non-points ACT Lat Model Tour 200-lap race in Plattsburgh, New York, on the same day as the 250. The Canadian-based Maritime Pro Stock Tour had a big-money 250-lap race the day before.

“I kind of think they had to change the date,” Benjamin said. “I know at least five or six guys from Canada who would come if those races weren’t the same weekend. I think it would make for a better car count.”

Currently the new Oxford 250 date will have less competition.

“It seems to fit for a lot of the teams from the (PASS) North and South and guys from other series and tracks,” Oxford Plains Vice President Mike Mayberry said.

The later date could make the race more attractive to weekly series drivers at other tracks, said former Beech Ridge champion Dan McKeage of Gorham. McKeage has competed in the 250 in the past. This year he skipped it, citing the difficulty of racing consecutive days on different tracks. The extra cost and the potential for damaging a car also keeps some weekly series drivers away.

Based on this year’s schedule, the 250 will be the week after Beech Ridge wraps up its regular season.

“I think it might actually bring more hype to the (race),” McKeage said. “This way the Beech Ridge top runners can go and compete with Oxford’s top runners and the tour guys without having to think in the back of their mind that if it doesn’t work out then it could hurt you for the rest of the year at your own track.”

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