Race is wide open

WESTBROOK -- Lowe's Motor Speedway promoter H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler has made first-class entertainment out of annually picking the winner -- correctly or otherwise -- at the track's most exciting event, the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

Oxford Plains Speedway owner Bill Ryan isn't as willing to lay his neck across the proverbial chopping block.

"I'm not going to answer that," Ryan said when asked for his pick to win the 33rd annual TD Banknorth 250 at his track on Sunday.

Ryan did, however, ask drivers in attendance at Wednesday's annual media luncheon at Verrillo's convention center for their selections, and the answers ran the gamut from Nextel Cup invaders to some of Oxford's weekly racing series competitors. This much remained certain: No one really knows what to expect when more than 70 cars gather from across the country to compete in the region's most prestigious one-day event.

"I think that most of the guys that have been talked about are guys that could win," Ryan said. "Jeff Taylor has been incredible this year, and Mike Rowe has been great everywhere he's been, and he's been to like a million tracks this year. Johnny Clark has been right there in a couple of 250s, and Denny Hamlin, he won everything there was to win in a Late Model a couple years ago. He won like 25 races (in 2003)."

Cup driver Kyle Busch is back for his second straight bid at winning the Oxford 250, and he joined the Mercer driver Taylor as one of the most-mentioned names among his colleagues.

"The way Jeff Taylor's going, he's been awfully fast," OPS weekly competitor and 2001 Oxford 250 champ Gary Drew said. "If he stays out of trouble and gets in early, he's the car to beat."

Cassius Clark, a winner already this year in PASS competition at the track, liked the Taylor pick.

"I'm going to say Cassius (will win)," said two-time Oxford 250 champ Ben Rowe. "I've raced against him all year (in PASS), and I haven't been able to see him in half the races. If (Clark's father and crew chief, Billy Clark) can get it so it doesn't break, I'd say he's the one to beat."

Rowe's teammate out of the Richard Moody Racing stable, Travis Khiel, also believes Clark's early-season PASS dominance could translate into a win Sunday.

"There's three or four guys out there, like Ben and his father, Mike," Khiel said. "You know they're going to be around at the end. But Cassius, he's won four of the six races we've had this year, and the other times he broke. If he hasn't broken, he's won."

Busch joins super-team SP2 Motorsports, which fields a full-time PASS entry (in both the North and South Series) for Mike Rowe and a part-time ride for former ACT and Busch North champion Brad Leighton. Both Busch and Rowe could find victory lane.

Busch led 70 laps in his first visit to Oxford a year ago en route to a sixth-place run, while Rowe won the race for his third Oxford 250 win and record 150th feature victory at the facility.

"Probably my guess would be Mike Rowe," said Bill Whorff Jr., whose team fielded cars for Cup driver Matt Kenseth each of the last two years and will welcome Cup rookie J.J. Yeley to the fold this time around. "It seems the repeat winners are always there. He paces himself well and always seems to be there at the end."

"I have to say it will be Kyle," Rowe said. "I mean, he's serious about this. You look at the way he (tested) last week. It's hard to pick one (driver), because anybody here could win it, but I have to go with Kyle."

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