OXFORD -- One day after seeing the track for the first time in his life, 18-year-old Josh St. Clair pulled off the upset of TD Banknorth 250 weekend at Oxford Plains Speedway.

St. Clair, of Liberty, started third and finished second in the fifth of eight first-round qualifying heats Sunday afternoon, earning himself a 13th-place starting position in the 250 later at night. St. Clair had not seen the track before he practiced on it Saturday morning.

"It's new and it goes good," said St. Clair, a weekly competitor at Wiscasset Raceway, of his car. "I haven't had a car go like this since last year."

St. Clair's grandfather, Dave St. Clair tried to make the 250 15 times in his driving career, but he qualified only once. He finished 20th in 1997. Dave owns the car Josh drove, one that hadn't been on a track since last autumn and hadn't won since Nextel Cup driver Ken Schrader won with it last July at Wiscasset.

"All these guys around us were laughing at us," said Josh's father, Puncin St. Clair, pointing to a number of American-Canadian Tour teams across the pit area. "They aren't in the race (yet), and we are. It's kind of good to be the underdog and have everybody laughing at you. There's no reason for them to laugh no more."

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St. Clair wasn't the only underdog to make it into the Oxford 250 in the first round. Seventeen of the 24 drivers who qualified through the heat races were making their first start in the race. Twenty-eight of the 44 drivers in the starting field were there for the first time.

One of the drivers making a repeat trip to the 250 was Winthrop's Jeff White, who passed A.J. Begin on the final lap of his heat race to make it into the show and earn a 23rd-place starting position. It marked White's third start in the main event.

"It's a brand new Distance Racing car," White said. "This is only the third time we've had it out."

White started dead last in his 11-car heat and rallied to the front.

"Before the race started, my stomach was in knots," White said.

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Before the IWK 250 for the PASS North Series was complete early Sunday in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, it was announced that Mike Rowe and Ben Rowe were expected to arrive at Oxford Plains Speedway sometime after 6 p.m.

Problem was, when they got to the track, there were no cars for them to race. Neither Jeff Taylor in Ben Rowe's No. 4 or Patrick Laperle in Mike Rowe's No. 24 qualified for the Oxford 250.

Laperle had been given assurances that he would run the No. 24 no matter what, but Taylor would have happily moved aside for Ben Rowe. Unfortunately, Taylor was black-flagged for jumping restarts while leading his consolation-round race, and he was later disqualified from the same event for spinning out St. Albans driver Ricky Morse as they raced to the checkered flag.

"I don't get frustrated anymore," Taylor said. "I've kind of grown out of that. It sucks, but that's part of it. I just wish it didn't work out that way."

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NOTES: Doug White, the new owner of Wiscasset Raceway, was at Oxford Plains and had partial sponsorship on Boothbay native Corey Williams' No. 13. The sponsorship was on the hood of Williams' car and announced the $30,000-to-win DNK Select 250 for Pro Stocks at Wiscasset next August. ... Oxford Late Model points leader Travis Adams of Canton, one of the pre-race favorites, needed a provisional to make the starting field. So, too, did Nextel Cup Series drivers Terry Labonte and Kevin Lepage. ... Mike Rowe won the PASS IWK 250 Sunday afternoon.

Travis Barrett -- 621-5648

tbarrett@centralmaine.com