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Monday, July 19, 2004
2 in a Rowe
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||
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Everybody, it seemed, forgot about Ben Rowe of Turner, who had won the race the year before. Rowe started in 25th place in the field of 41, but when darkness hit Oxford Plains Speedway on Sunday, he was celebrating his second consecutive victory. Rowe is the seventh driver to win the 250 at least twice, and became the first back-to-back winner since Ralph Nason won three in a row from 1998-2000. "All week long, everybody was (talking) Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth," Rowe said. "That kind of took the pressure off me. I didn't have to worry about anybody. (The reporters) were all talking to them. We just kind of came out and did our own thing." Ricky Rolfe on Albany Township took second place, while Kenseth was third despite starting last in the 41-car field. Rounding out the top five were Rowe's father, Mike, and Alan Wilson. After several lead changes, Wilson was in control heading into the final 15 laps. But on lap 239, he blew out a tire on the backstretch and skidded off the track. The lost ground was too much to make up for Wilson, a Hebron native who finished fourth in 2001 and 2002. Rowe had a sizable lead in the final laps and eased to the win. "He just drove right off the backstretch, so I think it was the right time or something like that," Rowe said. Only 25 of the 41 drivers finished the race, and many had trouble with their front tires. Rowe was no different. "We actually had a right front flat the first time I pitted," Rowe said. "I started going down like 60 laps into the race, and I just kept pushing it and pushing it, and I was getting worse and worse. We (ran) like 15 laps, 20 laps on a flat tire." Johnny Clark of Farmingdale earned the pole position by taking first place in Heat 1. Clark led from the start and opened up a huge lead on his way to the qualifying victory. Clark led the showcase race until lap 120, when he was passed by Scott Mulkern of Falmouth. Three laps later, Clark nosed back into the lead when he shot past Henry Hudson III of Harrison. When Mulkern tried to get past Hudson on the outside, he was hit from behind by Biddeford's Donnie Whitten. On the caution, Mulkern was sent to the back. Clark gave up the lead to Rowe a few laps later when he pitted during a caution, while Mulkern was later taken out for good in a crackup involving Busch and Steve Knowlton. Clark, meanwhile, was in contention until lap 167, when he rammed into Paul Bosse of Gray, who had spun out on turn four. Clark did not return until lap 175, and when he did he was minus his hood. Rowe had won last year's 250 after starting from the pole position. This year, he used a strategy of patience, and he was not among the top five until lap 114. "I bet 70, 80 laps of this race, I only was running half throttle," Rowe said. "You really never get going until you can get out there by yourself." Kenseth was running second late in the race, but on lap 196 he was passed on the outside by Rowe, and four laps later he was victimized by Rolfe the same way. "The outside was there, and you just had to kind of use it easily and baby your way by," Rowe said. "That's why we pitted twice. We figured the new tires would be better than the old ones." For Rolfe, the second-place finish brought him back to the level he enjoyed last season, and gave a bright spot to his disappointing summer. "It's been a terrible year," Rolfe said. "Last year, I couldn't do nothing wrong. I completed every lap except for one during the regular season here. I've had two DNF's (did not finish) this year, and I just made one top five. This kind of makes up for it." Busch, who finished 13th, had trouble in the qualifying heats. In the fourth heat, Busch started on the outside, but lost ground when he pushed his way through a pack, and eventually finished sixth, missing the top-four qualifying group. In the second of three consolation races, Busch passed Bill Whorff, Jr. of Topsham on lap 8 of 20, and held the fourth position for the rest of the race to earn qualifying status. Whorff later won the Last Chance Qualifier, which he led from start to finish. He had already earned a provisional spot by winning the New England Dodge Dealers 100 on May 1. Kenseth had already been guaranteed a spot in the 250 before Sunday. He started in the back on his heat and finished 10th. Kenseth then got a flat tire on his consolation race. With all the attention given to the appearance of NASCAR staples Busch and Kenseth, it was unknown by many that the southern drivers do not have a history of cleaning up in Oxford. Among the seven Winston Cup champions who have raced in the BankNorth 250, the only ones who secured a top-10 finish were Dale Jarrett and Bobby LaBonte -- and neither finished higher than seventh.
Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243 mdifilippo@centralmaine.com |
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