Austin Teras Dominates Open Competition 200 on Opening Night of Oxford 250 Weekend

The first night of racing for the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway had a Super Late Model Open-Competition 200 lapper with $10,000 up for grabs to the winner.

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When the checkered flags fell, it was Austin Teras and his No. 29 team in Victory Lane with a big smile, trophy and $10,000 richer. And, they earned it by leading every lap while lapping every driver in the field, some of them twice.

Separating this race from other SLM events was the “open” factor. Teams were allowed to make certain modifications to their cars, such as spoilers, while remaining within the rules set prior to the race. Also, teams could only take a maximum of two tires per pit stop.

“It was just cruise control for the whole race,” Teras said. “We played with some of the aero body rules, and I’m an aero guy, so we had a little fun with it tonight.

“I guess I know a little bit about it. We can’t do this without everyone who helps us. I don’t know if we’ll do it (win) like this again on Sunday, but I sure hope so.

“I didn’t think I would lap the whole field here. But, we put some tires on it and I could see Joey (Doiron). I knew if we trapped him down a lap it would be beneficial because Joey is the man to beat here. It worked, we put tires on early and didn’t get it another caution, so it worked out.”

Taking the initial green flag was the No. 29 of Austin Teras and Matt Dow in the No. 84 SLM. They remained the top-two drivers until the first caution waved on lap 187 when Pete Rondeau in the No. 60S and Rusty Poland in the No. 44 car got together.

While some drivers were settling in for the long race, Bubba Pollard did what he does no matter where he races. The native of Senoia, GA mashed the gas picking off positions in a charge to the front.

He broke into the top five ranks within 20 laps and into fourth by lap 30. During this time, side-by-side and three-wide battles were taking place in mid pack.

Meanwhile, Teras was on a tear passing everything but a law while lapping his way to fifth by lap 67. It was Pollard he passed and by lap 69, the Georgia driver retired to the pits and done for the night.

On the 84^th circuit, Teras lapped the third-place car of Dow. By the halfway point, he had started lapping top-10 cars for the second time further showing he had his sights on the $10,000 prize.

Rondeau spun in Turn 3 on lap 107 to bring out the second caution, with only Teras and Doiron on the lead lap. During the yellow, they and several other cars hit pit road for tires, fuel and adjustments. Before the race could restart, Hall had to bring his No. 4 back down pit road with sparks coming from the left-front tire area.

This also put Dow back on the lead circuit for the Lap-110 restart with Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. in the No. 0, who did not pit. From there, the remaining laps were incident free allowing Teras to continue his domination enroute to victory.

Rounding out the top-five finishers were Doiron, Renfrew, Dow and Hall.

-Photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America

PASS Super Late Model Open Competition 200 Unofficial Results