Joey Doiron Dominates Inaugural Memorial Day Clash 200 at Oxford Plains

Joey Doiron's Oxford Plains Speedway dominance continued on Tuesday, as he led nearly wire to wire in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Memorial Day Clash 200.

The Berwick, Maine driver started on the pole, but Brandon Barker led the first two laps of the event after starting on the outside of the front row. Those would be the only laps not led by Doiron, as he moved in front of Barker in turn two of the third lap and never relinquished the lead afterwards.

Tuesday's win in the inaugural Memorial Day Clash 200 continues a torrid streak at the Oxford, Maine facility. Last year, Doiron won the inaugural Celebration of America 300, as well as the 300-lap Super Late Model contest during PASS 400 weekend.

That just leaves one "crown jewel" on the Oxford Plains Speedway calendar for Doiron to chase, but it is the biggest one - the Oxford 250. The 52nd Annual Oxford 250 takes place on August 22-24, and Doiron has his sights already set on claiming that elusive victory.

"We've got a 200, 300 and 300," Doiron told Racing America. "Now, we're just missing the 250. That's what we were working towards all year, the end of August. It's a good start to the year up here, and we'll keep going.

"This is a brand-new car, not the car we raced last year up here. I don't know if it's better, but it seems to be pretty good right now, so we'll have to see what happens."

Doiron also won at Star Speedway earlier this month in PASS competition, continuing a run of dominance in the past two years in his partnership with Petit Motorsports. There were some growing pains when he first joined the team, but they have since established themselves as one of the teams to beat in the Northeast.

"We struggled the first year," said Doiron. "We switched cars and started racing our Dale Shaw car and then we built a new one last year and got it together this winter. That's the one we've raced the last two weeks. It's great race cars, great people surrounding me. Just unreal, unreal ride right now. Hopefully we can keep it going after the last 15 months."

After jumping out to a commanding lead in the first half, his grasp started to slip away nearing the halfway mark as two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch closed in. However, a caution at lap 100 for an incident involving Michael Scorzelli and Jimmy Renfrew, Jr. doubled as the event's competition caution.

That gave Doiron and company the opportunity to adjust on the No. 73D, and there would be no touching him after that.

"We adjusted a little bit on it at the halfway break," Doiron explained. "I was getting a little nervous there with the 51. He was running me down there before the break and I knew I was just a little too tight. We made a change, fired tires on it and it was like a whole new car again. It did everything I needed it to do."

While it was smooth sailing for Doiron at the front of the field, a fierce battle raged for second spot following a restart with 16 laps to go. Veteran Johnny Clark, the 2020 Oxford 250 winner, rocketed around Barker and Austin Teras to claim the second spot.

Clark qualified 18th during the single-car time trial session to set Tuesday's feature lineup, a format unique compared to most PASS events where heat races determine the starting lineup. However, Clark's halftime adjustments helped him speed onto the podium.

"The car is back at Oxford," said Clark. "I didn't feel it after time trials. I think I messed up there by not buying a set of stickers to do any mock runs on. I thought we had all the speed. We had to make some adjustments at the halfway break because the cars were impounded. We got the thing back to where it needs to be that second 100 laps, and especially those last 10 laps.

"I was pretty excited. I didn't think I was going to be able to get that done. The 29 wanted second and he was slowing down the 32, and that's what gave me the run on the outside."

Barker held off Teras for the third spot, a result that felt like a victory for the driver of the No. 32 Go Fas Racing entry.

"That's like a win for this car here," said Barker. "This thing hasn't been very good in a long time here. I appreciate CorvetteParts, Keen Parts, DLM, NLM, all my partners. Second would have been better, a win would have been better, but this feels like a win.

"I owe the 29 a big thanks for not spinning me out. I was playing a lot of defense there, and it allowed Johnny to roll the top."

Teras finished fourth, while Mike Rowe rounded out the top five. Rowe, a seven-time track champion, won the Oxford Championship Series season opener earlier this year for his 154th feature win at the track.

Busch faded to eighth in the second half of the race, still bringing home a top-10 finish. The Las Vegas, Nevada native is no stranger to Oxford Plains, winning the Oxford 250 in 2011.

Brenden Queen, a two-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series this year, made his Super Late Model debut as part of the Memorial Day Clash 200. However, his night proved to be a struggle, finishing 22nd in the final rundown.

Oxford Plains Speedway roars back to life on Saturday, May 31 with Community Credit Union Night. The Oxford Championship Series local divisions will all be in action, with post time at 6 p.m. ET.

The Pro All Stars Series returns to Oxford Plains on Sunday, June 8 for its next event. The PASS Modifieds and New England Supermodified Series join the Sunday card, while Oxford Championship Series will also be on track Saturday, June 7.

-Photo credit: Connor Sullivan

Memorial Day Clash 200 Unofficial Results