Post-Race Notebook from the 49th Oxford 250

With another exciting chapter in the Oxford 250 history books behind us, here is a look at some noteworthy statistics and nuggets from this year's event.

- Next year, one storyline we hope to see is Mike Rowe making his 40th start at the 50th Oxford 250. Rowe was unable to drive this year due to medical conditions, but he did run the most recent PASS race at Oxford. Hopefully the story will be a good one next summer.

- Johnny Clark finished the Oxford 250 in the top five for the fourth-straight year. It also was his eighth top-10 run in the history of the race. The sour taste of being spun from the lead with eight laps to go will sit with him until the next running of this race. Clark could have been on his way to win number two in the 250.

- As far as rookie performances go, it’s hard to say what was better. Joe Pastore won over $8,000 in lap money after he led the race from the outside of the front row. He wasn’t around for the finish, but he got the most lap money of any one. Next was Max Cookson, who finished fifth and claimed a little over $4,000 in lap money. He took on four tires and recovery time was too much for him to make up the track position.

- Former winners Jeremie Whorff, Travis Benjamin, Glen Luce and Gary Drew were unable to make the show on Sunday. The heat fields were stacked against some drivers and it was hard to recover after any mistakes.

- Garrett Hall finished 30th, eight laps down. He might not have wanted to see that at the beginning of the day, but after a lap one crash in the heat that eliminated T.J. Brackett, he had to rebound. Hall made up several positions in his Consi to have the track position to win the Last Chance race.

- Eddie MacDonald also scored his fifth top-five finish in the Oxford 250. The two-time winner was on the podium for the third time in his career.

- Cole Butcher became the first Canadian driver to win the Oxford 250 since Dave Whitlock won the race back in 1995. That was the end of a three-year run where Canadians won three-straight times at the 250.

- It was a long day for Dave Farrington Jr. who survived a big wreck in qualifying to start the race on track points provisional. He made the most of it by finishing 21st and completing all 250 laps.

- The draw of the heats landed four crafty veterans in the top five who had led 948 laps in prior races at the Oxford 250. Pastore, the rookie among the veterans, added to the total by leading 69 laps himself.

- By our count, Cole Butcher’s win was worth at least $25,900. It’s a big check and trophy going back to Canada.