D.J. Shaw charged to the front of the field in the closing laps of Thursday's Celebration of America 300 at Oxford Plains Speedway, passing Alexendre Tardif and Gabe Brown for the win.
Story courtesy of Racing America
What looked like a battle between the United States and Canada for the victory in Thursday's Celebration of America 300 at Oxford Plains Speedway turned into a battle of Center Conway, New Hampshire in the closing laps.
D.J. Shaw, a nine-time champion in Pro All Stars Series (PASS) competition, charged to the front of the field just before the checkered flag at the conclusion of 300 laps - and a heavy downpour of rain as victory lane celebrations commenced.
As the race entered its final 40 laps, fellow Center Conway native Gabe Brown battled with Quebec's Alexendre "Fireball" Tardif for the lead. Brown successfully held off repeated attempts by Tardif to claim the top spot.
However, Shaw led a group of cars including Garrett Hall and Cole Robie who closed in on the lead duo as they fought for the point. Inside of 10 laps to go, Shaw passed both Tardif and Brown before opening a gap of more than a second at the finish.
As stunned as the crowd that braved the unseasonably warm temperatures to attend the Third Annual Celebration of America 300 may have been by Shaw's late-race heroics, he seemed just as surprised afterwards. He struggled to find the words to describe the win
"I can't even believe it, man," said Shaw in victory lane. "That was a 300-lap race, and we had the best car for five of them. They were just the right ones. I can't say enough about this team."
Brown, who won one of two 50-lap qualifier races on Wednesday, settled for second on Thursday. After Shaw's pass for the lead, Brown held off Tardif and company to maintain the runner-up spot.
"It just got too tight, both runs on the tires. Just didn't have enough there," said Brown. "The 5 car decided to rip my right-front off when I was passing him, so that ruined our race, too. We'll move on to the next one."
Tardif rounded out the podium, finishing ahead of Hall and Robie as second through fifth all crossed the line within a second of one another at the end of the 300-lap race.
"Thank you to everyone for being here," said Tardif. "Congratulations to D.J. The car was good. The last set of tires, I feel like there was something a bit off, but I'm glad the performance was there."
Derek Griffith rebounded from a pair of incidents during the on laps 183 and 194 to finish sixth. Sylas Ripley finished seventh, followed by Tom Abele, Jr., Travis Stearns and Trevor Sanborn.
Several front-runners over the course of the event saw their strong runs end in disappointment. Johnny Clark started on the pole after winning his Wednesday qualifier and led 42 laps early. However, a flat tire dropped him outside of the top 10, finishing one lap down in 14th.
Corey Bubar led 19 of the race's first 23 laps, and move back into the lead on lap 196. However, he lost power while under caution on lap 209 and did not return to the track, finishing 22nd.
Oxford Plains Speedway will host its Oxford Championship Series divisions on Saturday, July 11 for Maine Air National Guard Night in its next event. Post time is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
The next stop for the Pro All Stars Series is White Mountain Motorsports Park for the White Mountain 150 on Sunday, July 12, with racing starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Photo by Jimmy Wiggin Speedway Images
