Windham racer fulfills dream of winning Oxford 250

By Ed Pierce

Since he was a small child, Brandon Barker of Windham has been dreaming about winning the Oxford 250 auto race and he made that dream a reality by winning the 53rd annual Nitro Trailers Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Aug. 30.

Brandon Barker of Windham, 29, won the 53rd
annual Nitro Trailers Oxford 250 auto race at
Oxford Plains Speedway on Aug. 30, fulfilling
a dream he had held of winning that title since 
he was a small child. COURTESY PHOTO 

Following a near three-hour rain delay Barker, 29, in his Super Late Model Car No. 88, outlasted second-place finisher Johnny Clark and Joey Doiron in third place to claim the prestigious Oxford 250 title.

“We have focused on Oxford this year to prepare for the bigger races like the Oxford 250,” Barker said. “To win the Oxford 250 took a great car, a good strategy and a great team.”

This was Barker’s ninth attempt to win the Oxford 250, and through the years, he’s described the race as similar to winning the Daytona 500 for drivers from New England.

Barker started this year’s Oxford 250 race in fifth position and slowly moved up to second before rain forced a lengthy delay at about the race’s mid-point. He took over first place when leader Gabe Brown made a pit stop and held the lead for the next 50 laps. With just 65 laps left, DJ Shaw seized the lead, but taking a pit stop for fresh tires with 45 laps left to go, Barker made up ground on a restart and went wide moving from ninth to third. He held strong and was able to take the lead for good and hold off Clark and Doiron down the stretch.

His start in racing came when Barker was 5 years old and about to turn 6 in 2003 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway’s go-karting series in Scarborough. His grandfather obtained a couple of go-karts for Barker and his cousin to race there, and it prompted Barker to go on and pursue an auto racing career outside of his day job working for the Maine Turnpike Authority.

Taking the checkered flag in the Oxford 250 is another accomplishment in Barker’s career. Back in 2023, he joined the late Dale Earnhardt and DJ Kennington as being the only racers to win in their first American Canadian Tour start when he came in first in the Governor’s Cup 150 race at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire, beating 24 other racers.

This year alone, Barker has won five different races but winning the Oxford 250 stands out for him because it’s a flat track.

‘I think flat tracks are the toughest tracks to get a handle on and if you do, you go to places with banking because it helps your car’s handling,” he said. “If you’re good at the flat tracks you can usually go anywhere and be competitive.”

To reach this point in his racing career, Barker is grateful for support he’s had from other Windham racers such as Brad Babb and Bobby Timmons.

“They’re all older than me so they were always a step ahead and I looked up to them and asked advice from them,” he said. “Whether it was good advice or not seems to have worked out.”

Barker can be found nearly every weekend racing Super Late Models at events in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina and his sponsors include Landshark Performance, Sam Snow Construction, GoFas Racing with Archie, Maietta Towing, DLM Excavation, NLM Custom Homes, and RPM racing engines.

“I race on the Pro All Star series for Sam Snow, the Granite State Pro stock series, and the NASCAR weekly series Pro stocks at Lee USA Speedway for Archie St. Hilare and a few American Canadian Tour Late Models for Chad Sullivan,” he said. 

Among his biggest fans are his wife, Sara, who has a brother and father who also race cars, and she is used to the competitive aspect of the sport and tries to attend as many of Barker’s races whenever possible, and the couple’s 21-month-old son Bentley.

Winning the Oxford 250 checks off one of Barker’s long-standing goals and is especially meaningful to him.

“It’s something I had hoped to accomplish in my racing career before I am finished,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite races and one of the biggest races in the country. <

Bubar closing out 2023 racing season in winner’s circle

By Ed Pierce

Auto racer Corey Bubar of Windham is finishing the 2023 season with a flourish by winning the finale for the Granite State Pro Stock Series in New Hampshire on Oct. 1 and will compete Sunday in his final race this year at the Oxford Plains Speedway.

Auto racer Corey Bubar of Windham takes the checkered flag
for winning the Bosowski Properties 150 Pro Series Race,
the final event of the 2023 Granite State Pro Stock Series, at
Lee USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire on Oct. 1. 
Bubar's victory earned him a first-place check for $8,500.
SANDY HALEY PHOTOGRAPHY     

In winning the Bosowski Properties 150 Pro Series Race and the $8,500 first-place check at the Lee USA Speedway, Bubar continues to impress after a handful of races there this year. Earlier this summer, he finished third and fourth in the races that he entered there.

“We built a new car this year, so it took a while to figure it out and all of those good finishes were in the last three races there,” Bubar said. “We just have worked really hard on trying to improve it little by little and slowly we kept getting closer to where we needed to be and had a race where everything went our way.”

Bubar, 31, was second in time trials for the Bosowski Properties 150 Pro Series Race in New Hampshire, and that gave him a good feeling about his chances to win the race that night.

“We time trialed second, and I knew we had a good car because I suck at time trialing,” he said. “We had a couple of good battles with Jimmy Renfrew Jr. and Ryan Green but ended up with the big check. Thank you so much to my crew, Dan Bubar, Alan Berry, Karen Salvo Bubar, Dylan Bilodeau, Tinker Doughty, and Michael Landry. We lost a clutch in the second practice, and they all busted their butts to get it changed in time to make it out there for the scuff session. Thank you to Ryan Green for letting us take his spare clutch.”

During the race, Bubar held off challenges from drivers Ryan Green and Jimmy Renfrew Jr. to pull away down the stretch and win his second Granite State Pro Stock Series event.

His passion for racing began at a young age when he started competing in go-kart races at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough in 2004. His father Dan started racing at that track in the 1980s and as his racing career was wrapping up, he stepped up and helped his son launch his own career.

Bubar moved up to auto racing in the Sports Series division in 2007 at Beech Ridge, and then just a year following his graduation from Windham High School, he won the championship in the Sports Series division at the Beech Ridge track in 2011. He raced there in the Pro Series division in 2012 and enjoyed breakout success, winning more NASCAR Night races than any other racer at Beech Ridge and was eventually honored with the “Driver of the Decade Award” at Beech Ridge for the 2010s.

A key to his continued success on the racetrack is his knowledge of mechanics and being able to quickly size up problems with his car as they arise. He started working as a used car mechanic at Lake Region Imports in Westbrook while still in high school and in 2020, Bubar started a new job at Viking-Cives in Lewiston building plow trucks and performing welding there.

By 2021, he had built a solid Bubar Motorsports racing team and Bubar won three different races that year along with his first touring series race. He narrowly missed winning the championship in the last year of racing at the Beech Ridge racetrack, trailing by only four points in the standings. Last season was tough for Bubar, but he’s rebounded in 2023 and appears to be back in business and aiming at another title.

He debuted his new car in April built by Berry Racecars and Customs during a race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and Bubar says he’s grateful to everyone who has helped him get to this point in his career, including his wife, Ashley, and daughters Kinsley and Gracey.

“Thanks to my sponsors, Jef Simpson from J.A. Simpson, Strictly Roofing, Union Wharf Market, and T&L Racing,” he said. “And thanks to Tom Mason, and Alan and Stefanie Berry. Thank you to Robbie Harrison for all the help he's been this year.”

As far as the future goes, Bubar said he takes it one race at a time but will be back racing again next year.

“We don't have plans for next year yet,” he said. “I think we will wait until the schedules come out to decide but we will probably race some at Lee and some at Oxford again.” <

Windham’s Bubar makes great strides on racing circuit

By Andrew Wing

It is common knowledge that driving cars at over 100 mph is dangerous. However, for Corey Bubar, his love for racing is so immense that he doesn’t spend much time worrying about that, but rather he is just focused on having fun racing in the moment.

Windham auto racer Corey Bubar and his team will compete 
for a $10,000 prize at the Keen Parts 150 race at the Lee 
USA Speedway in Lee, New Hampshire on July 15.
COURTESY PHOTO

Before he had even reached his teenage years, Bubar was racing go-karts at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough in 2004. After doing that for a few years, he moved up to the sports series division in 2007, and then just one year after graduating from Windham High School, Bubar won the championship in the Sports Series division at Beech Ridge in 2011.

Following his championship, Bubar moved up to the Pro Series division in 2012 and his overall time in that division was also incredibly successful, winning more NASCAR Night races than any other racer at Beech Ridge and he also won the “Driver of the Decade” award for the 2010s.

Bubar has always had a passion for cars. He started working as a used car mechanic at Lake Region Imports in Westbrook while still in high school. After leaving there at the end of 2020, Bubar began working at Viking-Cives in Lewiston where they build plow trucks for New England towns and he performs most of the welding there.

Despite his passion for cars, Bubar got into racing because the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“I got into racing because my dad has raced since the 1980s,” said Bubar. “He stopped in the early 2000s and when the opportunity came for me to get started in go-kart racing, we didn’t hesitate and we’ve been at it ever since.”

Since Bubar started racing nearly 20 years ago, he has come to find many things that he likes about the sport, but his favorite is the thought process that goes into it.

“There are so many options of how to set up your car and you always have to think of ways that can make it better,” said Bubar. “Some of the things that I come up with are really outside of the box, and it’s really cool when they work.”

On the other hand, Bubar has also come to find out that there are some parts of racing that he doesn’t like as much, and the worst part to him is altercations with people.

“Racing is so competitive, and sometimes people’s tempers get hot,” said Bubar. “If you’re successful, then you will have your fair share of them, and I have lost friends because of racing.”

There have been a lot of ups and downs throughout Bubar’s racing career, but last season just might’ve been the best yet for him and his Bubar Motorsports team as they won three races and Bubar won his first touring series race.

“Last season was pretty good for us,” said Bubar. “I had a chance at the championship, but ended up in second place, just four points behind. A lot of credit goes to my team, we had a fast car just about every week.”

Following his exceptional season in 2021, Bubar was excited for what this season had in store, but with Beech Ridge Motor Speedway closing at the end of last year, he and his team didn’t enter 2022 with many expectations. Despite the closing, Bubar and his team have competed in some races, and while their luck hasn’t gone their way so far this season, Bubar and his team still have hope for what’s yet to come.

“The results from our season have been a little bit discouraging,” said Bubar. “However, we have still had good speed at a few of the races, so hopefully we can get some good finishes this year.”

Next up for Bubar and his team is the Keen Parts 150 race that features a $10,000 prize at the Lee USA Speedway in New Hampshire on July 15, and at the Oxford 250 that will be held at the Oxford Plains Speedway on Aug. 28. There are also a couple other races that they plan on going to as well, but without the pressure of a championship at Beech Ridge, Bubar and his team’s goal for the rest of the season is to just go and race for fun.

Aside from the rest of this season, Bubar is realistic about what he can accomplish in racing professionally.

“I don’t really have any higher aspirations for my career. I just like doing what we are doing now,” said Bubar. “I would just like to thank all of my family, crew and sponsors who help me out to be able to keep racing.” <

Windham High graduate wins first race at Oxford Plains Speedway

Auto racer Garrett Lamb captured the checkered
flag at Oxford Plains Speedway on July 4,
winning in only his second time competing at
that racetrack. He began his career at age 4 by
racing go-karts at Victory Lane indoor karting
in Portland.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GARRETT LAMB 

By Ed Pierce

He may have only just graduated last month from high school, but Windham’s Garrett Lamb isn’t letting youth stand in the way of racing success.

In just his second time competing at the Oxford Plains Speedway, Lamb, 18, won in a 12-car 30-lap Street Stock division race on July 4. It’s just another accomplishment for the young racer, who began by racing go-karts at age 4 at Victory Lane indoor karting in Portland.

His win at Oxford came in just his seventh overall career Street Stock race following previous starts at Scarborough's Beech Ridge Motor Speedway's entry-level Thursday Thunder events.

“As a young kid I always looked up to drivers like Dan Mckeage, Trever Sandborn, and Reggie Leeman,” Lamb said. “I have always looked up to the way these drivers have raced and conducted themselves on the racetrack. “I’ve also raced at Richmond Karting Speedway for about five years. My father has been involved in racing his whole life, so I was brought up around it and I have been involved with it for most of my life.” 

Lamb currently is racing in a Street Stock/Wildcat, a 1982 Chevrolet Camaro with a 602-crate motor. He will attend Southern New Hampshire University this fall to study mechanical engineering.

Street stock racing division features a rough and tumble class of production-based race car. It’s the most competitive type of racing because the fewest number of modifications are authorized to be made to the race car and cars can be easily brought up to division racing standards.

“My favorite thing about driving a race car is just being able to hang out with my friends and family,” Lamb said. “Our entire race team is just a huge family and it is so awesome to be able to hang out with my friends at the racetrack.”

Lamb said that the most challenging aspect about racing at this stage of his career is his lack of experience in a full-sized car compared to most of the competitors that I he races against.

“I have only been in a full-sized car for three full seasons and this will be my first full season in this type of race car,” he said.

In addition to his two races so far at the Oxford Plains Speedway, Lamb also competed in last year’s Ikey Dorre Memorial race at Speedway 95 in Bangor and finished 11th in the 100-lap race there.

To support his career, Lamb works in the grocery department at Walmart and is sponsored by Dodo’s Hot Rods; Libby’s Septic; Portland Speed; Top Gun Construction; Mad Mikes Custom Detailing; DynaMaxx Training System; B&D Burner Service; ASM Graphics; Chasing The Checkered; East Coast Communication; Jay and Brenda Robinson; 

Lucille Brockman; David and Josh Childs; Black Flag Podcast; Night Owl Creations; Naughty 40 Racing; and Shamrock Farms.

“I typically race in the Wildcat division at Beech Ridge on Saturday nights,” Lamb said. “However due to the pandemic, we ventured to Oxford Plains Speedway for a couple races this year and ended up picking up a victory in the street stock division.”

While competing at Beech Ridge, Lamb finished second overall in the points standing during his first season but went back the following year and won two races there and the overall championship.

“It is one of the most special accomplishments in my racing career,” Lamb said. 

The Lamb Family has been involved in racing for most of their lives.

“My dad Scott Lamb maintains all of my cars and is my biggest supporter,” Lamb said. “My mom Amy Lamb is another huge supporter that lets me love my dream out and race.”

He competes for Naughty 40 Racing, a racing team owned by Dan Mckeage.

“I have known Dan as a family friend my entire life and now he’s given me the chance to love my dream and race one of his cars. I cannot thank him enough for every he has done for me and provided for me,” Lamb said. “I can’t thank everybody on Team Naughty enough as well. We are all a huge family and they deserve as much credit for my racing as anybody and that includes Greg Emerson, David Boucher, Chris Robbins, Steve and Missy Taylor, Tim Bennet, Jason and Wade Kennedy, Shawn, Laura and Daniel Mckeage." 

According to Lamb, Dan Mckeage also owns a Super Late Model that Team Naughty has raced all around the Northeast.

“I am the tire guy on his car and my father is the car chief on the car,” Lamb said. “We all work together just about every weekend of the year whether I am racing or not.” 

For Lamb, he said he’s found that the worst aspect of being a race car driver is the ability to keep a clear mind inside of the car while driving. 

After the summer he’ll head off to college, so Lamb’s racing plans for the future are unclear.

“We will continue to race the Wildcat/Street Stock as long as we can until another opportunity presents itself to move up in division,” he said.

And for those seeking to following in his footsteps in a career in racing, Lamb has some simple guidance.

“Some advice that I would give to an upcoming racer would be to stay focused and stay determined,” he said. “With every opportunity that you are presented, you need to take advantage of it immediately because you never know when it might go away.” < 

‘Need for Speed’ powers Windham racer to track success

Windham Auto Racer Rusty Poland competes at Oxford Plains
Speedway and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in a super late model
Chevy with a distance racing chassis built by Jeff Taylor.
Poland owns the racecar with his father, Wayne Poland.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

By Ed Pierce

The thrill of competition and taking the checkered flag are what continue to motivate Windham auto racer Rusty Poland.

From as far back as he can remember, Poland, who turns 26 next week, has yearned to race and improve his skills on the track. Starting out in go-karts as a child and moving up to 250-lap stock car races, Poland has become a name well-known to racing fans in Maine through the years.   

“My grandfather Chummy Brown started racing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough on Day 1 and never looked back from there,” Poland said. “He still works on my racecar to this day almost daily at the young age of 82.”

Poland’s fans have cheered as he’s won national and divisional championships from Maine to Florida in go-karts, then moved up to compete in full-body racecars and won races in the sport series division and pass races in the sportsman division at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. His top mark to date in the super late model division has been a second-place finish in a race at Oxford Plains Speedway, but he’s also optimistic about his chances this year.

“I’m working really hard to earn it, but hopefully we can finally make it happen this season,” Poland said.

During his racing career, he’s captured the World Karting Association National Championship, four WKA divisional championships and was honored as the 2013 PASS Sportsman Rookie of the Year.

On June 28 Poland was 12^th overall out of 34 cars entered in a 150-lap pass tour race at Oxford and his goal remains to get better every time out on the track.

His #44 super late model Chevy is a distance racing chassis built by Jeff Taylor, who Poland describes as one of the best chassis builders in the northeastern United States. Additional parts for Poland’s racecar are maintained and installed by him and his crew and he co-owns the car along with his father, Wayne Poland.

“This season we will be traveling to a couple tracks in New Hampshire to race as well,” Poland said. “A normal race for us is 50 laps and then we run a couple of the bigger shows that are 150 laps and last year we competed in the famous Oxford 250 which was 250 laps.”

In Poland’s opinion, the best thing about racing is all of it.

“I love everything about it. It’s brought me close with so many friends,” he said. “I consider them family and how much of a family sport it is for myself. My grandfather, my mom, my dad, my aunts, my uncles, and my cousins all support me and come to almost every race and always try and help in any way possible. It’s extremely humbling to have the support group that I have and I’m extremely blessed.” 

According to Poland, a 2012 graduate of Windham High School, the most challenging aspect of racing is the constant fight to do better each time out on the racetrack.

Windham Auto Racer Rusty Poland, right, has been racing for
much of his life with the encouragement  of his father, Wayne
Poland, left. Poland's grandfather, Chummy Brown, 82, used to race
in Scarborough and still helps out by working on Poland's car to
this very day. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

“Setups on the cars are always changing and everyone’s finding new things to go faster and it’s just really hard to keep up with and hard to afford buying some of the things for being a small family team like us,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s also that aspect that gives you the thrill and excitement on the nights when you do well.”

He said that the worst part of racing to him is the money involved to stay competitive.

“Not so much the dollar bills themselves, but everything takes money,” Poland said. “Something breaks and it has to be replaced and fixed, you crash it’s going to cost you more money to buy new parts. A lot of teams put so much into it and to see stuff like that happen is a real reality check and bummer for anyone.” 

When he’s not racing, Poland works for Casella Waste Systems in the maintenance department as a diesel truck technician.

He’s also a Maine certified welder and has done a lot of welding and truck body rebuilds. In the little free time he does have, he enjoys snowmobiling, dirt biking and anything that has a motor involved with it.

Poland says he owes a great deal to his sponsors, who have allowed him to pursue his dreams.

“I have some awesome sponsors and I would never be close to where I am today without them,” he said. “I have Derek Kneeland Racing who is actually my cousin and a NASCAR spotter for Kyle Larson. We have Casella Waste Systems who has sponsored me since the very first season and also my mother father and myself are employees there.”

Other sponsors of Poland are Morrell’s Excavation and Septic, Bonang Concrete LLC, Timmons Machine and Ty-gar Machine in Windham, Kruzecks Garage, Maine-ly batteries and his friends and family also chip in and give him tire money and such when they are able to do so. 

As far as his future is concerned, Poland said that he’s realistic, realizing how difficult it is to compete in NASCAR races.

“But I would love to be able to get a ride driving someone else’s racecar and being able to do some pass tour races and things like that would be my top of the line deal that I’d love to see in the future,” he said.

His advice for those considering a racing career is to not ever give up on your dreams.

“If it’s worth everything you put into it, keep the drive and determination to get better, fight through the hard times and enjoy the good times,” Poland said. “Racing is a roller coaster of emotions, but with the right attitude you’ll get through it. And most importantly, surround yourself with good people and good things will happen. Never lose respect or thankfulness of the people that give up time to help you follow your dreams. It takes an army to run a race team.” <