The TD Banknorth 250 weekend at Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine is traditionally one of the biggest short track events in the country. The race itself has plenty of history and is the state of Maine's largest sporting event all year long.

For those reasons and more, the weekend had plenty of importance for BDI Racing team drivers Joey Polewarczyk, Jr., or Joey Pole as he's better known through the pits, and Michael Pope during the 36th running of the race on Sunday, July 19th. Pole had plenty of eyes on him throughout the weekend as the 20-year-old had won an ACT Late Model Tour race at OPS earlier this season and was a podium finisher in the 250 last Summer, making him the odds-on favorite for victory in this year's running of the 250.

Pope, on the other hand, was experiencing his first-ever TD Banknorth 250 as the driver that had come the farthest for the event. The Dublin, Georgia native and Super Late Model regular in the Southeast made his first trip to Maine for the 250 and had intentions of becoming the first Georgian to qualify for the prestigious event.

While both BDI Racing drivers had differing motivations for success in the 250, both also found

themselves running into bad luck that derailed those plans.

Pole qualified through his heat race and started strong with his Pole's Automotive #97 car, moving into the top-five in the first 50 laps. Pole was battling hard past halfway, using the outside groove that he so famously races with success, when he was forced out of the groove and off the track in turn-four. That put Pole down a lap – a lap that he was not able to recover in his 15 th -place finish.

“They laid a lot of (oil-dry) down and Brian Hoar wasn't giving me a lot of room,” said Pole. “We kind of got into it earlier in the race.  I am not sure what that was all about.  He was running me high and there was nothing I could do.  I should have backed off.   I got off the track just a little bit and that was it.”

Pole's speed on the outside groove throughout the weekend was something that many other drivers tried to duplicate after seeing just how fast Pole was up top.

“I think they caught on to everything we have been doing here.  Everyone was running the high groove tonight so it was really tough to pass.  The bottom has no grip and the outside is where everyone wants to be.  I think they need to start putting the stuff down on the inside now and not the outside.”

Still, even though the finish was not indicative of how good Pole's car and day were, Pole knew that he had a strong chance of coming home with the $25,000 payday had luck gone his way.

“It was great going into the day with everyone watching us because we were the favorites.  We didn't win, but we made the 250 and that's a big feat in itself.  We were having a great run.  We got up to second, I was just trying to save the car, and our luck ran out.  It happens, its racing.  At least we can say we were competitive tonight.  Luck just didn't fall our way.”

Pope's TD Banknorth 250 had plenty of hopes going into the weekend, but many of those hopes were dashed with an ill-handling car before the chances of making the 250 field were dashed by contact with another competitor in the consolation event. After drawing an eighth-place starting spot in the heat race, Pope was forced to transfer through the consi, but before he could truly show how good his #51 was in the race, contact and the subsequent damage to the left-rear suspension proved too much for Pope to overcome in order to make the race.

“The weekend as a whole was a lot of fun being able to race with guys that I have never been able to race with before and experience a new type of racecar in one of the country's biggest races,” said Pope. But, going into it I knew we'd have to have our game faces on just to get into the race. There were 70-something cars there going for a 40-car field, and with as many NASCAR drivers, local racers, ACT regulars and more going for it, just making the show was going to be tough.

“We fought a tight racecar in practice and the heat, plus luck plays such a big role in whether you can make the race or not. We drew the eighth starting spot in the heat and with them only taking four to the feature out of the heat, we couldn't make up a ton of ground because we were fighting a tight car. Then in the consi, we were going pretty good and just one spot out of a transfer position when a guy behind us dive-bombed us and took us out.”

Pope may not have had the outcome for the race he wanted, but like his teammate Pole, he is looking back fondly on his overall 250 experience.

“I had a really good time coming up orth and getting to meet all the people and racing with a new group of drivers. The race is such a big deal up here and everybody comes to have a good time. All the fans can interact with the drivers Saturday night and it can be a lot of fun. I got to meet and chat with a lot of great racers throughout the weekend and we had a lot of fun, even though things didn't go the way we wanted."

Pope and Pole will both be in action with the ACT Late Models on Saturday, July 25th at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine.