OXFORD – The Pro All Star Series Super Late Models returned to Oxford Plains Speedway after a five-year absence Saturday night, and Sprint Cup Series star Kyle Busch stole the show by winning the 150-lap race.

Busch, tuning up for today’s TD Bank 250, started the race on the pole and took the lead for good when he passed veteran Canadian driver Patrick Laperle on Lap 113.

The 26-year-old Busch said the key to the victory was getting to start in the front row.

“We got up through there and won the heat and that was the trick of the night, just getting track position up front,” he said,

Leperle, a former Series ACT Castrol champion who started on the outside of the front row, led the race for nearly 100 laps after taking the early lead away from Busch.

“I let Patrick set the pace, let him do his deal,” Busch said. “I knew we had a pretty good car, but I didn’t know how hard to push, so I just relaxed and kind of fell in line there. With 60 (laps) to go, I try to go a little bit, but I really didn’t have much to go with. Then we got a couple of cautions and that cooled the tires down and was able to get back going.”

With seven laps left, Busch held off runner-up Cassius Clark of Farmington on the third restart of the race to nail down the win.

“I thought we had a pretty good run at it there,” Clark said. “We came pretty even. My spotter said go and we had a pretty even jump there. I heard (Busch) hit the shift once and he spun the tires a little bit on the go. I stayed with him pretty good. We were pretty even going into (the first turn).”

But Busch held the lead coming out of the turn.

“My spotter said ‘clear low,’ and I didn’t know what everyone else was going to do,” Clark said. “We had seven laps left and I thought we would have another run, but I never really got the chance.”

Lonnie Sommerville of St. John, New Brunswick, finished third, while Laperle wound up in fourth. Five-time PASS North champion Johnny Clark of Hallowell finished fifth.

Busch won the first qualifying heat. After starting 11th among 13 cars in the 15-lap qualifier, Busch passed Johnny Polewarczyk on the sixth lap following a restart.

Laperle finished first in the second qualifying heat.

Donnie Whitten, a teacher from Wells, held off Doiron to win the third qualifying heat. Whitten finished 13th in the final.

Kurt Thibeau of Fort Fairfield won the first consolation qualifier. Brad Babb won the second consolation qualifier. In the final, Thibeau finished 19th and Babb 22nd among the 34 cars.

Also, Joe Doucette of Framingham, Mass., chased pole sitter Chris Pasteryak of Jewett City, Conn., for 97 laps before winning the Valenti Auto Mall Modified Racing Series’ 100-lap race.

Calvin Rose Jr. of Turner won the 30-lap Mini-Stocks feature. Jim Davis Jr. of Sabattus won a 30-lap Strictly Sports feature.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH