OXFORD, Maine -- Kevin Harvick's chances at victory this weekend at Oxford Plains Speedway are only marginally better than anyone else's.

It's not because he took the time to build his own car. It's not because he really wants to win. It's not because he's a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver -- we've seen how that's worked out in the past.

No, Kevin Harvick has only a marginally better chance at winning than any of the roughly 100 drivers expected to be on hand this weekend simply because he's got one guarantee most teams would kill for. He's got a promoter's provisional.

And that promoter -- track owner Bill Ryan -- has tried to reinvent the TD Banknorth 250's popularity by using the traditional midsummer Sprint Cup off-weekend to lure Cup drivers to compete in the event, the 35th of which will be held this Sunday at Oxford Plains. Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch started the movement in 2004, when Kenseth finished third, and several drivers have competed since. Crowds responded, too, with tickets that were hard to come by in those first couple of Cup-involved years as the "TV" race fans showed up at the short track for the first time.

Harvick represents something slightly different for the '250.'

Not since Kyle Busch ran his first '250' in 2005 has the event lured a driver with as much cache as Harvick. Harvick is not only ninth in the current Cup standings, but he's also a Daytona 500 champion. That's a lot more than could be said for the likes of J.J. Yeley, Kevin Lepage or even the unproven Denny Hamlin, who competed in 2006. You could sell it all as "Cup drivers" entering the race, but you wouldn't hang your hat on any single one of them in the PR department.

Still, Ryan wasn't sure that there had been a significant surge in ticket sales this year just because it was Harvick and not a retired Terry Labonte, for example, who ran the event last summer.

"It's hard to say," Ryan said earlier this week. "I think it probably makes more of a difference with the younger crowd."

The publicity machine goes into full-bore whenever a Cup driver competes at the local level, and it's been no different this time around. But make no mistake about it -- this will be like every other Cup attempt, with the lone exception being Kyle Busch's 2006 try, which remains the most sincere effort at winning the Oxford 250 by a Cup driver since NASCAR drivers competed at Oxford for points decades ago.

Kevin Harvick is here to have fun.

It's been said that this is different because Harvick first contacted the speedway about participating, and not the other way around, which is true to some extent. But only to the extent that we can continue to put into better perspective the historical significance of Oxford Plains Speedway and its most prestigious race.

It's been said that Harvick must be "serious" because he's building his own car, but as we've learned in the past couple of days, that's because his Cup owner Richard Childress requires that of his drivers -- so that safety remains a chief priority in their extracurricular racing endeavors.

It's also been said that because Harvick has tested at the track on Friday, and plans to practice there today, too, that he's making the most sincere effort to win the race. Fact is, this represents a week in Maine, a rare vacation for Cup drivers, team members and their families, and that's exactly how Harvick views it.

On Friday, he said this was all about having fun.

Does that mean Harvick won't try and win on Sunday, or that he doesn't possess a significantly high level of driving ability given his resume? Of course not.

But let's not be blinded into believing once again that just because a Cup driver rolls into western Maine for the Oxford 250 that he becomes far and away one of the favorites.

Did anyone see the collective, uh, "work" of Hamlin, J.J. Yeley and Ricky Craven behind the wheel of a car at Oxford in 2006?

Yeah, so did I.

Posted at 9:25 a.m. by TBarrett