Trevor Sanborn of Cornish already has four wins at Oxford Plains Speedway this season. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Trevor Sanborn got a pre-Oxford 250 confidence boost by outpacing PASS North points leader DJ Shaw to win the Pierson Heating and Cooling 150 at Oxford Plains Speedway on Aug. 8.

Not that he was desperate for success at the track, considering he has won there four times this season.

“We’ve had a really good year – we’ve won one Saturday night race, we won the 100-lap race, which was a points race, we won the 75-lap qualifier race for the (Celebration of America) 300,” Sanborn said. “We’ve just had a pretty dominant year at that track, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Sanborn also won a 150-lap Oxford 250 qualifier last month at Spud Speedway in Caribou, garnering a provisional spot in Sunday’s race.

The 37-year-old Parsonsfield native, who now lives in Cornish, has raced for Richard Moody Racing on and off since 2008. In 2022, Sanborn negotiated a new deal to race full time with Moody. Moody and Sanborn formed their racing connection in Scarborough, based off advice from another Moody racer.

“I owned a race team, and a guy, Jimmy Gary, who used to race, came up to me and said … at Beech Ridge Speedway, ‘You ought to give him a chance to drive your race car, your other race car,’” Richard Moody said. “I had multiple race cars, so I put him in the second car, and he raced and he did a great job.”

Sanborn’s racing career started with go-karts when he was 10. He said he got into racing Super Late Models at 15 at his home track, Beech Ridge. He won a few races before joining the PASS tour and driving full time. Then he decided to take some time off.

In 2013, Sanborn began racing again on Saturday nights at Beech Ridge. He found success there, as well as in Canada.

“He stays out of trouble most of the time out on the racetrack,” Moody said. “So he does a good job and he thinks ahead. He’s good. I’ve been fortunate to have good drivers, and I’ve been doing this a long time. As a car owner, Trevor is young, but he’s easy on the equipment, and he does a good job.”

Trevor Sanborn, shown at Oxford 250 media day Wednesday, already has four wins at Oxford Plains Speedway this season. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Sanborn’s highest finish in the Oxford 250 was sixth in 2006. He finished eighth last year. But his four wins at Oxford Plains and overall success this season have him thinking big for Sunday’s race.

“I would say this is probably one of the best seasons that I’ve had,” Sanborn said. “You go through all them years of racing – I started racing these cars when I was 15 years old. So, here it is, the 21st year that I’ve been in them … you think there’s this point in my life where, five, six, seven, 10 years ago, ‘Man, am I ever going to really, go and dominate like I used to?’ And you get with the right team and the right owner, and sky’s the limit.

Sanborn noted that when you’re struggling, “you think it’s you, and you forget how to drive, or you forget how to judge how the race car is handling, but it isn’t that. You just need good people behind you.”

Moody added that Sanborn’s “as good as there is,” when it comes to Moody racers, including past Oxford 250 champions Ben Rowe, Mike Rowe and Joey Polewarczyk Jr.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have really good drivers, and I would put Trevor right at the top of the list,” Moody said.

Sanborn said he has one of the best crew chiefs behind him, Kyle DeSouza, who’s “just got the car flying.”

“There’s a handful of guys that could drive my car and win just like we do, but he’s (DeSouza) got the car that good that we’re just repeating, repeating and repeating,” Sanborn said. “As of right now, I think we’ve probably won the most races there (at Oxford Plains) this summer overall.”

DeSouza owns Landshark Racing and works in the shop alongside Jakob Emry to keep Sanborn’s car in prime racing condition. Sanborn said Emry and DeSouza fix his car anytime it gets torn up in a race, and perform the top-to-bottom maintenance on the car throughout the season.

Out on the track, Moody said Sanborn is good at being both aggressive and tactful, which helps keep the car in fighting shape for the entire season of racing.

“He’s probably aggressive, but he’s methodical in how he does it, and he doesn’t get too rattled on the radio when you’re listening to him, unless somebody gets into him,” Moody said. “Overall, he is aggressive, but he’s good.”

That will be key for Sunday’s Oxford 250, Moody said, because he’s usually able to avoid other racers’ mishaps. He thinks the team stands a good shot at a high finish.

“It’s a special one to win,” Sanborn said. “If you win it, you’ve done something right. I just want it to be Sunday already so we can get going.”