OXFORD — Kyle Busch is nowhere to be found at Oxford Plains Speedway this weekend but he may make yet another impact at the TD Bank 250 today.

Busch, who won this race and a $31,800 payout last year, offered advice to a few drivers who will run for the checkers today.

“(Busch) said you really got to get your car running good on the bottom,” said Trevor Bayne, 21, the 2011 Daytona 500 champ who is the latest Sprint Cup driver to race the 39th annual TD Bank 250. “I talked to a couple guys who have run this race. They gave me some advice and I’ll go off that a little bit. It’s what I’m banking on.

“It’s definitely a track where you are constantly turning it and wheeling it. There is so much going on with the race car.”

The other driver who hopes to heed Busch’s advice is Nick Sweet, 27, of Barre, Vt.

Sweet finished runner-up to Busch last season and is one of a handful of the favorites to win tonight’s 250.

“Second to Kyle Busch, it was still disappointing,” said Sweet, who races on the American-Canadian Tour. “But he taught me a lot. It was a thousands-of-dollar education from him.”

So, what insight did Busch offer?

“He taught me about re-starting,” Sweet said. “Kyle is such a phenomenal re-starter. He knows how to get the job done, and he taught me a few things about what to do. I was very fortunate to be able to talk to him and be able to listen to his advice.”

Sweet and Bayne were at the track practicing for much of Saturday.

Bayne, the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500, arrived in Maine at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. He then signed autographs at Quirk Ford in Augusta from 9-10 a.m.

From there, he was whisked to OPS, where the prep work began.

“We wanted to be on the track as much as we can,” Bayne said. “I wanted to be here (Saturday) and practice. I wanted to be here all day. A lot of the Cup guys showed up on Sunday and raced. Anytime you race, you want to run as good as possible.”

Bayne is driving a car owned by Kendall Roberts of Barre, Vt. Roberts also built cars for Steven Wallace and Brad Keselowski when they raced here in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Roberts credited Bayne with being a bit more hands-on with the car.

“He’s easy to talk to,” Roberts said. “He knows when the car is tight or loose. He can tell you right away where it’s tight. He’s been underneath the car and making suggestions. We made some small changes. We’ll be able to tell (today) which we want to go with.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com