Courtesy / Legacy.com
Robert P. "Bob" Bahre, 1927-2020
July 28, 2020
Maine auto-racing legend, real estate developer Bob Bahre dies at age 93
By Staff
Auto-racing entrepreneur and real estate developer Robert P. "Bob" Bahre, 93, died Friday at his home in Paris Hill, with family members around him.
He was born in Canton, Conn., on Feb. 19, 1927, the first of three sons of Peter and Irene Bahre, according to his obituary. As a child, Bob Bahre worked on the family dairy farm, attended local schools, and started a small excavation business during his senior year of high school with a single piece of second-hand equipment.
After coming to Maine in 1963 as a race car owner in a July Fourth competition, Bahre acquired and grew Oxford Plains Speedway into one of the country’s best-attended short tracks for auto racing. The ⅜-mile oval in Oxford was the site of many local and regional events, and the first track in New England to host a NASCAR Grand National race.
Today, Oxford Plains is the largest spectator venue in Maine, with a seating capacity of 14,000. The track is also the site of the Oxford Plains 250, one of the country’s most lucrative short-track races, with a purse of $200,000. Bahre served as grand marshal of the race last year.
Bahre sold Oxford Plains in the 1980s and launched New Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, N.H., which hosts an annual series of NASCAR and Indy car races and serves as a test track for the auto industry. The Bahre family sold the New Hampshire track in 2008.
In the off-season, Bahre developed shopping centers, single-family homes and apartment complexes in several Maine communities. His apartment portfolio numbered more than 500 units at his death, and he built hundreds more for other owners.
Bahre also helped launch Oxford Bank and Trust Co., now part of TD Bank, and was a principal in a modular home factory in Oxford.
In the late 1970s, Gov. James Longley appointed Bahre to the Maine Guarantee Authority, which became FAME, the Finance Authority of Maine. Bahre was also a prominent backer of the Oxford Casino in its development and startup.
Bahre donated generously to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, Oxford Hills High School, local churches and many other community organizations. He was recognized with a number of community awards and was inducted in the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Bahre was predeceased by his parents, his brother Richard, son Douglas and an infant son.
He is survived by his wife, Sandra; his son, Gary; a daughter, Terri Carleton and husband Kevin, also of Paris Hill; a brother, Everett, of California; and grandsons Christopher Carleton, of Portland, and Weston Carleton, of Bethel.
A funeral will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Oxford Plains Speedway, Main Street, Oxford, with a private burial to follow. The family requests that funeral attendees wear protective face masks and follow social distancing measures.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the fund for Stephens Memorial Hospital Imaging Equipment Upgrades, 181 Main St., Norway, ME 04268. Online condolences can be shared with the family at chandlerfunerals.com.
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