OXFORD — A 6-year-old boy was taken by helicopter to a Portland hospital Wednesday after crashing an ATV into a fence near the New Oxford Dragway on Route 26.
Police said the boy, who was at the track with his mother and two young men, suffered a chest injury when he struck the steering wheel of the Polaris Ranger side-by-side in the parking lot outside the speedway.
The boy was not identified while police continue to investigate the wreck.
Oxford police Officer Stephen Cronce said the boy was driving the ATV while the two men, 19 and 21 years old, rode with him. When the ATV glanced off the fence and started going out of control, Cronce said, one of the men tried to grab the steering wheel but was unable to avoid the crash.
The 6-year-old was taken first to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway before he was moved by LifeFlight helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Police said that although the boy’s injuries were serious, he is expected to survive.
Cronce said the boy’s mother works at the dragway.
A warden from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife assisted at the scene, but Oxford police were heading the investigation.
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