With winter in the rear-view mirror, the stock car racing season kicks off with a Sunday doubleheader at Oxford Plains Speedway when the Pro All Stars Series Super Late Model North and the American-Canadian Tour cars will each run a 150-lap feature.
It will be the first time the two tours have teamed up.
Wiscasset Speedway opens for the season at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Longtime rivals Tom Mayberry, the president and founder of the PASS tour, and Tom Curley, president of the ACT, have collaborated for three doubleheaders this season beginning with Sunday’s 2 p.m. event.
The racing had originally been scheduled for Saturday, but an unfavorable forecast has moved the card to Sunday.
“I think there will be a good solid car count for both,” predicted Hallowell’s Johnny Clark, who finished second in the PASS North Super Late Model points a year ago, 20 points adrift of champion D.J. Shaw of Center Conway, New Hampshire.
“I think it’s going to be a good day in Maine racing history,” added Clark, who has won the PASS points title a series-leading six times since its inception in 2001.
“It should be a real good show,” said Morrill’s Travis Benjamin, the 2012 points champion. “A lot of people are excited about the fact it is the first time it has ever happened.”
The PASS tour was once dominated by Clark, who won four straight titles from 2008-2011, and Turner’s Ben Rowe, a four-time champ. But four different drivers have won the last four points battles.
Johnny Clark won his last one in 2011, Benjamin and Farmington’s Cassius Clark captured their first titles in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and Shaw annexed his first one last season.
Johnny Clark said having four winners the last four years is “the best thing to happen to the tour.”
“You see more guys running the full schedule now,” said Clark. “Nobody wants to see the same guy win year after year like I did when I won four in a row.”
Clark pointed out that 35 cars have already preregistered for the PASS race, which is an unusually high number.
“I expect over 40 cars. You’re going to have to qualify to get in, and there will be some cars that will go home [because they failed to qualify],” said Clark.
“The competition is great every year,” said Benjamin. “You usually have eight or nine different race winners. One win a year is pretty good on the PASS Series. There are so many teams that can win a race.”
Last season, there were nine drivers who won at least one of the 14 PASS races led by Shaw’s three victories.
Benjamin, Berwick’s Joey Doiron and Alex Labbe of St. Albert, Quebec, were the other multiple-winners as each won twice.
Benjamin became just the fifth driver in 41 years to win back-to-back Oxford 250s when he captured his second last year. He also won a 250-lap race at Speedway 660 in Geary, New Brunswick.
“It was a great year. It’s going to be hard to duplicate it,” said Benjamin. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we can. We have the same crew and the same car. I’ve updated everything on the car. But you need a little bit of luck.”
Clark and Benjamin both said it will be important to be patient during Sunday’s race.
Johnny Clark and Cassius Clark, Benjamin, Shaw, Mike and Ben Rowe and Doiron are among the favorites.
In the ACT 150, Joey Polewarczyk Jr. of Hudson, New Hampshire, will be one of the drivers to beat as he is coming off a points championship.
Polewarczyk and Auburn’s Travis Stearns are two of the drivers expected to run in both 150-lap features.
There will be other races on the card including a PASS Modifieds race.
Wiscasset Speedway will feature five classes of racing including 50-lap features for the Pro Stocks and Outlaw Super Series.
Speedway 95 in Hermon is moving practice from Saturday to Sunday because of the weather forecast. The session will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Speedway 95 opens on May 2.