OXFORD – Three is the magic number at Oxford Plains Speedway this evening.
After a three-year hiatus at OPS, the Pro All Stars Series returns to the historic 3/8-mile oval with three tense races rolled into one in the Roy’s All Steak Hamburgers Triple 50s.
Time trials for the touring division begin at 5:30 p.m., with a full slate of weekly series features and PASS qualifying heats rolling at 6:30 p.m.
Track owner Bill Ryan and PASS president Tom Mayberry also hope the third time is the charm when negotiating with Mother Nature, as heavy spring storms washed out the first two attempts to welcome back PASS to Oxford on April 30 and May 7.
“Our fans have been waiting for this event for a long time, and now they’ve had to wait a little longer,” Ryan said in a statement. “Everybody is excited to see drivers like Mike and Ben Rowe and Tracy Gordon go head-to-head with Jeff Taylor, Gary Drew and Ricky Rolfe here at Oxford.”
PASS plans to present its drivers with a whole new ballgame as the series employs a “Monza style” format to determine the winner.
Fans familiar with the Milk Bowl in Vermont or last year’s Fandemonium races at OPS will recognize the format, which utilizes field inversion and rewards the driver with the best overall finish in the three segments.
The field will be inverted after the first and second 50-lap segments. The winner will be the driver who accumulates the best combination of finishes in all three segments. For example, if you win segment one, you get one point, if you work your way from the rear to 10th after the inversion in segment two you stand at 10 points, and if you’re third in segment three you get three points for a total of 14 points.
The possibilities are virtually endless. Of course, you could make it simple and win all three segments for a total of three points, but that’s unlikely to happen with the expected big field of PASS regulars, outlaw visitors, and many of the Oxford Networks Pro Stock regulars from OPS.
PASS already has produced three different winners (Ben Rowe, Cassius Clark and defending series champion Johnny Clark) in its first four races this season.
Leading the list of favorites is Mike Rowe. Unofficially, Rowe turned the fastest lap ever recorded at OPS in a Pro Stock during a spring practice session, and he knows that his next win at Oxford would be a milestone victory. Rowe picked up his 149th and last checkered flag at OPS in the most recent PASS event on the old asphalt surface in 2002.
Tracy Gordon, the 1991 Pro Stock champion, is a 24-time feature winner at the track, while PASS Rookie of the Year contender Alan Wilson is a multi-time top-five finisher in the TD Banknorth 250.
There is also a lengthy tradition of OPS drivers showing the field how it’s done in “open competition” events, and Bill Whorff Jr.’s status as the fastest car in April’s practice is a sign that it could continue. Whorff is the speedway’s current point leader, just ahead of Tim Brackett, Ricky Rolfe, Jeff White and Andy Shaw.
Also, eight-time track champion Taylor and 2001 TD Banknorth 250 winner Drew have a wealth of PASS experience. Drew won the PASS season-opener at Oxford in 2002.
Saturday’s program also includes feature racing for the OPS Lee Auto Mall Late Model Stock, Limited Sportsman, Strictly Stock and Mini Stock divisions.
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