SOUTH PORTLAND — Jeremie Whorff certainly could have been excused for missing last year’s T.D. Bank 250.

Despite it being Maine’s highest profile car race, the 2006 champion had other commitments. The anxiously awaited short track race took a backseat to Whorff’s nuptials.

“I got married on the day of the Oxford 250,” he said. “Everybody was like ‘Why would you even do it on that day?’ That was the day we picked, and it just happened to fall on that day.”

This year, Whorff will return to Oxford Plains Speedway and his father will race as well. Both drivers, from West Bath,  have been racing Pro Stocks at Beech Ridge but are thrilled about returning to the 250 this year.

“I’m real excited to come back,” said Bill Whorff Jr. “We just purchased a car three weeks ago just for this race. I’ve had a lot of fast cars for this race, and I’ve just never been able to capitalize on it.”

When Jeremie won in 2006, his father finished second. In 2007, Jeremie was 16th and in 2008, Bill finished 14th while Jeremie was 34th.

“Both years we definitely had a car to win but didn’t have a lot of luck,” said Jeremie Whorff. “We drew in the back. We were in the last chance race. Then we ended up getting the provisional to get in the race. We ended up getting in a wreck in my first heat. It was just a real unfortunate day for us. We made it 100 laps or so into the race and the motor wouldn’t take it. So we ended up parking it.”

Jeremie Whorff is using a car owned by Steve Reny. Though he’ll be racing at Beech Ridge Saturday night, Reny will shake the ride at OPS in preparation for Sunday.

“I’m actually pretty excited,” said Jeremie Whorff. “Due to the change in the cars and stuff, I was a little leery about it. (Reny) has always been phenomenal there. So I’m pretty excited to hop in it and get going. I feel real fortunate to be in somebody’s gear that’s as good as that.”

Bill Whorff  purchased a car used by Matt Sanborn last year.  He’s already had a practice session at OPS and is excited about getting it ready for Sunday.

“We’ve gone right through it and stripped it down,” he said. “We painted it this week. We took it out a couple weeks ago, and it ran pretty good. We’ve made some changes and we’ll do some testing this weekend. What we’ve seen so far, I think it’s going to be a good car.”

One change for the Whorff’s is the fact that they’ll be racing the Late Models Sunday. Most of their racing in recent years have been in Pro Stocks.

“The Late Models are a lot different than what we’re used to with the Pro Stocks,” said Bill Whorff. “There’s a bit of a learning curve. It’s not that we haven’t run the Late Models. We won in Wiscasset two years ago and won the Coastal 200. We’re used to running them, but we haven’t run them in a year or so.”

Neither of the Whorff’s have raced regularly at OPS in recent years. Their only appearances have been in the 250’s, but that break from competing on the OPS oval won’t have much effect they say.

“We raced there for three years straight, week after week, ” said Jeremie Whorff. “My father and I, we know how to get around there.”

Bill Whorff says he’s been going to OPS since he was a boy and dreaming about racing there, and it feels like home to return.

“You make one lap and your right back in the groove there,” said Bill. “It’s my favorite course. There’s no place I like to race racetrack-wise that’s better. It felt really good to be back there a couple weeks ago.”

[email protected]