Thirty years deserved the same number of near-perfect laps around Oxford Plains Speedway.

Dan Morris of Auburn hit a benchmark birthday Saturday. He hopes that a convincing 30-lap Mini Stock victory the same night will set the stage for another milestone: His second division championship.

“That was definitely cool. You kind of think about it, but you don’t think too much because you don’t want to jinx anything,” Morris said of winning on his birthday. “Once I got out in front it was, ‘Don’t screw this up.’ I’ve never had a race like that where I got out front and left everybody. Most of my other wins I got them right at the end.”

The victory was the sixth of Morris’ career and his first of the season.

In the big picture, with two races remaining, it brought Morris within 10 points of Mechanic Falls’ Darrell Moore for the series point lead.

And like most drivers, Morris responded to that information as if it were a gigantic news flash.

“I let other people look at that. In 2005 I had the lead so I could drive more defensively. Now we’re second so we can drive more aggressively,” Morris said. “With so few cars out there, you can’t really pick up a lot of points.”

Oxford’s four-cylinder Mini Stock class has lost roughly half its competitors over the last five years. Reasons for the drop likely include the economy, the increased costs of what started as a hobby division, and the continued popularity of the track’s midweek Acceleration Series.

Fewer cars hasn’t meant a dip in the level of competition, however.

The gap separating the leader from the middle of the pack is slimmer than ever. Morris was the seventh different feature winner in nine races this summer.

“We run so many races without a caution flag that if you don’t get out front early, you can spend the whole race fighting for second or third with somebody,” Morris said. “I wish the car count weren’t as low as it is, but it’s a very competitive field.”

Morris recovered from a 12th-place finish opening night and snagged two second-place trophies and three thirds prior to his victory.

He trails Moore by a count of 477 to 467. Two-time division champ Jimmy Childs is one of only two repeat winners along with Calvin Rose Jr.

Childs is third with 454 points.

“There are a lot of wins and championships running out there,” Morris said of the division.

The Minis will compete in support of the Q97.9 ACT 150 on Saturday night. The season finale is a week later, August 27.

Morris will try to complete his comeback to a championship in a Toyota Celica stocked with some parts nearly his age.

“The chassis is 1982. The body is 1992. We’re allowed the aftermarket nose and tail,” Morris said. “I don’t know if the aerodynamic stuff really matters on a short track like Oxford. I don’t believe it does, but it makes the cars look a little racier. I had someone ask me if I’m driving a Late Model now. We put ‘Toyota’ all over it so people know what’s in it.”

Morris has the added enjoyment of competing against his brother, Chris, for the first time in nearly a decade.

Chris, the 2001 division champion, is sixth in points.

“My learning curve was a lot steeper than his starting out. The last time he raced I think was before they paved the track (after the 2002 season),” Morris said. “Adding that pavement in the turns made it more of a circle than an oval. The curb moved. He’s trying to reel in that line again. I took a couple of years off and my first year back was difficult. I’ve told him, ‘Keep working, you’ll get it.’ ”

Dan and Chris are the second generation in one of the few families in OPS history that can boast three champions. Their father, Ron, was Charger champ in 1975.

The youngest competitor in the clan is bidding to join a select group of repeat Mini Stock champs at Oxford: Childs, Ashley Marshall, Don and Bob Mooney, Cliff Libby, Harold Beisaw and Erv Whitney.

“If it works out, great,” Morris said. “If it doesn’t, we’ve had a good year and had a lot of fun.”

LEFT TURNS

— The chase in Oxford’s other intermediate division is even closer.

Kurt Hewins leads Skip Tripp by seven points in Strictly Stock with two races remaining. Together, those two have won the previous three Strictly titles.

Hewins is the defending champion. Kurt’s son Ryan scored his first Championship Series victory last Saturday night and has taken over both the rookie of the year lead and third place overall.

— ACT comes to town for the second time this season with all the mystery drained from its championship battle. Brian Hoar leads John Donahue by 121 points and is on his way to a record eighth crown.

Local drivers have fared nicely in the tour’s two previous visits to Maine this season, though. OPS Late Model point leader Jeff White of Winthrop won the June race at OPS. Jeff Taylor of Farmington triumphed at Beech Ridge last month.

Qualifying gets the green flag at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

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