For race fans across western and central Maine, the long wait is finally over.

After a cold and snowy winter that lingered well into April, the familiar sights and sounds of short track stock car racing will stimulate the senses this weekend. 

Oxford Plains Speedway opens its 2013 season with the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) North opener on Sunday, a 150-lap points-paying contest for the Super Late Model touring series. The PASS Sportsman and Modified divisions will also compete Sunday, along with the NELCAR Legends cars.

Fort Kent native Austin Theriault won the 2012 PASS North season finale last fall at Oxford. He did so using a converted Late Model, and he’ll use that same family-owned machine in Sunday’s Ripley & Fletcher Ford 150.

Since last season, Theriault has moved to North Carolina and is running a full slate of Super Late Model races for 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski’s driver development team.  With no race planned for his southern schedule this weekend, he elected to return to Maine for another crack at OPS.

“It comes down to the fact that I think we can compete for wins up here,” said Theriault. “It’s also nice to not forget where you came from and support the people who supported you for a bunch of years. That’s why I’m racing up north — to support Crazy Horse Racing and all the people who have played a part in my career and made it possible for me to get where I am now.”

Kicking off his drive for a record seventh PASS North championship is Johnny Clark of Farmingdale. The veteran of Super Late Model racing has added a new team manager/spotter for this season. Maine native and NASCAR veteran Dale Averill has returned to Maine after a nine-year southern stint and will quickly become a valued asset to Clark in 2013. 

Defending PASS North Super Late Model champion Travis Benjamin begins his title defense Sunday at Oxford. The veteran from Morrill with NASCAR experience finished 10th in last October’s finale to clinch his first crown.

Farmington native Cassius Clark also returns to action Sunday in the Hight Motorsports entry with noted crew chief Brian Burgess. Clark finished 16th at Oxford last fall and wound up second in points with three wins and 12 top-10 finishes in 15 starts.

Among the list of top drivers scheduled to compete in Sunday’s opener is 21-year old Joey Doiron of Berwick. The smooth-yet-aggressive young driver started his 2013 season with a win in the inaugural PASS Winter Meltdown at Auburndale Speedway in Florida last January. Doiron finished 10th last October at Oxford and hopes to contest for the win on Sunday. 

“I’m excited to get a new season started at Oxford,” Doiron said. “We dominated the season opener last year down at Beech Ridge to notch our first PASS North win. Our program started coming together in late 2011, yet we’ve also been plagued by a ton of bad luck.

“We led the points after five races last year but a tough break in Seekonk (Mass.) took us out of contention. Our goal for 2013 is to win races and contend for the title. Kicking things off with a win Sunday sure would set a nice tone.”

Another Maine native hoping for a strong run in the opener is Trevor Sanborn of Parsonsfield.  Sanborn is hot off a second-place finish in the eighth annual PASS South Easter Bunny 150 on March 30 at the famed Hickory Motor Speedway. His last effort at Oxford produced a disappointing 31st-place finish in the 2012 North series finale. 

“We have a brand new car from Dale Shaw’s shop, and it felt good in last Sunday’s initial practice,” Sanborn said. “It was fast right off the trailer. We made a few minor changes and it improved the car. We’re hoping to get some wins under our belt and be in contention for the title this year. A win at Oxford Sunday would be a great way to start.”

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