OXFORD – On a Saturday night when his father fell further out of the Pro Stock championship race, 19-year-old Jeremie Whorff accomplished something that hasn’t been done at Oxford Plains Speedway in his lifetime. Then he unleashed one of the more entertaining victory lane lines in that span.

The feat: Becoming a multiple feature winner in the the top division in his rookie campaign. The words: All in fun — we think — and directed at his dad, Billy.

“Yeah, I saw him get black-flagged for something,” said the younger Whorff. “Maybe next week I’ll throw you a rope and tow you around the track.”

While Jeremie prevailed in a crash-filled 35-lapper for the second time in three weeks, Billy ran as high as fifth before battling overheating problems to a 14th-place finish. Although Whorff remains mathematically in contention for the title, Saturday’s runner-up finisher, Andy Shaw, harbors more realistic hopes.

Shaw held off Tommy Tompkins and Poncho Darveau for second and trails Ricky Rolfe, who wound up fifth, by 25 points with one race remaining. A driver can earn a maximum of 55 points by winning his feature and heat race, with a two-point drop per finishing position in the feature.

“We’re coming around,” said Shaw. “It’s been a tough season. This points racing isn’t really for me. I’m more cut out for longer races.”

While Shaw, Rolfe and Billy Whorff have regularly been forced to pick their spots after starting at the rear of a 26-car field (there were a season-low 20 starters Saturday), Whorff has enjoyed his recent perch at the front after experiencing the usual freshman ups and downs in the middle of the pack.

Whorff started third, took the lead from Tim Cook on lap 10 and outlasted three different rivals on four restarts.

“It’s just unreal (to win twice) with all the great drivers in the division,” Whorff said. “This race was pretty tough with all the top guys up at the front.”

Buddy Leavitt, Troy Morse, Matt Williams, Kim Tripp and Larry Melcher also prevailed in feature action on a chilly night in the foothills. Drivers who aren’t in the title chase were also accumulating points in the chase for the annual Triple Crown trophies. That season-ending, three-race tussle within a race also concludes next Saturday night.

Leavitt won for the second time this season in Late Model Stock competition. For the second straight week, five-time feature winner Ricky Morse caught the leader late in the 30-lap proceedings but couldn’t drive around him. Leavitt took over the top spot from rookie Jeff Moon just before a lap 15 caution.

Moon, fellow first-year LMS racer David Raymond and Ron Henry completed the top five ahead of last week’s winner, T.J. Brackett.

“I looked at the scoreboard, saw that there were 15 laps to go and thought there was no way I could hold off Ricky for 15 more laps,” said Leavitt, whose previous victory this summer came in the New England Dodge Dealers 100. “It’s not that the outside groove is bad with the new pavement. It’s just that the inside is so fast that you can’t get a run on a guy to get around him. I think it’ll be a lot better when we come back next year.”

As for the season-long LMS chase, it took numerous twists during a race slowed by three major incidents, all of them involving championship contenders. Travis Adams, who finished 12th, leads Corey Morgan by 11 points headed into the season finale. Raymond and Henry also have an outside chance at the crown, which would be a career first for any of the leaders.

There’s not as much drama in the Limited Sportsman ranks, where Kenny Harrison and Carey Martin finished third and fifth, respectively. That wasn’t enough to help Harrison make a significant dent in his deficit to Martin, whose 41-point lead essentially means he will clinch his record fourth Limited title by starting next week’s 25-lap feature.

Morse provided the highlight of the evening, winning his initial Limited feature and first feature of any kind since five Mini Stock triumphs in 1996. The race went uninterrupted after a pileup at the initial start, and Morse, who drew the fourth starting position, led every lap. His best previous finish this season was sixth.

“We’ve had an awful year. I’ve got Kenny Harrison’s fender, my brother Richie’s hood and last year’s nose on the car,” said Morse. “I didn’t touch the car today. Just left it on the jack stands.”

He held off Doug Poland for the breakthrough win. Harrison, double-duty driver Raymond and Martin followed in single file.

Williams became only the third Strictly Stock driver to win three features this season, leading wire-to-wire in the 20-lap ‘A’ main. Jon Brill’s disabled car brought out the lone caution with lap 16, and an extended effort to find a leaking car deep in the field left the track a bit greasy for the concluding four-lap sprint.

“I saw that (second-place) Mike Short was headed into a ton of speedy-dry, and I knew I didn’t want to go there,” said Williams.

Short warded off Chris Coolidge, Phil Mitchell III and Gerry Burgess for second. In the points chase, Peter Hafford now enjoys a 24-point edge over rookie Bob Crocker.

Tripp turned up the heat early in the Strictly Stock ‘B’ feature, charging from his 14th starting spot and darting to the inside of Jerry Sirois for the advantage on lap 7. Tripp overpowered the field from there, leaving behind David Weir on a restart with five laps to go and logging his first win of the year. It’s the 11th career checkered flag for one of the charter members of the division formed in 1992.

Keith Stuart, Joe Turner and Guy Childs fought their way to second through fourth, with Weir fading to fifth.

Melcher matched Whorff’s effort in Mini Stock, adding a flourish to his rookie run with his second win in three weeks. Melcher took the lead from Don Wallace on the third circuit and held off another Ford driver, division champ Billy Childs Sr., on a green-white-checkered restart at the finish. Don Mooney squeezed underneath Childs for second with Mark Collins and Scott Audet in tow.

Childs wrapped up the four-cylinder season sweepstakes last week.

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