More than merely an opportunity for Maine motor sports fans to enjoy one final, live binge before hibernating for a winter of Speed Channel re-runs, the next three weeks of local racing activity may be an indicator of the future of Pro Stock racing in the region.

The fall flurry begins this afternoon at Oxford Plains Speedway with the Oxford 150, the third and final segment of the Oxford Open Series. Qualifying heats commence at 1 p.m.

Sam Sessions of South Paris, the 2001 Pro All Stars Series champion and a 28-time feature winner at OPS, hopes to add another trophy to his mantle and link his name to a list of Oxford Open champions that includes Dave Dion, Dick McCabe and Robbie Crouch.

He leads Larry Gelinas by 10 points. Turner’s Ben Rowe is another point back in third, and Mike Rowe, Joe Bessey, Andy Shaw and Dale Shaw also are within mathematical reach of the title.

Dale Shaw was the first driver to win a Pro Stock open competition event on the newly resurfaced 3/8-mile asphalt at OPS, capturing the New England Dodge Dealers 100 in April ahead of Chuck LaChance and Sessions. Ben Rowe took a break from winning his second straight PASS championship to snag the elusive True Value 250 title in July, holding off Steve Knowlton and Gary Drew in the closest three-way finish in the 30-year history of the summer classic.

Today’s winner will pocket $5,000, with the overall champion taking home the lion’s share of a supplemental point fund.

This season marked the second time in Bill Ryan’s ownership of the track and first since 2000 that OPS promoted an open series. It’s possible that today’s car and spectator counts will have a direct impact on the future of such an endeavor.

In April, the Dodge event attracted 40 drivers on a relatively warm afternoon. Slightly less than twice as many drivers made a qualifying attempt for the True Value 250.

Better numbers than any other promoter has enjoyed for similar entertainment, no question, but about 5 to 10 percent under the turnout for those races three years ago.

OPS typically hosts the largest weekly Pro Stock field in northern New England, with a field of 26 to 30 drivers taking the green flag in any given 35-lap feature event. That number dipped to about 22 in August and early September due to a suspension, one defection to PASS and one or two drivers who shut down early due in part to an overdrawn racing budget.

Spectators who didn’t already make a similar decision to scale back in July likely are checking their wallets a week after the second NASCAR weekend of the summer at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Several weekly racers, most notably division champion Ricky Rolfe, have assessed the costs of the campaign and expect to sit out the Open finale. At least one PASS driver who appeared at the two previous OPS events will save his equipment for the season-ending tour races at Thompson, Conn., and Wiscasset.

That said, thanks to its central location and tradition, OPS probably will draw a full field of 36 this afternoon. Other tracks aren’t as blessed.

The 1/3-mile banked oval at Wiscasset, which is scheduled to pay out no less than $75,000 to the winner of its 400-lap Big Dawg Challenge on Oct. 12, folded its weekly Pro Stock division at the end of June. Its field had diminished from an early-season high of 23 cars to eight.

Unity and Speedway 95 have fielded Pro Stocks in the low-to-mid-teens for many years. Even at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, the only NASCAR-sanctioned track in the state and located in its most affluent region, the top division draws numbers equal to or slightly lower than Oxford.

Don’t blame the dry spell on a sluggish economy. The nation was more financially strapped than ever in the election year 1992 (Remember, “It’s the economy, stupid?”), and more than 70 drivers attempted to qualify for an October American-Canadian Tour race at OPS.

All the while, though, the costs of preparing a Pro Stock car or promoting a tour were soaring through the roof. ACT boss Tom Curley converted his circuit into a Late Model Sportsman division in 1996, and Tom Mayberry’s PASS has been the best organized and most successful of four attempted ventures to fill the perceived void.

While Ryan and Mayberry’s separate promotions cater to a fan and driver base that still exists, those are dwindling rapidly enough to catch one’s attention.

As the price of racing continues to escalate, drivers seek refuge in less expensive fare. Pro Stock drivers are showing up in Late Models. Veterans of Saturday night competition are cycling back into one of the low-budget, Street Stock nights that have cropped up at every major Maine speedway in the last five years.

Even in PASS, where 115 different drivers have attempted to qualify for a race this season, there is an obvious question: How many have enough juice left in their financial tank to take the risk of competing for a hefty but front-loaded purse on the second weekend of October?

The answer may hold the key to the future of a form of racing many of us enjoy but few can afford.

Kalle Oakes is sports editor and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].