OXFORD – In addition to anticipated big announcements regarding its special-event schedule for 2004, Oxford Plains Speedway revealed Tuesday that fans of its weekly racing series also will witness some not-so-subtle changes beginning next spring.

Speedway owner Bill Ryan announced that feature races in every division will be a minimum of 10 laps longer next season.

The top division, Pro Stock, will compete in 50-lap main events after racing 35 laps throughout the history of the class. Late Model Stock features will be extended from 30 to 40 laps, Limited Sportsman from 25 to 35, and Strictly Stock and Mini Stock from 20 to 30.

Those extra distances will compensate for the elimination of “heat” races. Qualifying events will be contested only when needed to reduce the starting field for a feature event to 36 cars.

It has been many years since heats at Oxford were “qualifying” races in a true sense of the word, with only the Strictly Stock division consistently exceeding 36 entries. For other drivers, the only apparent incentives in heat racing were a handful of championship points and one final opportunity to test changes to their cars after the final practice session.

“Fans and racers love feature racing,” Ryan said, “and this year we’ll give them more than they have ever seen.”

Ryan planted seeds for the change during the 2003 season. Whenever the speedway presented a special event or had double features due to rain or extenuating circumstances the previous week, heats were eliminated from the program.

Traditionalists may not have appreciated the change, but the impact on the length of the race program was obvious and generally welcome.

“You see it in Major League Baseball. When the game is three hours or less, everybody’s happy,” Ryan said. “If it goes longer than three hours, people tune out.”

To ensure that fans and drivers receive their money’s worth, the track will offer a different wrinkle each week. Ryan will initiate a three-race Oxford Ironman Series for each division, incorporating the annual New England Dodge Dealers 100 and two additional long-distance events in a separate battle for points and bragging rights.

Those extended features will include multiple segments, field inversion and some of the other oddities that have made NASCAR’s The Winston all-star race popular over the years.

In an announcement related to the speedway’s annual rules meeting last week, Ryan also said that the Five-Star “Downforce” body type has been approved for Pro Stock competition at OPS in 2004. Rule books will be available at the speedway later this month.

OPS has not yet officially unveiled its 2004 schedule. That slate is expected to include a first-ever appearance by the American Speed Association in August.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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