The elimination of qualifying heats is among the changes on tap.

OXFORD – The long wait is finally over.

After enduring another frigid if not especially snowy Maine winter glued to the television watching races from the balmy southeast, area auto racing fans are about to get their first fix of 2004.

Oxford Plains Speedway will lift the lid on another season this Saturday night with the New England Dodge Dealers Pro Stock 100.

As a new treat for fans this year, there will be an autograph session with Pro Stock drivers on the frontstretch starting at 6:30. Each week, a different division will have the chance to meet and greet fans, an ideal way to put faces with car numbers. The first race of the evening will get underway at 7 p.m.

The speedway hosted its annual Media Day gathering at the track Wednesday, a chance for all to digest the changes and special events planned for this season.

Speedway owner Bill Ryan Jr. spoke to those in attendance about the changes, which include a significant change to the weekly racing program. “We’ve got a lot to be excited about in 2004,” he stated. “With a change in our weekly format, the first-ever appearance of the American Speed Association and a very full weekend of events on Banknorth 250 weekend, its going to be a very busy yet rewarding season at Oxford Plains Speedway.”

The change Ryan was referring to in the weekly racing format is the elimination of qualifying heats. Starting this Saturday night, all weekly divisions will run extended-lap features only.

“I’ve heard from fans over the years that they get more excited watching features, and drivers say that’s where the money is paid anyway,” said Ryan. “So now every race that occurs will have meaning, and fans will get to see more laps of feature racing than ever before.”

The headlining Pro Stock division will now run 50-lap features, Late Model Stock will run 40 compared to the previous 30, Limited Sportsman will increase from 25 to 35 laps, while the Strictly Stock and Mini Stock divisions will now run 30-lap events.

Topsham’s Jeremy Whorff earned Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the Pro Stock division in 2003 and was at the track Wednesday to comment on the new season. “I’m really excited about getting back to the race track this weekend,” he explained. “We brought the car up for practice on Saturday and it felt pretty good. I think the elimination of qualifying heats is alright, but it will certainly place a lot more emphasis on practice.”

With no increase in actual practice time, teams will do all of their “dialing in” during that period. Whorff says it’s just part of the deal. “We usually have to make some adjustments on the car to compensate for track conditions anyway, so we’ll try various configurations and see what works best. Now, you’ll take what you feel is your best setup into the feature and go with it.”

One of the new additions to the weekly program in 2004 is the “Iron-Man” series. The three-race package replaces the former Triple Crown Series and will consist of one standard-format event and two segmented events.

Among the changes announced during the off-season was the switch from True Value to Banknorth for title sponsorship of the 250 in July. Still billed as the nation’s richest non-NASCAR single-day short track race, the event now has the support of one of New England’s most respected financial institutions.

Ticket sales have been “almost overwhelming” since the announcement that 2003 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth will be competing in the 250. Kenseth will drive a car prepared by Whorff Motorsports of Topsham. Both Jeremy and Bill Whorff won multiple features in 2003. The possibility exists for another NASCAR driver or two to file entries for the 250, adding more “star flavor” to the prestigious short track spectacle.

Coupled with a busy schedule of regular weekly shows, the highly-successful Big Apple Summer Racing Series on Wednesday nights and Kart racing on Friday nights, 2004 promises to provide a wide variety of racing at Oxford Plains Speedway.