SOUTH PORTLAND — From early May until mid July, they toil away at their local short track or within a touring series striving for race wins and hoping to earn the most points.

Yet this weekend as they converge on western Maine, they’ll all have a different goal in mind.

Late Model stock car teams throughout New England and eastern Canada are busy preparing for Sunday’s 37th annual TD Bank 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway, hoping to win one of the nation’s most prestigious single-day short tracks races.

Speedway officials held their annual pre-race news conference Thursday, with several drivers on hand to discuss their chances in the 2010 mid-summer classic.

New Hampshire native Joey Polewarczyk Jr. represented the large contingent of American-Canadian Tour (ACT) regulars who will compete this weekend, while defending race winner Eddie MacDonald of Rowley, Mass., was also in attendance.

Making a return to the 250 this year is the father-son duo of Bill and Jeremie Whorff. It’s been four years now since Jeremie led his father across the line in a surprise 1-2 finish, but they’re back for another shot at fame and fortune.

Drivers who compete in Oxford’s Late Model division on a weekly basis on hand were 2004 champion Shawn Martin, 1996 point champion Scott Luce, veteran Tim Brackett, two-time champion Dennis Spencer Jr. (1999-2000) and Glen Luce.

“I’m ready to head for Oxford and take another stab at the 250,” Polewarczyk said. “We struggled in the early part of this season, but have made some big gains in recent weeks. Running a couple of Saturday night shows there really helped, plus we’ve run well in the last two ACT events. I think we’ve definitely turned the corner, and with a little luck can win this thing.”

Martin, too had a rough start to his 2010 season, struggling to hit the setup on a brand new car. Yet like any former champion used to winning races would do, he figured things out and has finished well in recent features.

“We’ve been gaining every week,” Martin said. “The car has been really good on short runs, but we need to get it better for the long runs. If we have a long stretch of green-flag racing, the car needs to stay under you. We’ll experiment with a few things during Saturday’s practice, and if they don’t improve our package — we’ll go back to what we know works.”

Brackett won the track championship in 2005 when the Pro Stock division was king. Reluctant at first to make the switch, he now runs a two-car team (the second for son T.J.) and has become quite competitive in a Late Model.

“I’ve figured out that you need to finesse these cars,” the Buckfield driver said. “You still need to be fast and run a good pace, but it takes a steady wheel to keep those eight-inch tires under you for a long run. My car has been strong the last few races, and I sure hope to have a shot at winning this thing Sunday night.”

After Tommy Ricker stole all of the headlines during May and early June, Spencer has been on a roll this summer. The driver from Oxford won 40-lap features on June 12 and July 3, and he thinks his car is capable of going the distance on Sunday night.

“The car has been good the last few weeks,” Spencer said. “We figured a few things out, and it stays pretty consistent during a race. With the hot sun we’ll have Sunday, it will be slick out there. Whoever wins this thing will have to fast down low for qualifying, but able to pass on the outside later in the evening. It’ll take a good draw, a fast car and a little luck to win it.”

Qualifying races for the TD Bank 250 will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, with the feature set to go off at approximately 6:30 p.m.