OXFORD — The line of 39 stock cars extended nearly the length of the Oxford Plains Speedway pit in preparation for Sunday’s TD Bank 250. Side by side, drivers eager to capture the checkered flag cruised their way onto the speedway track as the Black Eyed Peas “I’ve Got a Feeling” blared high overhead.

Hailing from as nearby as Oxford to as far away as Michigan, they knew one thing for certain: Mere minutes after the national anthem and their introduction to the crowd, traffic on the three-eighths mile track was going to get really busy, really fast and really competitive.

“We’re gonna race hard. We’re just hoping to be in there at the end,” said Jeff White of Winthrop, as he climbed into his cramped driver’s seat just moments before heading out to the track.

White, who has been racing most of his life, joked that his wife asks him again and again to quit for fear of his safety. He, on the other hand, said he just keeps going and going for the thrill of victory.

Across the way, White’s family and fans — his wife included — jumped to their feet when his name was announced. They cheered even louder when he whizzed past his first time around the track at full throttle just moments after the green flags signaled drivers that all bets were off and the race was on.

“My family has been in racing since before I was born,” White’s niece, Brittney, yelled over the roar of the race cars. “It’s a family thing. My whole family loves it.”

The 19-year-old Winthrop woman was among a crowd of more than 15 family and friends who came to support her uncle in the 37th annual race. But other White fans were spread throughout the crowd and jumped to their feet to cheer him on.

Like the Whites, dad Ken Waldron and his daughter have been coming out for the TD Bank 250 for the past several years. Both love racing and called the race a great family event.

The 46-year-old Poland man said that one of the big draws to the pit area for him was being able to see the cars and drivers up close and personal, especially the big-name NASCAR racers.

His 19-year-old daughter, on the other hand, loved the time spent with her dad almost as much as the fast cars and good-looking drivers.

Some were there to support their relatives. Some were there to cheer on their favorite drivers. And then there were some — like former race car driver Alvin Legere — who came to watch the next generation of drivers eager to burn rubber down the short track.

“I just like to watch the race,” said Legere, 69, of Farmingdale. “It’s a nice hobby to be involved in. I just really enjoy watching the races.”

Legere raced back in the mid-1960s at Beachridge Raceway in Scarborough, where he said he’d won several races. 

Mike Roderick, 36, of Clinton, who tailgated with friends outside in the parking lot before heading into the race, said that his favorite thing about the race was hanging out with friends he’s met from all over the northeast and Canada, many of whom he only sees camping at Oxford Plains Speedway the weekend of the TD Bank 250.

For him and the 10-plus guys gathered under his camper canopy in search of shade, beer and good grilling, Sunday’s race and all it represents couldn’t get any better.

In the end, thousands of eager fans packed into the speedway grandstand like sardines with coolers, picnic baskets and flags, as engines roared to life when the announcer hollered, “Gentlemen, start your engines!”