While the 2012 season opener at Oxford Plains Speedway may still be several weeks away, a handful of local Late Model teams are busy preparing to get their seasons off and running a bit early.

With an unusually mild winter behind us, racers are anxious to fire the engines as the American-Canadian Tour (ACT) kicks off its 2012 campaign with the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 on Sunday at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H.  

Drivers from here in central and western Maine preparing for Lee include Glen Luce (full-time ACT racer, Turner); Ricky Rolfe (full-time ACT, Albany Township); Shawn Martin (full-time at Oxford, Turner); Travis Stearns (full-time at Oxford, Auburn), and nine-time Oxford champion Jeff Taylor (part-time at Oxford, Farmington).  

For longtime veterans Luce and Rolfe, a strong performance in the Governor’s Cup can set the tone for a good season on the ultra-competitive ACT circuit. For weekly warriors Martin and Stearns, a trip to Lee offers a chance to test their equipment before their own points-paying seasons take the green flag.

For added incentive, ACT boss Tom Curley offers an automatic spot in the prestigious ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to all ACT feature winners, along with an added $500 in their purse at that event. The idea of racing their Late Model on the famed “Magic Mile” in Loudon has attracted big interest in northeastern Late Model racing since that event’s inception in 2010.

Martin enjoyed a successful 2011 campaign, returning to Victory Lane after a lengthy drought and finishing sixth in overall points. Last year at Lee, he started third and finished 14th in a solid effort.

“Our team has been busy upgrading and rebuilding our primary car over the winter,” Martin said. “We are really excited to see it hit the track. We like to use this race as a shakedown session. Hopefully the car will be fast right out of the trailer. If it’s not, this allows us time to identify any issues and correct them. We’re hoping to gain an advantage over the competition before we go racing here in Maine.”

Stearns raced a limited schedule at Oxford in 2011 but is returning to full-time competition this year with a brand new car from Crazy Horse Racing. To get a jump on Lee and Oxford, Stearns took the car down to the Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl on April 1 to race in the Late Model portion of that track’s season opener. 

“We were at the top of the speed charts in Saturday practice down there,” Stearns said. “The car was fast right out of the box, it handled very well and I couldn’t be more excited to go to Lee. We’ve struggled down there in the past, but I think this new car is going to change that. There are a lot of eyes on what Mitch (owner at Crazy Horse Racing) and I are doing with this new chassis in 2012. It’s exciting to think about what lies ahead for us this weekend and all summer at Oxford.”

Taylor, owner of Distance Racing Products in Fairfield, says his plans for Lee are contingent on how much customer work he can get finished this week.

“I filed an early entry hoping to make it down there,” Taylor said via telephone on Monday. “We’re just so busy up here in the shop; I really have no idea if we can get down there or not. We’d love to go. Lee is a great track and I’d like to see how we could do down there. We’ll be hustling here all week, and if it works out, we’ll go down and kick things off with ACT on Sunday. “

Following Round 1 at Lee USA, ACT will contest the Merchants Bank 150 at Vermont’s Thunder Road International Speedbowl on Sunday, April 29.  On May 20, Oxford Plains Speedway opens the gates on 2012 with a 150-lap ACT event.  Each year, the rivalry between OPS regulars and invading ACT regulars provides some terrific side-by-side racing.

Qualifying races for the New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 will take the green flag at 1:15 p.m., with the feature expected to roll off at approximately
4 p.m.  

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