Morrill’s Travis Benjamin wants to earn Rookie of the Year honors on the Busch North tour.

Strong’s Tracy Gordon has his sights set on the points championship.

Both will be in the field on Sunday afternoon when the Busch North series opens at Lee USA Speedway in Lee, N.H.

The Lee 150 will be the first of a series-record 21 races on the tour this season.

The 22-year-old Benjamin entered four Busch North races last season and qualified for two.

But he has added several sponsors including Irving Oil Co., Hershey’s chocolate bars and Redman’s Hall to go along with long-time standards Belfast Variety and Morrill General Store and he intends to run all 21 races.,

“Rookie of the Year is my number one thing,” said Benjamin. “I’d like to qualify for every race, finish in the top 15 in points and earn the respect of [veteran] guys like Brad Leighton, Tracy Gordon and Dale Shaw.

“Last year, I got my feet wet, learned the system and got my name out there,” added Benjamin. “And I think that’s how I wound up landing some sponsors. I got a lot of publicity out of it even though I only ran four races.”

Benjamin will be driving a Ford Taurus formerly driven by Jeff Taylor, owner of Unity’s Distance Racing Products and a long-time pro stock racer.

“It’s the same engine Jeff had but we put a new intake on it and it has more horsepower,” said Benjamin.

Chris Shagnon, former crew chief for Kevin Lepage before Lepage graduated to Winston Cup, returns for his second season as Benjamin’s crew chief.

Benjamin said if he wins Rookie of the Year honors, he has been guaranteed four rides on the Busch Grand National tour later this season.

He didn’t disclose the team’s name.

With heightened expectations comes additional pressure but Benjamin said the sponsors haven’t put any on him.

“I’m putting pressure on myself. I want to run well,” said Benjamin, who feels this is the right time to join the Busch North tour full-time. “With the car, the team and the sponsors I have now, there’s no better time.

“I’ve got everything in place. The one thing I need to do is qualify well. If I qualify well, I run well. If I don’t qualify well, I don’t run well.”

The 35-year-old Gordon, meanwhile, is coming off a highly-successful Busch North season in which he won five races and claimed five poles.

He finished third in points behind two-time champ Brad Leighton and Shaw.

“I’m hoping for six or seven wins this season and six or seven polls. And I want to win the championship,” said Gordon, who will be driving the Chevy Monte Carlo that crossed the finish line with two of the five wins.

“I sold two of my other Busch cars and they’re building me a Dave Davis car [Monte Carlo],” said Gordon.

Gordon finished second in the points two years ago and is excited about the upcoming challenge.

“I just wish we had another two weeks to get ready,” said Gordon, who was “mudded out” of a testing session last week.

“I wish I had some seat time. But we’ll be all right. It’s not like we haven’t raced before. It usually takes a race to get the reflexes back,” added Gordon.

Gordon expects Leighton, Shaw and Scarborough’s Kelly Moore to be his primary competition for the points title.

“Kelly has a sponsor [NAPA Auto Parts] so he’s going to do the full thing this year,” said Gordon.

Moore didn’t run all of the races a year ago because he didn’t have a full-time sponsor.

He also said Mike Johnson and Mike Olsen could be ready to challenge.

Roland Lachance returns as Gordon’s crew chief but Gordon said Lachance is his full-time employee for the first time. He had been part-time.

The Lee 150 will be a “tough race” according to Gordon.

“It’s a beat ’em-up, bang ’em-up track,” said Gordon. “It’s a neat little track.”

While the Busch North series gets underway, two Maine tracks will also open for the season.

Wiscasset Raceway kicks off its year with a full card of racing Saturday beginning at 1:30.

Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough starts on Sunday with a full card beginning at 1:30.