One of the most recognizable racecars currently in the State of Maine may just be the No. 23 Dave Farrington Jr,. not only for its usually bright orange livery, but the fact it has become a familiar sight in victory lane, particularly at Oxford Plains Speedway, especially in 2020 en route to his first Oxford Super Late Model title.
Source: Speed51.com
The rise of both he and fellow humble Mainer Curtis Gerry at their home tracks of both Oxford and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in the past half-decade have created a dazzling, but amicable on-track rivalry with the two trading both wins and now titles.
“It’s a feeling we’ve never had before. We had a pretty good string going these last couple of years, winning the championship at Beech Ridge in 2019, and then we came to Oxford last year when they were the first to get their stuff together with the COVID restrictions. We made the best of it and beat one of the best in Curtis Gerry. Now, we got three championships apiece amongst us between Oxford and Beech Ridge,” Farrington told Speed51.
Saturday’s season opener for the 2021 Oxford Championship Series, as well as the Sunday’s first Pro All Stars Series appearance of the year at Oxford will be Farrington’s first driving appearances of the season. But, the alumni of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program has already been busy offering his services to fellow competitors.
Despite not having taken his No. 23 out for practice so far in 2021, it will not be the first time he has taken laps since the 2020 racing season ended.
“This will be the first time going out this year, but we actually tested in November at Oxford after the last PASS race. Frankly, we didn’t perform up to expectations even though we finished second and then seventh or eighth in the very last race. It didn’t settle well with us, so we wanted to try some things before we put the car away for the winter, and found some more tricks for the colder weather. It helped us sleep better over the winter knowing what we had found.”
Last summer, Farrington caught the attention of many throughout the short track world by winning four straight at Oxford, including a Saturday-Sunday sweep of OCS and PASS Super Late Model races, the same schedule the No. 23 camp will face this weekend.
“That was in the month of August, and that’s the time of year to be at your full capacity. We just got to find the right package for the spring and fall, in the colder weather. The track at Oxford goes through a lot of change in progressions.”
As for his goals in 2021, the goal right now is to just win the next race ahead; with overall planning of the schedule going week to week to start the year at least.
“We’re going to take it week-by-week. We don’t necessarily publish a known schedule that we’re committed to. Obviously, we got the Oxford Championship Series that we can focus on. Beech Ridge will be going back to points system in June, so we may be faced with a decision at the end of May, depends on how the start of the year is. We may hit a few PASS races away from Oxford if our schedule permits.”
-Story by: Connor Sullivan, Speed51 Northeast Editor – Twitter: @Connor51CT
-Photo credit: Speed51
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