Farrington sweeps fifth-annual Kart Klash;
2006 champ Varney scores first '07 win
Davis completes undefeated Blue Plate season
OXFORD, Maine – Sweeps are nothing new for Dave Farrington Jr.
The high school football player from Jay doubled up with feature wins in the Unrestricted and Star Champ classes in the fifth-annual JARRacing Photography Kart Klash at Oxford Plains Speedway on Friday night.
It's the sixth time this season Farrington has carried the checkered flag on the same night in each of the top two divisions. Farrington achieved the same feat in last year's Kart Klash, a night that features 40-lap features for all divisions (double the traditional distance).
Farrington won 19 races across three divisions in 2007.
Troy Davis completed an undefeated season with his 13th consecutive Blue Plate feature victory after a lengthy challenge from Alyssa Wade. In Box Stock, 2006 division champion Brandon Varney overtook his 2007 counterpart, Cody Chiasson, with three laps remaining en route to his first victory of the season.
Kyle Metivier took advantage of a tangle between runaway leaders Spencer Morse and Tate Hodgdon — also with three laps left — to capture the Gold Plate competition.
Tyler Braunschweig shared the Unrestricted honors with Farrington, winning the first of twin feature events. Fourteen karts were split evenly into two races of seven in the 15-and-older class.
Like Braunschweig, Spencer Thompson ended the summer with a two-race winning streak by holding off champion Evan Armington in the Purple Plate encounter.
Fifty karts registered for the event, setting a season high and producing the second-highest number in series history.
Farrington led an impressive 73 of his 80 laps. He ruled the Star Champ event from wire-to-wire, with Walt Dearborn unable to take advantage of several restarts and settling for second. Keith Grant claimed third ahead of division champion Stephen Beattie and Jeremy Wentworth, making his initial start in the division.
Dan Pelletier Jr. and rising Late Model racing star D.J. Shaw set the pace early in the Unrestricted nightcap before Farrington forged ahead on lap 8. Shaw turned away an intense late challenge from Jeff Lillibridge to claim second. Stephen Beattie Jr. ran fourth, while Aaron Collomy rebounded from a hard, mid-race crash with Pelletier to pull off fifth.
Braunschweig stalked Jeremy Wentworth for three laps before moving into the lead in the Unrestricted opener. He cruised from there to his third win of the season. Several drivers took a turn in the runner-up in the wild event, with Tim Foster finishing there in front of Wentworth, Jackie Beattie and Amanda Dearborn.
Varney hovered in Chiasson's tire tracks throughout the second half of the Box Stock battle, then used lapped traffic to his advantage and made the winning maneuver. Dylan Haskell picked up his first of two trophies on the night in third, followed by Brodie Morse and Wade Blanchette, both of whom finished the race in gutsy fashion after a heavy impact in the early going.
Morse and Hodgdon had the field covered in Gold Plate, but Hodgdon's attempt to sneak inside for the lead and Morse's bid to slam the door left both drivers spinning into the dirt. Metivier inherited the advantage and denied OPS newcomer Ryan Phillips and Josh Brown for his third victory of the season. Morse rallied to fourth in front of Kayla Ashline.
Davis overcame two rare obstacles — an early spin, and a pursuer at close range — to pick up his lucky 13th triumph.
Wade, a defending Kart Klash champ, hadn't raced since running second to Davis on opening night. Even after Davis rebounded from his lap 1 loop to swipe the lead from Wade on the third circuit, Wade made several overtures to Davis' back bumper before she collided with a lapped machine with two to go.
That gave Davis the cushion he needed for another uncontested triumph. Wade was the only other kart on the lead lap, with Tyler Boothby edging Varney and Chiasson for the third spot..
Thompson took the Purple Plate lead from Armington on lap 2, lost it to Haskell on lap 6, the regained it two tours shy of the halfway point.
Armington bounced back from an early spin to snag second, trailed by Haskell, Blanchette and Chiasson.
The six division champions — Farrington, Beattie Sr., Spencer Morse, Davis, Armington and Chiasson — were presented with their trophies and prizes before the race. A total of 45 trophies were handed out to drivers who competed throughout the season.
OPS roars back to action Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. with a full card of Chanmpionship Series racing.
UNRESTRICTED #1 (40 laps): 1. Tyler Braunschweig, West Newfield; 2. Tim Foster, Lisbon; 3. Jeremy Wentworth, Conway, N.H.; 4. Jackie Beattie, Conway, N.H.; 5. Amanda Dearborn, Sebago; 6. Skip Tripp, Sabattus; 7. Kenny Tripp, Mechanic Falls.
Lap leaders: J. Wentworth 1-3, Braunschweig 4-40.
UNRESTRICTED #2 (40 laps): 1. Dave Farrington Jr., Jay; 2. D.J. Shaw, Center Conway, N.H.; 3. Jeff Lillibridge, Fryeburg; 4. Stephen Beattie Jr., Conway, N.H.; 5. Aaron Collomy, Saco; 6. Robbie Wentworth, Conway, N.H.; 7. Dan Pelletier Jr., East Poland.
Lap leaders: Pelletier 1, Shaw 2-7, Farrington 8-40.
STAR CHAMP (40 laps): 1. Dave Farrington Jr., Jay; 2. Walt Dearborn, Sebago; 3. Keith Grant, Sebago; 4. Stephen Beattie, Conway, N.H.; 5. Jeremy Wentworth, Conway, N.H.
Lap leaders: Farrington 1-40.
GOLD PLATE (40 laps): 1. Kyle Metivier, Lisbon; 2. Ryan Phillips, Buxton; 3. Josh Brown, South Paris; 4. Spencer Morse, Waterford; 5. Kayla Ashline, Pittston; 6. Craig Robinson, Conway, N.H.; 7. Tate Hodgdon, Jay; 8. Ryan Hewins, Leeds; 9. Tyler King, Livermore Falls; 10. Katrina Bright, Wilton.
Lap leaders: Morse 1-37, Metivier 38-40.
BLUE PLATE (40 laps): 1. Troy Davis, Windham; 2. Alyssa Wade, Peru; 3. Tyler Boothby, Turner; 4. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 5. Cody Chiasson, Peru.
Lap leaders: Varney 1, Wade 2, Davis 3-40.
PURPLE PLATE (40 laps): 1. Spencer Thompson, Oxford; 2. Evan Armington, Lovell; 3. Dylan Haskell, West Baldwin; 4. Wade Blanchette, Buxton; 5. Cody Chiasson, Peru; 6. Brandon Varney, Lewiston.
Lap leaders: Armington 1, Thompson 2-5, Haskell 6-17, Thompson 18-40.
BOX STOCK (40 laps): 1. Brandon Varney, Lewiston; 2. Cody Chiasson, Peru; 3. Dylan Haskell, West Baldwin; 4. Brodie Morse, Waterford; 5. Wade Blanchette, Buxton; 6. Avery Spear, Oxford; 7. Hunter Sirois, Leeds; 8. Ethan Matot, Casco.
Lap leaders: Blanchette 1-5, Matot 6-10, Chiasson 11-36, Varney 37-40.
