Agassiz Speedway is home to 14-yearold stock car driver
Brandal Cholette Farrington, a Grade 9 student at Robert Bateman Secondary in Abbotsford, is racing stock cars this season at the Agassiz Speedway. He's the youngest driver on the track.
Photograph by: Jean Konda-Witte , Times
He
doesn't have his driver's licence yet, but Brandal Cholette Farrington
is pitting his stock car against drivers decades his senior this summer
at the Agassiz Speedway.
At 14, Brandal is already a veteran, having started at the age of five racing quarter midgets at the track in Langley. Even as a small boy, he had "a need for speed."
Now with his souped-up 1997 Honda Civic, No. 88 (named after his favourite NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. who also uses 88), Brandal is gearing up to kick butt in the hornet class as the youngest driver on the track.
"I love it . . . the speed and the exhilaration," said the Grade 9 Robert Bateman Secondary student. "And the awesomeness."
When Brandal was three, his dad Ray built him a gas-powered go-cart, which the youngster drove daily in the parking lot of the old Salvation Army building in Abbotsford.
At five he graduated to quarter midgets, where for eight years he won many trophies and ribbons, along with a few bruises.
But he also won the moniker of Flipzilla, because he flipped the cars, and not by choice most of the time.
"I started flipping at age 10, and not on purpose," he recalled of the first anxious moment he had behind the wheel. It was usually caused when his open tire would hit another car's tire. But as he grew older, his size became a factor and the small cars became easier to flip.
"The last one I did it was in Washington and I flew about 12 feet in the air and landed on my back tire and broke everything in the car," he said somewhat proudly, although thankful he was not injured. Still, he treasures his trophy with the car on its side, which he won for his many races landing upside-down.
Racing is a family affair at the Farrington household, with everyone pitching in for the transition from midgets to stock cars.
After gutting the Civic, with help from cousin Ashley, Brandal and Ray installed a racing seat, a five-point safety harness, a roll cage with help from grandpa John, fire extinguisher, window net, reinforcing steel 'C' channel along the driver's door, and of course, the No. 88 painted on the side.
"Everything is above the minimum for safety," said Ray.
Brandal loves the idea that this is a family team with dad, mom Tina and friends as the pit crew.
He also knows the challenges of what lies ahead.
It will take a lot of seat time on the track this season for Brandal to get used to the fast-paced full-size cars, and seasoned drivers all too willing to take him out.
"It's kind of intimidating because the other guys are so much older than me," he said, adding his challenge is just to get better.
"It's the driver and the car, but mostly it's the driver."
? To sponsor Brandal and have your business displayed on his car, contact him at: racecardriver88@hotmail.com.
JKonda-Witte@abbotsfordtimes.com
At 14, Brandal is already a veteran, having started at the age of five racing quarter midgets at the track in Langley. Even as a small boy, he had "a need for speed."
Now with his souped-up 1997 Honda Civic, No. 88 (named after his favourite NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. who also uses 88), Brandal is gearing up to kick butt in the hornet class as the youngest driver on the track.
"I love it . . . the speed and the exhilaration," said the Grade 9 Robert Bateman Secondary student. "And the awesomeness."
When Brandal was three, his dad Ray built him a gas-powered go-cart, which the youngster drove daily in the parking lot of the old Salvation Army building in Abbotsford.
At five he graduated to quarter midgets, where for eight years he won many trophies and ribbons, along with a few bruises.
But he also won the moniker of Flipzilla, because he flipped the cars, and not by choice most of the time.
"I started flipping at age 10, and not on purpose," he recalled of the first anxious moment he had behind the wheel. It was usually caused when his open tire would hit another car's tire. But as he grew older, his size became a factor and the small cars became easier to flip.
"The last one I did it was in Washington and I flew about 12 feet in the air and landed on my back tire and broke everything in the car," he said somewhat proudly, although thankful he was not injured. Still, he treasures his trophy with the car on its side, which he won for his many races landing upside-down.
Racing is a family affair at the Farrington household, with everyone pitching in for the transition from midgets to stock cars.
After gutting the Civic, with help from cousin Ashley, Brandal and Ray installed a racing seat, a five-point safety harness, a roll cage with help from grandpa John, fire extinguisher, window net, reinforcing steel 'C' channel along the driver's door, and of course, the No. 88 painted on the side.
"Everything is above the minimum for safety," said Ray.
Brandal loves the idea that this is a family team with dad, mom Tina and friends as the pit crew.
He also knows the challenges of what lies ahead.
It will take a lot of seat time on the track this season for Brandal to get used to the fast-paced full-size cars, and seasoned drivers all too willing to take him out.
"It's kind of intimidating because the other guys are so much older than me," he said, adding his challenge is just to get better.
"It's the driver and the car, but mostly it's the driver."
? To sponsor Brandal and have your business displayed on his car, contact him at: racecardriver88@hotmail.com.
JKonda-Witte@abbotsfordtimes.com
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