WISCASSET — For never really having stayed in one place for too long during his still-young racing career, Dave Farrington Jr. has sure made himself feel right at home at Wiscasset Speedway.

Farrington stretched his legs at the speedway on Saturday, easily winning the 40-lap Pro Stock feature on opening day over hometown favorite Nick Hinkley and Palmyra’s Ajay Picard. After taking the lead just prior to the midway point of the race, the Jay driver cruised to a 3.3-second margin of victory against the 15-car field.

The victory was the fifth of Farrington’s career at Wiscasset, all since 2013. He won the track’s signature Late Model event — the Coastal 200 — in 2015 and won the final two Pro Stock races of the 2016 season.

His first Late Model win came at Wiscasset in 2013.

“This is where we first got started running Pro Stocks back in 2009, and we really struggled back then trying to get used to a full-sized car,” Farrington said. “I love coming here. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve had quite a bit of success here over the last four or five years. … I wanted to come here and have some fun, and I think it all paid off.”

Since that summer of 2009, Farrington has made a habit of competing in races and at tracks that he favors. In 2011 he ran full-time with the American-Canadian Tour, and three years later he committed to a full season at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, where he won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championship. Last season, he ran the full Pro All Stars Series schedule, finishing sixth in the final standings.

But Wiscasset has always been special to the 25-year-old driver, and on Saturday he looked as though he hasn’t missed a beat on the .333-mile oval.

Farrington started from the outside pole and settle in behind Sidney’s Kevin Douglass over the first quarter of the race. Farrington decided to test the little-used outside groove — stepping out of the single-file racing line at the bottom of the track, pedaling cautiously for a few laps before finally clearing Douglass’ machine for good on lap 15.

Douglass fought his car’s handling over the second half of the race and finished fourth. Charlie Colby of Newcastle, who narrowly missed out on the track championship in 2017, completed the top five.

“Usually the outside (groove) really is there in the summer months,” Farrington said. “I saw Kevin was really hugging the bottom. He was starting to struggle, but I didn’t think he was going to give me the bottom without making contact. I just scooted my way to the outside.

“I stuck with it and stayed patient and tried to get (the lead) in little bites, as Donnie Adams used to say on the radio. We found the grip.”

The win was just the first half of Farrington’s weekend. He will also compete in Sunday’s Pro All Stars Series event at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Prior to Farrington’s win, West Gardiner teenager Hayden Norris recorded his first career Wiscasset win in the 25-lap New England 4-Cylinder Pro Stock feature.

Norris, a freshman at Gardiner Area High School, withstood several challenges courtesy of a pair of restarts over the final eight laps en route to the victory.

“Panicking,” Norris said of his thought process on the restarts. “I just tried to drive it as hard as I could coming into the corners. I just tried not to get too impatient.”

Norris picked up the win over veteran drivers Ryan Hayes of Jefferson and Larry Melcher of Jay. Hayes made a bold move on a lap 19 restart to make up track position and briefly get to the bumper of Norris’ car off turn four.

“It’s like anything in racing, the closer you get to the front, the harder they are to pass,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of room with these little cars, so you can move around. But the bottom line is the preferred way around, so it’s something everyone was fighting for.”

“It feels really, really good,” said Norris, who started on the outside pole. “Last season was a long season. It feels good to win the first one.”

The 35-lap Thunder 4 Mini feature was settled on a restart just three laps into the race, as Michael Golding got the jump on Noah Haggett, who couldn’t get up to speed at the green flag.

Golding, of Pownal, had a full straightaway lead over Winslow’s Travis Pouliot by lap 10.

“When that first caution came out, I got a little nervous — everybody does,” Golding said. “You get a little nerved up (for restarts).”

The final 32 laps went caution-free to the checkered flag, with Pouliot closing to within 1.6 seconds at the checkered flag before simply running out of time.

“I saw him in the mirror, and I knew he was coming for me,” Golding said. “I just kept my eyes on the track and kept going.”

“When I got to second, I was definitely thinking, ‘Come on, caution,’ because I could probably handle him on the outside,” Pouliot said. “But that’s the way the cards play out sometimes.”

Calab Emerson-Mains finished third following post-race technical inspection, nearly three-quarters of a lap behind Pouliot in second.

Reigning Super Street champion Josh Bailey of Wiscasset earned the 25-lap feature win in that division, holding off Michael Harrison of Durham and Sean Johnson of Oakland.

Travis Barrett — 621-5621

tbarrett@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TBarrettGWC