By Joe Grabianowski
Chief Starter. Head Flagger. Director of Traffic Control. The Man in the Stand. Dave Farney has been granted many titles throughout his career and is now one of motorsports’ most recognizable race officials.
Farney has stood above the rush of race cars, brandishing signal flags and keeping watch over Big Block Modifieds for over 30 years. His daring displays of race-flagging delights fans from Quebec to Florida to this day as he travels with the Super DIRTcar Series.
As Super DIRT Week rolls into its 52nd edition, Farney, the event’s head starter, wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“I went to the first Super DIRT Week,” Farney reminisced. “I’ve only missed one in all of the years of that marquee race both at Syracuse and now Oswego. It’s always been an exciting marquee race. I try to get involved with the entertainment, but we are working so I have to watch myself. The food is great but as I get older, I have to be careful about what I eat.”
What he does get the full effect of is the Oswego Speedway front stretch crowd. The excitement builds as the blue steel bleachers are eclipsed by race fans.
“Usually, you have your back to the crowd at the racetrack, but at Oswego I am looking them right in the eyes from the infield,” he said. “They might be screaming and yelling about what is going on and it is interesting to hear their opinions on it.”
It’s not just the thrill of Super DIRT Week that keeps Farney returning to the flag stand night in and night out. He was born with racing in his blood.
“It is exciting,’ he said. “It is a thrill. I have the best seat in the house. People ask me all the time, ‘Why do you do it?’ I think it is because I have always been a fan of racing. Now, I can watch from the best seat. I have just continued to do it and now it has been 34 years.”
Farney’s parents worked at a racetrack from the time he was an infant. After years of tagging along he made a pivotal connection. His parents started working for Glenn Donnelly, the founder of D.I.R.T. which would become DIRTcar. Their relationship grew over softball and soon Donnelly asked Farney to drive his pace car.
After five years of leading the pack on the track, a fateful change was made. Farney was asked to go up in the flag stand at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, NY.
The flagging arrangement was only for Rolling Wheels, but soon Farney had the itch and Donnelly had a need.
“It became Weedsport, Syracuse, and then the Big Blocks at Volusia,” Farney said. “It spread quickly. It was difficult for me then because I was working as a school administrator and was busy with three kids and a wife. Balance was hard but I have a passion for racing.”
Farney’s signature style is well-known across the country. Many fans and flaggers call him “the greatest of all time,” but Farney humbly credits the flaggers that came before him. He explained how he pulled nuances and tricks from various flaggers throughout the years.
“I learned the twirling and the flair from Gaston Salvas,” Farney noted. “He was extremely skilled with waiving a flag.”
Many fans have marveled at Farney’s most well-known move in the flag stand which is to hook his leg around the top railing and wave the flag as low as he can reach. Farney credits flagger Bobby Watson with creating the maneuver.
“Bobby Watson was about six-foot, two-inches and he hooked his leg all the way over the stand and when he laid, he went down deeper than I do,” Farney said. “I just hook a leg up on the rail and people get a little nervous, but yeah it all started with Bobby Watson.”
Farney is now sharing his famous moves with the next generation of eager flaggers. Started during SummerFAST with the Super DIRTcar Series and set to return at Super DIRT Week and World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte (Nov. 6-9), Farney hosts “Flagging with Farney” where he teaches kids what each flag means and his techniques for waving them.
“Flagging with Farney” will be on Saturday, Oct. 12, at Oswego Speedway. Make sure to follow Super DIRT Week on X and the Super DIRTcar Series on Facebook for further updates.
To watch Farney drop the green at Super DIRT Week 52 (Oct. 7-12), tickets are now available HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action from Super DIRT Week live on DIRTVision.
