Dan Farrell prefers life in the fast lane.

Revving his silver Nissan 350Z, Farrell zipped out of the parking lot of the Androscoggin Bank Colisee this weekend on his way back to Massachusetts.

“I log a lot of miles,” Farrell said. “Too much to do, so I try to make time.”

Farrell, a Cumberland native, was in Lewiston this weekend – as he is on many weekends during the winter – checking up on the Lewiston Maineiacs.

More importantly, he was checking up on what they were wearing under their jerseys.

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Farrell now lives in Massachusetts – sort of. A slave to his business, he spends the better part of his life on the road, sleeping in his car, with friends, or with friends of friends, trying to grow that business be started seven years ago.

The wares he peddles?

Padding. Good padding.

Some of the best padding no one seems to know about – yet.

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When Farrell arrives in Lewiston (or Edmonton, or Los Angeles, or Foxborough, Mass.), he makes it a habit to check in with the athletes already wearing his gear – shoulder pads, elbow pads, fighting shorts, goalie shirts. He wants their feedback. He needs their feedback.

Farrell’s business, financed by a group of private investors, is padding.

In 2001, Farrell, using input from professional athletes and from friends, and drawing from his own experiences as a student-athlete growing up in Maine, patented a new form of padding, using one-square-inch blocks that can each absorb 80 pounds of pressure per square inch (psi). A group of nine cells under an impact plate can withstand an impact of 720 psi.

“Today’s athletes were getting bigger, faster, stronger, but what I was seeing was that the equipment wasn’t growing or adapting with them,” Farrell said. “We came up with something that allows the athletes wearing these pads to feel comfortable.”

Farrell’s design works for lacrosse and hockey, for mixed martial arts, and even for baseball and football.

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There’s no better advertising, Farrell believes, than word of mouth. He’s given out dozens of prototype padding sets, and he uses feedback from those athletes to further improve his product.

Some of his guinea pigs?

How about Dustin Penner, formerly of the University of Maine and, briefly, the Portland Pirates, and now an NHL power forward now with the Edmonton Oilers?

Another, you ask?

New England Patriots running back Kevin Faulk is on the list, too. As are Colorado Avalanche forward Ben Guite and mixed martial arts star Tiki Ghosn.

“I didn’t think he would in a million years show up to a fight (in Hollywood),” Ghosn said. “During the weigh-ins I found out my opponent backed out of the fight. The promoter told me some guy flew here all the way from Boston and ran up to the gate to buy a ticket. He said, ‘I’m so stoked that Tiki is fighting tonight.’ The promoter told Dan that he had some bad news, that my opponent had backed out, so he gave Dan free front-row seats. I was very surprised that a CEO of a company would actually come out to watch me fight.”

Closer to home, several Lewiston Maineiacs continue to wear Farrell’s hockey equipment. As each player who chooses Farrell’s designs ascends through the ranks and leagues, he is bringing the equipment along for the ride. Penner is a prime example.

So is Jonathan Bernier, the former Maineiacs’ netminder who now plays in the Los Angeles Kings’ organization. Bernier helped Farrell design a line of goaltending wear.

“When I went to pro camp the second year, they asked me to wear a neck guard,” Bernier recalled. “I couldn’t really wear one, and I don’t wear a plastic guard on my helmet, either, so we made something, me and (Farrell), for the goalie equipment. It really works well.”

It wasn’t about the inventing, Bernier said, as much as it was about making sure he was comfortable.

“It was just for me at first,” Bernier said, “but he liked it so he added it to his stuff and put it out on the market. The important thing was, it was comfortable.”

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Farrell is still a Mainer at heart. His roots are here. He played hockey for current Maineiacs’ coach Ed Harding at Greely High School in the 1980s, and his current girlfriend lives in the greater Lewiston-Auburn area, which may also have something to do with his frequent trips to visit the Maineiacs.

And while Farrell’s success has made for seven years (and counting) of travel, travel expenses, and countless nights on the road, there isn’t much about the path he’s chosen he’d change.

“It’s still me doing this, and it’s proof that even a small town kid from Maine can make a difference if you put your mind to it,” Farrell said. “I had an idea, that turned into a dream, that turned into reality. It’s really kind of cool.”

So is his car, his 350Z.

In it, Farrell has logged thousands of miles – from Val d’Or to Venice Beach, from one L-A to another – in the hope that one of his products, or all of them, soon will take off just as quickly.