DJ KENNINGTON SLIDES INTO SIXTH

June 13, 2010. St. Thomas, Ontario’s DJ Kennington, driver of the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge was coming off a season opening win a week ago but knew all too well that round number two of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at Mosport International Raceway this past weekend would present an entirely different set of obstacles. Despite his race strategy not playing out as expected he still managed a sixth place finish in the race.

The 2.459 mile track near Bowmanville, Ontario can be challenging for even veteran racers like Kennington. Through practice and qualifying Kennington battled a tight race car yet still qualified the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge with the fourth quickest time. “We’ll take that” he stated. “I got just about everything I could out of the car and fourth is a good result for us” he added.

As the green flag waved for the race Kennington looked to maintain a steady pace throughout the fifty one lap event and hope that the team strategy would work and have the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge within striking distance. Race circumstances however would not be favourable to the team strategy. With a second full course caution looking to be a lengthy one, the team was forced to adjusted their pit sequence and wound up stopping on consecutive laps first for fuel and then for tires.

Returning to the race deep in the field the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge driver would begin to move forward and with the help of others making their scheduled stops make his way back into the top-ten. “We just got burnt really badly with our track position on those pit stops” said the driver. “I just tried to do what I could. We wanted to make two stops just not back to back and that hurt us in the end” he concluded.

Kennington would fight tooth and nail right to the checkered flag to gain every position possible. On the final lap he slid the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge off the track kicking dirt into the air as he claimed the sixth finishing spot. “Our pit stops were good, they just weren’t when we wanted them and then on that long green flag run at the end the car got really loose on me” said the driver. “It’s a good points finish for us, our day could have been a lot worse so we’ll take it and go on to St. Eustache” he added.

Of Note: This past weekend long time race fan and friend to everyone in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Rick Williams passed away suddenly. Rick worked for many years in the Mopar Motorsports Program and was always a welcome sight at each race weekend. Everyone at DJK Racing would like to send their sympathies and condolences to the surviving members of Rick’s family. Rick will always be remembered by everyone he touched in the racing community for his warmth, friendship and his tireless support of racing in Canada.

Round number three of the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season takes place at the Autodrome St. Eustache on Saturday July 3^rd. The Vortex Brakes 200 from Mosport International Raceway can be seen on TSN Sunday June 20^th at Noon Eastern. Follow the progress of the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge all season on the newly redesigned website http://www.djkracing.ca/ plus you can follow their progress at www.twitter.com/djkracing. You’re also invited to join the Facebook Group DJK Racing.

Photos: The Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge at Mosport

Photos Credit: Todd Lewis