July 17, 2010. DJ Kennington, driver of the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge approached round number four of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series at the Toronto Indy expecting run well and come away with another top finish to maintain the points lead in the overall championship. Following the 100K race on the streets at Exhibition Place it was mission accomplished.
During practice the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge was showing the speed Kennington knew the car was capable of. As the team worked doggedly to make changes Kennington put down a blistering lap to claim the quick practice time. He would follow that up with a great qualifying effort and begin the feature race from the third position. “I worked the car pretty hard during qualifying” said the driver. “We definitely got everything out of it” he added.
As the green flag dropped and tens of thousands watched in the stands and for the first time live on television Kennington maintained his focus and looked to complete the race with his original goal in mind. “I didn’t want to be too aggressive at this track, it’s a lot of fun and very fast in spots, but the risk isn’t always worth the reward” said the driver.
Though he never took the race lead he was never outside the top-five for the entire event. Kennington drove a very smart and strategic race in the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge and as the field was slowed for a full course caution he lined up fourth for the green, white checkered two lap dash to the finish. “I wanted to finish on the podium, but I wasn’t going to do anything foolish to try and make it happen” explained the driver.
As the field took the green the #84 car made a charge for the lead, his aggressive move would result in his running of course which resulted in the third place podium finish the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge team wanted. “This whole team worked so hard again this weekend” said the driver. “This is a great result for us, another podium finish, we extended our points lead and now we head to Edmonton to race this same car and it’s in great shape” he concluded.
With the third place finish in Toronto Kennington boosts his lead in the overall season championship to forty one points ahead of the second place driver.
The series now heads to western Canada for three events beginning next Sunday July 25th as part of the Edmonton Indy weekend. Follow the progress of the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge all season on the newly redesigned website www.djkracing.ca plus you can follow their daily activities at www.twitter.com/djkracing. You’re also invited to join the Facebook Group DJK Racing.
Photo: Kennington settling into the #17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors/Hitachi Tools Dodge in Toronto.
Photos Credit: Todd Lewis
No comments:
Post a Comment