September 11, 2010. Castrol Edge Dodge driver DJ Kennington need to bounce back to his early season form in the NASCAR Canadian Tire series at round number eleven at Barrie Speedway just north Barrie, Ontario on Saturday night. With a bold pass on lap 204 to take the lead Kennington would hold off a late charge to claim his fourth victory of the 2010 season.
During afternoon practice the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge was consistently near the top of the time sheets. Kennington would post the fifth fastest time during time trials and start the 300 lap race from the inside of row three. “The key for us was to have a car that could handle well for the entire race and have good track position for the end of the race” said Kennington.
As the green flag fell to begin the race Kennington immediately looked to move the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge forward and did gain a position and had a hard close battle in the early stages with the #84. That’s who we were chasing in the championship points battle so I was looking to move ahead of him” said Kennington. “Our lap times were so close it was some good racing” he added.
As the race neared halfway a caution period would slow the field the #17 Castrol Edge team stopped for fuel and left side tires. A short time later, just past the halfway mark Kennington again stopped for new right side tires. “Our strategy was to get our service done early and look to have better track position in the late stages” explained the driver.
With four fresh tires Kennington had the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge headed for the front of the field. “The car handled really well, and you have to have that at this track” said Kennington. DJ would take over the race lead on lap 204 and in short order pulled out a better than five second lead on the field.
A late race caution flag would again slow the field and the race would come down to a ten lap shoot out. On the final lap the #4 car nudged Kennington out of the way and briefly got ahead. Heading into the final two corners Kennington would return the favour and win the drag race to the checkered flag by 0.015 seconds to claim his fourth win of the season and his eighth career series victory.
The hard charge to the finish had the adrenaline pumping for the tremendous crowd on hand and the driver of the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge. “That was fun” exclaimed Kennington as he climbed from his race car. “That was tit for tat, the #4 car got into me going into corners one and two and I just gave him a little tap at the other end and won the drag race” he smiled.
The first place finish also propelled Kennington closer to the top of the championship standings. The Castrol Edge Dodge driver sits second overall, just 21 points behind the leader. “This championship has been our goal all season” said Kennington. “We’ve got two races left in the season and this whole team is committed to winning it” he stated.
The NASCAR Canadian Tire series heads east for round twelve at Riverside Speedway near Antigonish, Nova Scotia on Saturday September 18th. All thirteen races of the series will be broadcast on TSN. 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: DJ Kennington in the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge completing his victory lap at Barrie Speedway.
Photos Credit: Mathew Manor/NASCAR
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