BARRIE, Ontario (Sept. 8, 2007) – Everybody uses bungee chords for a variety of things around the house and garage. On Saturday night at Barrie Speedway in the ATTO 300 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race, D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol/Krispy Kreme Dodge) used one to hold his gas pedal off the floor.Kennington’s throttle return spring broke in the middle portion of the race and the team handed him a bungee chord to hook the throttle to the steering wheel. It was not the most glamorous of pit road adjustments but it was good enough to earn the St. Thomas, Ontario resident the win.
“The throttle return spring or something broke and I had to lift the pedal off the floor with my foot and that wasn’t going to work very well,” said the victorious Kennington. “Then I thought we could use a bungee chord to create some resistance.”
The throttle problem was not the only issue for Kennington on this night. He was also quite tired. He competed in the NASCAR Busch Series event at Richmond (Va.) International Speedway on Friday night and had to drive to Raleigh-Durham, N.C. to catch a morning flight to Toronto in order to make it to Barrie in time for the driver’s meeting.
“I’ve haven’t slept since Thursday night,” he said. “I’m pretty tired, but the win picked me up quite a bit.”
He also withstood several battles on late race re-starts from Dave Whitlock (No. 39 Dickies/Hamilton Tiger-Cats Dodge), who hung on for a second-place finish, a season-best.
“With the problems that we’ve had this year, I’ll take second,” Whitlock said. “I would have like to have won, but this will do. I’m very happy with it.”
Don Thomson Jr. (No. 4 Home Hardware Chevrolet) started on the outside pole and earned a third-place finish, his fifth top five of the year. Thomson was followed by Peter Gibbons (No. 1 Canadian Tire/Master Craft Chevrolet) and John Gaunt (No. 12 Centennial Chrysler Dodge) in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Andrew Ranger, Derek Lynch, Jason Hathaway, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Scott Steckly rounded out the top 10.
The race was slowed nine times for 67 laps. The lead changed hands 12 times with six different drivers out in front.
In the unofficial championship point standings, Ranger lost a little ground on Kennington, but still holds a 87-point advantage. Gibbons moved into third place, 144 points off the leader’s pace.
The Canadian Tire Series heads eastward for the Atlantic Dodge Dealers 300 on September 15 at Riverside Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. It is the first series visit to Nova Scotia and the high-banked 1/3-mile track modeled after the legendary Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES presented by SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO-ATTO 300 UNOFFICIAL Results
Saturday
At Barrie Speedway
Barrie, Ontario
Lap length: 0.333 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (7) D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ontario, Dodge, 300 laps, 57.644 mph, $7,350.
2. (15) Dave Whitlock, Petrolia, Ontario, Dodge, 300, $4,430.
3. (2) Don Thomson, Jr., Ayr, Ontario, Chevrolet, 300, $2,780.
4. (10) Peter Gibbons, Stouffville, Ontario, Chevrolet, 300, $2,475.
5. (3) John Gaunt, Barrie, Ontario, Dodge, 300, $2,990.
6. (14) Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Quebec, Ford, 300, $1,800.
7. (18) Derek Lynch, Warkworth, Ontario, Dodge, 300, $2,200.
8. (16) Jason Hathaway, Appin, Ontario, Dodge, 299, $1,915.
9. (12) J.R. Fitzpatrick, Cambridge, Ontario, Chevrolet, 298, $1,575.
10. (5) Scott Steckly, Milverton, Ontario, Dodge, 297, $1,525.
11. (11) Bob Merrifield, Belle River, Ontario, Dodge, 288, $1,300.
12. (6) Doug Brown, Brantford, Ontario, Dodge, 264, rear end, $1,225.
13. (8) Mark Dilley, Barrie, Ontario, Dodge, 261, $1,160.
14. (17) Ron Beauchamp, Jr., Windsor, Ontario, Dodge, 253, $1,130.
15. (13) Kent Nuhn, Williamsford, Ontario, Pontiac, 249, $1,075.
16. (9) Brad Graham, Glencoe, Ontario, Dodge, 240, $1,025.
17. (19) Joey McColm, Ajax, Ontario, Dodge, 210, suspension, $995.
18. (20) Trevor Monaghan, Hamilton, Ontario, Dodge, 191, clutch, $950.
19. (1) Kerry Micks, Mt. Albert, Ontario, Ford, 183, $2,420.
20. (4) Jim Lapcevich, Hamilton, Ontario, Chevrolet, 46, suspension, $880.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 43 minutes 59 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.453 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: Kerry Micks. (85.215 mph, 14.068 seconds)
Caution Flags: 9 for 67 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K.Micks 1-65; D.Thomson,Jr. 66-90; P.Gibbons 91-209; D.Thomson,Jr. 210; P.Gibbons 211-220; J.Fitzpatrick 221; P.Gibbons 222-231; D.Whitlock 232-233; P.Gibbons 234-238; D.Whitlock 239; D.Kennington 240-273; D.Whitlock 274; P.Gibbons 275-300.
Standings: 1. A.Ranger, 1622; 2. D.Kennington, 1535; 3. P.Gibbons, 1478; 4.
D.Thomson,Jr., 1473; 5. K.Micks, 1461; 6. J.Fitzpatrick, 1441; 7. D.Lynch, 1388; 8. M.Dilley, 1371; 9. J.Hathaway, 1355; 10. D.Whitlock, 1309.
From Shon Sbarra, NASCAR Public Relations
