DJ Kennington and the Castrol Dodge Team returned to Barrie Speedway for round ten of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series racing season seeking to make it a clean sweep at the 1/3 mile track. Kennington and the Castrol Crew would claim the win in story book fashion and also move into second spot in the overall championship.DJ Kennington’s racing weekend began Friday running the Busch Series event at Richmond, Virginia scoring a 36th place finish. He then raced to catch a flight from Raleigh, North Carolina to Toronto and hustled to Barrie in time for the Drivers meeting. While Kennington made his way to the track, the rest of the Castrol team was preparing the car for technical inspection and qualifying.
Having won at Barrie earlier in the season gave them an excellent starting point. DJ would post the seventh quickest qualifying time and line up on the inside of row four. “The car was a little bit looser than I wanted during qualifying, but thought we’d be alright during the race” said the driver.
As the green waved on the 300 lap event Kennington maneuvered the Castrol Dodge to run among the leaders with a very consistent pace. That job became increasingly more difficult during the middle portion of the race.
As the laps ticked away Kennington noticed the gas peddle of the Castrol Dodge was not returning to its normal position when he left off the throttle and he was having to pull the pedal back with his foot. This was not a viable option for the duration of the race. During a caution period the team passed a bungee cord through the window to the driver who managed to loop it around the gas peddle and onto the steering wheel.
The makeshift repair created enough resistance that Kennington could now compete.
DJ would take the Castrol Dodge into the lead for the first time on lap 240. Though he would battle to maintain his lead on late restarts, Kennington would not be denied. With his improvised repairs holding, Kennington was able to hold off the competition and claim his second win of the season in the Castrol Dodge. “I just can’t thank my guys enough for this one, I wasn’t here for tech and they got the car ready. It’s just great for everybody that supports us, Castrol, and Dodge. I’m happy my dad is here for this one, I had to call him after I won earlier this year. I’m pretty tired but I feel pretty good getting this win”. With the victory Kennington leaps into second spot in the overall series championship with two events remaining.
You can watch DJ Kennington’s thrilling victory at Barrie Speedway this Saturday at 11:30AM Eastern time on TSN.
The next scheduled race for the NASCAR Canadian Tire series is the Atlantic Dodge Dealers 300 this coming Saturday night at Riverside Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The twelve race NCATS schedule features events from coast to coast in Canada including stops at the best ovals in the Country along with temporary street circuits in Edmonton and Trois Rivieres. Look for more information all season at
www.nascar.ca This release prepared by TL Sports & Entertainment
