Trois-Rivieres: DJ Kennington race notes

KENNINGTON TAKES THIRD IN MAHINDRA TRACTOR/CASTROL DODGE

August 16, 2009. DJ Kennington and the #17 Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge team continue to push themselves for success and had another very strong outing in round number nine of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series at Trois Rivieres, Quebec. For the seventh time this season Kennington would finish in the top-five and for the fourth race this season he scored a podium finish.

In typical fashion Kennington would run the Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge for only enough laps during practice to properly assess the car and make final adjustments for qualifying. It was a spirited qualifying session with the Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge driver swapping the best time for several laps with the #03 car. Kennington would wind up second and start the 100km feature event on Sunday afternoon from the outside of row one. "I could have pushed it harder during qualifying but I wanted to have as much left in the tires as I could for the race" said the driver who was already planning his strategy.

When the race began Kennington hoped to get the Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge out in front and be able to set the tempo for the race. As the green flag dropped Kennington looked for an opening but rather than leaving racing room the #03 car chopped across the nose of the Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge thus preventing a challenge for position and also inflicting other damage. "Yeah it was a pretty aggressive move on his part" said Kennington. "It actually bent the toe and the steering wheel was out a quarter turn. I don't know if it really hurt the car, but it didn't help it" he added.

Not to be denied Kennington set about regaining his momentum and keeping pressure on the leader. "After that it was get into a rhythm and maintain a comfortable pace for the first part of the race" said DJ. "There were a couple of guys that wanted to go harder than us so I just let them have a lane, and didn't bother racing them that early" he added.

Knowing how hard the track is on cars and that it would be amplified by the hot humid weather Kennington expected the attrition rate to be significant, and it was. "I'm pretty sure that some of the guys hurt their cars by racing as hard as they did that early in the race" said the Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge driver.

Meanwhile Kennington would keep the Mahindra Tractor/Castrol Dodge up in the group of front running cars all afternoon. As the race finished under a green, white, checker restart to decide the final positions Kennington look for an opportunity to improve his position, however seeing it wasn't to be, crossed the finish line with his fourth podium finish of the year in third place.

DJ Kennington assessed the weekend afterwards. "It was a good run for us" said the driver. "We have Mahindra Tractors on the hood of the car this week, it's nice for them and of course Castrol and all the support they provide us with as well. I am pretty excited about Montreal, I usually get around there pretty well and the car is the best it's ever been".

After nine events DJ Kennington moves up to second in the overall championship standings.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will return to Quebec for round number ten at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as part of the Nationwide series weekend on August 30th.

-credit: djkennington.com