Montreal: DJ Kennington race notes

KENNINGTON BUMPED OFF THE PODIUM IN MONTREAL

August 30, 2009. DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge team had rolled up three consecutive third place finishes in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series competition. For round number ten at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal the team appeared to be in line to score one finishing spot better. Yet a late race bump from behind and a NASCAR scoring decision would cost the team dearly, dropping them to a fourth place finish.

During a wet practice session Kennington chose to only run a handful of laps in the Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge. "With the wet conditions it just wasn't worth taking a chance on running to hard and maybe having an issue" said Kennington. "Our team works hard and is always prepared and I have confidence in the car they prepare" he added.

Feeling comfortable in the car he was not concerned that he would be forced to qualify with the slower group of cars and posted a very good qualifying time. Kennington would begin the 100KM feature event in the Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge from the eighth spot.

From the drop of the green flag Kennington had the Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge on the move toward the front. "What a great race car we had" said the driver afterwards. "I knew a couple of the guys up front would try to run away, but I could pick up some spots and not push the car too hard, keeping something for later in the race" he added.

As the race headed to the conclusion Kennington had battled his way into the top-five and all the way up to second position when a full course caution slowed the field. A two lap shoot out for the win was on tap. When the race restarted and the field thundered toward corner one Kennington was tagged from behind by the #27 car and sent off course. This started a chain reaction that had numerous cars spinning and the race was red flagged. Due to time limitations the checkered flag was displayed and the race declared over.

After deliberations by NASCAR officials the Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge was scored in fourth position at the conclusion. "That's a tough one to swallow" said the driver afterwards. "This Castrol/Mahindra Dodge was hooked up at the end, the caution closed the field up and we had a shot to take the win. Instead we get hit from behind setting off a whole series of events and we seem to be the ones paying the price for somebody else's mistake. I feel bad for Castrol & Mahindra Tractors and everybody; we should have been on the podium at least".

After ten events DJ Kennington sits second in the overall championship standings.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be back in action on the challenging short track at Barrie Speedway on Saturday September 12th

-credit: djkPR