August 16, 2014- Returning to a race track they’ve previously won twice, DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team expected a solid result during round number eight of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series at Riverside International Speedway near Antigonish, NS. Kennington ran strong all night and captured a third place finish.
It’s no secret the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team has battled through some struggles this season but that’s only hardened their resolve. Right from the start of practice Kennington was among the quickest competitors and continued through the final practice session and post the fifth quickest qualifying time.
“The car felt really good during practice, we noticed a little issue at the back end of the car after practice but the Castrol Edge Dodge team did a great job to fix it up for qualifying” said Kennington.
When the 300 lap feature event began Kennington ran smooth consistent laps that kept the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge near the front of the field, pacing himself and the car for a long race.
“We always want to stay near the front and assess the car during the first part of the race” said the driver.
Following scheduled pit stops for tires and fuel Kennington had the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge in good position for the second half of the race and planned to wait until a later caution period to put on fresh right side tires.
That caution would not come until much later than the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge driver hoped and he had to fight to maintain track position. Finally late in the race the yellow flag waved and Kennington brought the car to pit lane for service.
“Once we had those fresh tires it was get all we can in the final laps” he explained.
As the race returned to green Kennington was on a charge and hustled the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge as far forward in the field as he could in the remaining laps. When the checkered flag fell he’d cross the line third claiming a podium finish.
“It was a battle again tonight but we’ll take this and run” said Kennington. “We battled hard for every spot, we kind of got caught out a little on our pit stops but this is a good result and we’re going to really try and win a couple of these before the season’s done” he added.
With the third place finish DJ Kennington moves up to fifth in the overall championship standings.
The #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team returns to action Sunday August 31st as part of the NASCAR Truck series weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Race fans are encouraged to keep up to date with the latest team news in several ways. Race fans should bookmark the team website www.djkracing.ca and follow them on twitter, @djkracing and also on Instagram. Fans should also “like” the DJK Racing Fan Page on Facebook.
Prepared by: Todd Lewis & TL Sports & Entertainment, todd@tlsportsent.com (239) 961-2618
{fcomment}
Discussion about this post