KENNINGTON PUTS CASTROL/MAHINDRA TRACTOR DODGE ON THE PODIUM


July 30, 2009. Following some disappointment in Edmonton DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge team looked to bounce back during round number seven of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series at Auto Clearing Speedway and wrap up the western swing with some momentum. With a solid team effort Kennington claimed a third place finish and helped tighten up the championship points standings.

Once again Kennington had the Castrol/Mahindra Tractor Dodge among the front runners during afternoon practice and posted an impressive run during qualifying and would start the 250 lap feature third. “I could have been a little better I think” said Kennington. “There was a bit of speedy dry on the back straight that I hit and it upset the car just enough or we might have been right up front” he added.

As the race began Kennington took his usual approach of feeling out the car and the competition while running comfortably up front. “The Casrol/Mahindra car was pretty good at the beginning” said Kennington. “We’re trying a whole bunch of things right now trying to get better, we know what to do to be fast, but we want to make sure we can be fast for the whole race” he added.

Kennington continued to work to maintain a position near the front of the field through the midway point of the race. Just past halfway during a caution period the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Tractor team made their scheduled pit stop and elected to take on fuel and put four tires on the car. “We kind of got snookered at Vernon and I didn’t want to get caught without fresh tires” said the driver.

With fresh rubber the handling was much improved and Kennington would take the #17 Castrol/Mahindra Dodge to the front of the field on lap 184. Though eventually he would be passed by two other cars Kennington was able to maintain a quick pace and bring the car home with a third place podium finish. His fifth top-five finish of the season. “We’ll take it” said Kennington. “It was a good points day we did make a few gains and I’m pleased about that”.

While Kennington thought he had a car capable of winning after his scheduled service for tires and fuel there were some minor adjustments that could have made the difference. ”We’ve still got some work to do, but we’re getting there. We lead a few laps and now we’re going to take these notes that we’ve got and work on some things for the next race. It’s such a fine line with these cars, everybody is so even and we just need to make that little bit of improvement and we’ll be there”.

After seven races Kennington sits fourth in the overall championship standings.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to Ontario for round number eight on the Mosport oval track, Saturday August 8th. This years schedule includes events at Trois Riveres and at the NASCAR weekend in Montreal. All thirteen races will again be broadcast on TSN. To cast your vote for DJ Kennington as the mot popular NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver click here and for more on DJ Kennington log onto http://www.djkennington.com/

Photo: DJ Kennington taking the Castrol/Mahindra Tractors Dodge on it’s qualifying run

Photo Credit: Todd Lewis



0 comments:

Post a Comment