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[/media-credit]When Andrew Ranger took the checkered flag a couple weekends ago at Circuit ICAR, he tied D.J. Kennington for the most victories all-time in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. So it begs the question – who is the best of the series between them?
For starters, Ranger is a two-time series champion, having won the championship in both 2007 and 2009. Kennington has only won the championship once – 2010 – though currently has a healthy points lead on the field.
Kennington, though, holds the record for the most consecutive wins in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series history with five in a row, which he did this year. It was Ranger that ended that streak at Circuit ICAR.
Kennington has been a main-stay in the series, always known as a championship contender each year. Meanwhile, Ranger has ventured off, not running the full schedule for a span of two years following his second championship. Kennington won his 16 races in 71 starts with a total of 51 top fives and 59 top 10s. Ranger, meanwhile, won his 16 races in 54 starts, with a total of 31 top fives and 47 top 10s. That mean, Ranger has finished in the top 10 in 87% of his starts while Kennington has finished in the top 10 in 83% of his starts.
All in all, both drivers are pretty even throughout the numbers, each having a fair bit of success. The difference comes when you look at where they have each scored their wins.
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series runs half their races on road courses, well the other half is on ovals. For Kennington, 15 of his 16 wins have come on ovals. Meanwhile, Ranger has 13 of his 16 wins on the road courses. Both are consistant on both types of track, though Kennington shines on ovals while Ranger shines on road courses. It goes back to how they each got started in racing.
Kennington got his start racing on the short tracks across Ontario, mainly at Delaware Speedway, before moving up to CASCAR, which then became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
Ranger, meanwhile, began down the open-wheel road, racing in those ranks for five years, before moving to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. The move came following no sponsorship in 2007 after Champ Car merged with the Indy Racing League.
So in reality, both are highly considered the best in history for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and each deserve a spot at the top of the list as it shows the diversity that the series offers in both road course and oval racing. It also showcases that you need to have a strong racing background and be good at both if you want to reign at the top at the end of the year.
This year, it looks to be Kennington’s year. However, next year could easily be Ranger’s as this is just for the first year for his team in the series.
