After months of preparations NASCAR Canadian Tire Series defending champion DJ Kennington was anxious to kick off the new season and pick up where he left of last year. The #17 Castrol Edge Dodge driver did just that with an excellent result in the opening round for 2013 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this past weekend.
Right from the start of practice the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge performed beautifully and was among the quickest cars. That continued through qualifying and Kennington recorded the fifth quickest time to begin the race from the inside of row three. “The boys did their homework and the car was really good all day” said Kennington. “We were set up perfectly”.
As the race began Sunday afternoon, race fans watching live on television coast to coast saw Kennington had little difficulty keeping the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge near the front all afternoon. “I thought the first few cars would try and get away but was confident we’d be in the mix for the end of the race with the strategy we had mapped out” explained Kennington.
The team brought Kennington in for a scheduled fuel stop early and then made a second stop to change all four tires on the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge later in the race. “Everything was playing out pretty much as we expected” said the driver.
In the closing laps Kennington pushed harder and gained a position to take over fourth spot and in the closing laps was looking to secure a podium finish but came up just a little short. “I just ran out of time and couldn’t quite get that next spot” said Kennington. “But this is a great result for us to start the season, another top five at this really tough track so we’ll take it and head for Delaware” he added.
The #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team will return to action for round two of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series on Saturday June 15 at Delaware Speedway near London, ON.
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 fans should also “like” the DJK Racing Fan Page on Facebook.
