D.J. Kennington scores fifth straight NASCAR Canadian Tire Series victory in a row in Saskatoon
[media-credit name=”Perry Nelson” align=”alignright” width=”350″]
[/media-credit]When a driver gets on a roll, it’s sometimes hard to get them off of that streak. That could be said for D.J. Kennington as he won the Velocity Prarie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science for his fifth straight NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobile 1 victory in a row.
The win at Auto Clearing Speedway for Kennington extends the series record for consecutive victories and puts him atop the list of career series victories, with 16. Kennington also becomes the first driver to multiple-times on the 0.333 mile oval after scoring the victory in 2010.
Kennington would gain the lead from Jason Hathaway on a lap 195 restart when Hathaway ran into mechanical problems. He then hold off Mark Dilley for the win, despite contact between the pair in turn three on the last lap.
Dilley finished second for his second top five of 2012 in four starts while J.R. Fitzpatrick finished third for his fifth top five finish of the season. Defending series champion Scott Steckly finished fourth wit Ron Beauchamp Jr. rounded out the top five.
Jim White finished sixth, followed by Andrew Ranger, L.P. Dumoulin, Nick Jewell and Martin Roy.
Kennington now leads the point standings 41 points over Steckly while Ranger sits third, followed by Fitzpatrick and Hathaway.
The Velocity Prairie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science will be telecast by TSN2 on Saturday, Aug. 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET and RDS2 on Sunday, Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The next event for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 will be the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres (Que.) on Aug. 3-5.
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Points | B/Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 17 | D.J. Kennington | Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge | 250 | 47 | 4 | Running |
| 2 | 2 | 02 | Mark Dilley | Leland/BDI/PartSource Ford | 250 | 42 | Running | |
| 3 | 1 | 84 | J.R. Fitzpatrick | Equipment Express Chevrolet | 250 | 43 | 2 | Running |
| 4 | 7 | 22 | Scott Steckly | Canadian Tire Dodge | 250 | 41 | 1 | Running |
| 5 | 12 | 24 | Jim White | AW Millwrights/New Life Feeds Dodge | 250 | 39 | Running | |
| 6 | 8 | 27 | Andrew Ranger | Pizza 73/GC Motorsports Dodge | 250 | 38 | Running | |
| 7 | 11 | 47 | L.P. Dumoulin | WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge | 250 | 37 | Running | |
| 8 | 6 | 60 | Ron Beauchamp, Jr. | Mopar/Exide/Mobil 1 Dodge | 250 | 36 | Running | |
| 9 | 14 | 51 | Nick Jewell * | Prairie Dodge Dealers/Sikkens Dodge | 249 | 35 | Running | |
| 10 | 3 | 90 | Martin Roy * | Veloce/Battery Expert Dodge | 248 | 34 | Running | |
| 11 | 22 | 44 | Jarrad Whissell | SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford | 246 | 33 | Running | |
| 12 | 16 | 11 | Mike Scholz * | Jiffy Car Wash/Watchfinder.ca Chevrolet | 245 | 32 | Running | |
| 13 | 17 | 09 | Ryley Seibert * | Lake Excavating Ford | 245 | 31 | Running | |
| 14 | 13 | 46 | Dan Shirley * | Saskatoon Co-op/Turtle Wax Chevrolet | 245 | 30 | Running | |
| 15 | 15 | 33 | Bob De Lorme * | Deerfoot Mechanical Chevrolet | 244 | 29 | Running | |
| 16 | 18 | 5 | Noel Dowler | EMCO-Kohler/Rheem Dodge | 243 | 28 | Running | |
| 17 | 21 | 49 | Jason Hankewich * | Hankewich Motorsports Dodge | 243 | 27 | Running | |
| 18 | 4 | 48 | Nathan Weenk | Mid West Combustion Chevrolet | 238 | 26 | Running | |
| 19 | 19 | 14 | James Van Domselaar | Steel-Craft Door Products Chevrolet | 231 | 25 | Running | |
| 20 | 20 | 21 | Jason White | A&W/Bower&Wilkins Dodge | 214 | 24 | Running | |
| 21 | 9 | 3 | Jason Hathaway | Snap-on Tools/Rockstar/Vortex Dodge | 195 | 24 | 1 | Suspension |
| 22 | 10 | 69 | Trevor Seibert | Lake Excavating Dodge | 148 | 22 | Engine |
Is James Buescher the Next BIG Thing?
[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”329″]
[/media-credit]In his third full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, James Buescher has taken the series and NASCAR by storm.
After going winless in his first two seasons in the series, James has broke out in a BIG way in 2012, posting a series high three wins to go along with five top fives and six top 10’s in 10 races this season.
James’ success isn’t limited to the Camping World Truck Series in 2012. As you may recall, James won the season opening Drive4COPD 300 after a multi-car wreck coming off turn four on the last lap opened the door for him to take the victory. Had Buescher decided to run a full Nationwide Series season in 2012, he would be without a question in the top10 in points as he has posted one win, two top fives, and seven top 10’s in 14 starts.
Regardless of what the outcome of the 2012 NCWTS championship is, you can be rest assured there will be several teams gunning for the 22-year-old Plano, Texas native. The question is will Buescher stay in the truck series next season in the No. 31 for Turner Motorsports or will he move up to the Nationwide Series full time in 2013 for Turner Motorsports?
One thing is for certain – he has a definite career in the Sprint Cup Series in the very near future. I have been listening to race fans nationwide this season and a lot of them are comparing Buescher to two multi-time Cup Series champions, namely Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Awfully high praise for anyone to live up to especially a 22-year-old who is unquestionably having the best season of his career.
With the future of the sport rapidly changing in the very near future and with all the new young talent making their way eventually up to the Sprint Cup level, my money is on this 22-year-old from Deep in the Heart of Texas to make the biggest impact of them all. NASCAR fans take notice – James Buescher is here and is here for a very long time.
J.R. Fitzpatrick wins pole for Velocity Prarie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science in Saskatoon
[media-credit name=”Perry Nelson/NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”350″]
[/media-credit]For the second time this year, J.R. Fitzpatrick will lead the field to the green flag. The first time was earlier this year in June after qualifying was rained out at Circuit ICAR. The second time will be later tonight after he won the pole with a new track record for the Velocity Prarie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science at Auto Clearing Speedway.
The Cambridge, Ontario native drove the .333 mile-oval in 14.655 seconds in his No. 84 Equipment Express Chevrolet. The previous track record was 14.668 seconds, set by D.J. Kennington last year. It marks the eighth pole for Fitzpatrick in 61 starts.
Fitzpatrick had led final practice earlier in the day with a lap of 14.716 seconds. The driver who sits fourth in points is looking for his second win of the year after winning the season opener at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Mark Dilley was second with a lap of 14.719 seconds after leading the opening practice, followed by Martin Roy and Nathan Weenk. Points leader D.J. Kennington rounded out the top five as he looks for his fifth straight victory in a row in the series.
Ron Beauchamp Jr. qualified sixth, followed by Scott Steckly, Andrew Ranger, Jason Hathaway and Trevor Seibert.
The 250-lap Velocity Prarie Thunder is set to begin Wednesday night at 8:15 p.m. MT.
NCATS Saskatoon 7/25/12 Qualifying
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | SPEED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 84 | J.R. Fitzpatrick, Cambridge, Ont. | Equipment Express Chevrolet | 14.655 | 81.801 |
| 2 | 02 | Mark Dilley, Barrie, Ont. | Leland/BDI/PartSource Ford | 14.719 | 81.446 |
| 3 | 90 | Martin Roy, Napierville, Que * | Veloce/Battery Expert Dodge | 14.802 | 80.989 |
| 4 | 48 | Nathan Weenk, Lethbridge, Alta. | Mid West Combustion Chevrolet | 14.809 | 80.951 |
| 5 | 17 | D.J. Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont. | Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge | 14.826 | 80.858 |
| 6 | 60 | Ron Beauchamp, Jr., Windsor, Ont. | Mopar/Exide/Mobil 1 Dodge | 14.862 | 80.662 |
| 7 | 22 | Scott Steckly, Milverton, Ont. | Canadian Tire Dodge | 14.886 | 80.532 |
| 8 | 27 | Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Que. | Pizza 73/GC Motorsports Dodge | 14.902 | 80.446 |
| 9 | 3 | Jason Hathaway, Dutton, Ont. | Snap-on Tools/Rockstar/Vortex Dodge | 14.946 | 80.209 |
| 10 | 69 | Trevor Seibert, Williams Lake, B.C. | Lake Excavating Dodge | 14.972 | 80.069 |
| 11 | 47 | L.P. Dumoulin, Trois-Rivieres, Que. | WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge | 14.978 | 80.037 |
| 12 | 24 | Jim White, Kamloops, B.C. | AW Millwrights/New Life Feeds Dodge | 15.017 | 79.830 |
| 13 | 46 | Dan Shirley, Saskatoon, Sask. * | Saskatoon Co-op/Turtle Wax Chevrolet | 15.075 | 79.522 |
| 14 | 51 | Nick Jewell, The Pas, Man. * | Prairie Dodge Dealers/Sikkens Dodge | 15.120 | 79.286 |
| 15 | 33 | Bob De Lorme, Calgary, Alta. * | Deerfoot Mechanical Chevrolet | 15.154 | 79.108 |
| 16 | 11 | Mike Scholz, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. * | Jiffy Car Wash/Watchfinder.ca Chevrolet | 15.157 | 79.092 |
| 17 | 09 | Ryley Seibert, Williams Lake, B.C. * | Lake Excavating Ford | 15.228 | 78.723 |
| 18 | 5 | Noel Dowler, Sherwood Park, Alta. | EMCO-Kohler/Rheem Dodge | 15.250 | 78.610 |
| 19 | 14 | James Van Domselaar, Ft. Saskatchewan, Alta. | Steel-Craft Door Products Chevrolet | 15.269 | 78.512 |
| 20 | 21 | Jason White, Sun Peaks, B.C. | A&W/Bower&Wilkins Dodge | 15.326 | 78.220 |
| 21 | 49 | Jason Hankewich, Kindersley, Sask. * | Hankewich Motorsports Dodge | 15.419 | 77.748 |
| 22 | 44 | Jarrad Whissell, Calgary, Alta. | SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford | No Time |
