Phoenix, Arizona – Canada's DJ Kennington drove the Northern Provincial Pipelines/Clark Construction #81 Toyota to a 9th place finish at the NASCAR K & N Series Casino Arizona 100 Thursday night. The road to his 3rd consecutive top 10 finish at Phoenix International Raceway was not easy for the St. Thomas, Ontario driver.

In the only practice session of the event, Kennington was 23rd fastest out of 36 entrants. Kennington drew an early number for qualifying and was the 5th car out on the track. He laid down a 128.963mph lap time which was almost a mile an hour faster than his top practice speed earlier in the day.

His fellow competitors however were also faster in qualifying which nullified any gains. In the end Kennington qualified 22nd for the 30 car starting lineup. At the drop of the green flag Kennington moved up several spots to 19th but would be stalled in this position for more than half of the 100 lap race. During the mandatory pit and fuel stop on lap 50, several adjustments were made to Kennington's car.

The adjustments allowed Kennington to move forward in the field the last half of the race. Kennington was running 11th as the white flag flew. Entering the final corner, two competitors in front of him came together. This contact opened the door for a two position gain which Kennington took advantage of.

Kennington crossed the finish line in 9th at Phoenix International Raceway. The race was won by Todd Gilliland, son of NASCAR driver David Gilliland. At just 15 years of age Gilliland is the youngest winning driver in NASCAR K & N Series history.

Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd., based in Edson, Alberta, is the title sponsor of the NPP Late Model Series which brings big league racing to motorsports fans in Western Canada from May - September.