By: DJ Kennington Racing
August 15 2016
For DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team round number eight of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, The Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres, was a painful one. Kennington battled through back pain with the help of a Chiropractor and the team battled through a number of adversities to capture a top ten result.
Working hard through two practice sessions on Saturday the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team worked to improve the performance of the car. Kennington would post the 10th quickest time during qualifying and start the 50-lap race Sunday from row five. Or so he thought.
While the team made final preparations to the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge Sunday morning prior to the race a problem arose. “The clutch wasn’t working properly and we were forced to change the transmission,” said Kennington. Always optimistic he added, “at least it wasn’t during the race”.
By the rule Kennington would relinquish his starting spot and begin at the back of the field. As the green flag waved to begin the race the other shoe dropped. The #17 Castrol Edge Doge was tagged by another competitor and sent spinning before even reaching the starting line. “It was a bit crazy that’s for sure,” said the driver. “But we again had lots of time left to move forward”.
And with some marvelous driving Kennington did just that. He skillfully picked off on spot after another. Aided by a couple of full course caution periods that bunched the field he quickly made it to the top ten and then in the closing stages was running fifth. “Things really were going our way and it was looking like a nice bounce back for us” he stated.
As Kennington negotiated the final few corners of the last lap in the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge he was again struck by another competitor and again spun off course. “It was a mistake, he apologized after but it was frustrating after working so hard to climb back up toward the front” stated the exasperated driver.
Kennington would take the checkered flag and claim a ninth place finish. His seventh top-ten result this season.
DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team return to action August 20th at Riverside International Speedway near Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
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 Instagram. Fans should also “like” the DJK Racing Fan Page on Facebook.