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DJ Kennington in the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge on track at Riverside International Speedway. (Photo-Mathew Murnaghan)

By: DJ Kennington Racing 
August 21 2016

DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team were excited to be heading to Riverside International Speedway near Antigonish, Nova Scotia for round number nine of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. Kennington set a new track record for qualifying speed at the high banked oval a year ago and was expecting more positive results.

The #17 Castrol Edge Dodge was lightning fast during afternoon practice sessions and Kennington was very confident heading into the 300-lap feature event. “We ran really quick, consistent laps all day” said Kennington. “I think we’re in really good shape,” he stated prior to the race.

When the green flag waved Kennington was immediately on the move from his fifth starting position and running down the leader. Continuing his quest Kennington moved the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge to the lead on lap 48. “Everything was going well, I wasn’t pushing too hard, I knew we still had a long way to go,” explained the driver.

Following scheduled pit stops for fuel and fresh tires Kennington continued to run strong keeping the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge near the front of the field and again take over the lead on lap 232 and felt good as the race moved into the late stages. “There’s a lot of good cars in this series but I liked our chances” he said.

As the laps wound down Kennington was battling and pushing the #17 Castrol Edge Doge hard for the best possible result. Mixing it up in the closing stages he appeared certain to at least finish with a podium result. But with only a couple of laps remaining he began to slow on track.

With incredible determination he coaxed his wounded #17 Castrol Edge Dodge across the line to salvage an eighth place finish. It was a dejected Kennington who explained the problem afterwards.

“We had a part fail, simple as that. That caused us to lose power and dropped us out contention. It just stinks for everybody, the whole Castrol team did a great job this weekend; the car was great right from the time we unloaded. But we’ll dig in and look to be back on the podium at CTMP like we were in the first race” said Kennington.

DJ Kennington and the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team are back in action Sunday September 4th at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as part of the NASCAR Truck Series weekend of events.

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.