July 6, 2014. The #17 Castrol Edge Dodge team with DJ Kennington arrived at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel, Quebec for round number three of the NASCAR Canadian Tire series looking to make some gains in their early season performance. Contact on the first lap of the 100km race would change their strategy for the day.
The #17 Castrol Edge Dodge did not perform as expected in the opening practice session and that had the team hustling. “The car just wasn’t where we expected it to be” explained Kennington. “We made some pretty aggressive changes and got better in the final session”.
Kennington hustled the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge during the afternoon qualifying session and improved the lap times yet again. “It still wasn’t where we’d hoped to be but it was better said the driver.
Starting the 100km race outside the top ten Kennington knew he’d have to be both cautious to avoid trouble in the pack of cars but also aggressive to try and improve the position of the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge. Regrettably trouble couldn’t be avoided right at the start of the race.
After only a few corners the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge was collected in an incident with a couple of other cars. As a result of the contact Kennington restarted the race from the back of the field. “It was just about the worst possible start to the day” he stated.
From that point on Kennington used all his effort and skill to salvage everything he could during the race. He carved the #17 Castrol Edge Dodge up through the field in a short period of time and would regain all of the positions lost at the start and more finishing the race in 12th position.
“It sure isn’t the kind of results we expect but this team worked hard to make the car better and it helped me climb back through the field. We made the best of the tough hand we had today” said Kennington.
Due his hard charging effort to gain positions during the race, Kennington remains 3rd in the overall point standings.
The next event begins the annual trip through western Canada stopping for the first time at Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin, AB on Friday July 11th.
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 also on Instagram. Fans should also “like” the DJK Racing Fan Page on Facebook.
