While the racing world
consistently praises the
efforts of Kyle Busch, Carl
Edwards, and Clint Bowyer,
they all fail in comparison
to the feats being
accomplished by St Thomas
Ontario native DJ Kennington.
Double dipping in NASCAR is
as common as the day is
long, but none have
succeeded in International
Dipping like Kennington.
Kennington started his
weekend completing the final
touches of the Castrol
Syntec #17 Dodge in the
NASCAR Canadian Series car
on Friday morning at 4am.
Five hours and four hundred
miles later, Kennington
arrived in his Dodge pickup
in Sparta, Kentucky to start
the NASCAR Nationwide Series
weekend with the MacDonald
Motorsports team. "Iʼm
pretty whipped, but excited
to be here!" stated DJ.
After a day of rained out
events at Kentucky Speedway,
he joined his teammates for
dinner before a
well-deserved night of
sleep.
6 A.M. Saturday morning
the alarm awakens the
International Racer as
practice for the Meijer 300
was rescheduled for 9am.
After logging over 90 miles
in practice, Kennington
qualified the Mahindra
Tractors, NPP, MC2 Energy
Drink Dodge in the 34th
position. "We threw some
things at the car right
before qualifying and the
car just didnʼt react. We
have "Old' Faithful" here
and we know it will be a
good car in the race." The
car Kennington is referring
to is DJK-004, which has
raced in 9 events of the 14
this season.
After signing autographs
all afternoon, DJ took the
green flag in 34th position,
but made quick work and
climbed into the 7th
position before regular
green flag pit stops. "We
were running 7th but had
some problems on the front
tires during the pit stop
and it cost us big!" After
the problem, DJ would
continue to race hard and
moved back into the top 30.
When the green flag flew, DJ
came home with a 26th place
finish and moved back into
the 25th position in
driverʼs points and only 57
points from 21st in the
standings.
As the clock struck
midnight and the beginning
of Father's Day, Kennington
quickly reflected. "Iʼm
proud of this team. We were
the only team in the
Nationwide Series that
honored our Fathers on the
car. Itʼs a small statement
but we featured all of Dads
name on the car and Iʼm glad
to have my Dad, Doug on the
car. Without him, I wouldnʼt
be racing."
12:05am, DJ pulls out of
Kentucky Speedway in route
to the Mossport
International Speedway. "Itʼs
a nine hour drive, and if we
have any luck we can get
there in plenty of time for
the drivers meeting. Ken
Forth did a great job
qualifying and shaking this
new car down, and without
his feedback, I would be
worried."
DJ arrives at the
Mossport International
Speedway in time for the
drivers meeting. "This car
is pretty solid, and from
what I have been told, we
have something for them
today." Due to the driver
change, DJ starts on the
tail end of the field of the
road course event. "It will
be a rough day but I have
faith I can get there!"
Once the green flag
dropped, DJ made quick work
and in just 14 laps the 17
Castrol Dodge was sitting
10th. As the day progressed,
DJ found himself in a
race-winning situation. With
just a handful of laps, rain
fell and the Castrol Dodge
dove onto pit road to change
to rain tires. "This was our
chance at victory, and a
great call, no doubt." As
the white flag fell,
Kennington found himself in
2nd place and closing in on
the leader. "We might have
had something for J.R.
(Fitzpatrick) but we will
have to do this battle at a
later date!"
Kennington climbed from
the 34th position to 7th in
the driverʼs standings after
the strong finish. "Our
goals never waiver here at
DJK Racing. A Championship
is what we want."
The International
Double-Duty is something not
accomplished before in
NASCAR at this level.
Kennington will make this a
weekly event in 2008.
Without the luxury of
private chartered jets,
Kennington should be
applauded for his Blue
Collar status. "It would be
great to have a jet for
these things, but lets be
honest, this is who I am. I
work on my cars, I tune my
engines in the Nationwide
Series, and I drive to
racetracks, even though I
have to cross the border. It
doesnʼt matter if its 1500
miles or 1500 kilometers, if
thereʼs a steering wheel and
a seat, I am there!"
DJ Kennington will return
to the States for the race
at the Milwaukee Mile next
Saturday in the NASCAR
Nationwide Series. "I'll be
there on time, but I still
have a lot of work to do
here in St Thomas. Its
living a dream...one country
at a time!"
- DJ will race in 43
races (29 Nationwide and 14
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series)
- Kenningtonʼs NASCAR
Canadian Tire Series Castrol
Sponsorship is currently the
longest running sponsorship
with a driver in all of
NASCAR
- Kennington is a 7-time
runner up in the NASCAR
Canadian Tire Series overall
championship standings
- 13 more international
double duty weekends, next
one is July 4th weekend
DJ Kennington's run at
Kentucky was his first ever
at the track. Lap speeds
were compariable to the top
10 cars but a costly error
in the pits hampered the
finish. Once again,
Kennington finished the race
strong in 26th. DJ has
finished in the 29th
position or better in 9 of
his 14 races, including 7 in
a row. "We look for a top 10
at Milwaukee and New
Hampshire for sure. When we
get to Daytona, the car we
are bringing is even better
than our Talladega car that
we ran in the top 5 all day
with! We are coming into a
stretch of great races for
us where we can show our
improvements!"
DJ did a radio show on XM
radio with Claire B Lange on
Friday as well as ESPN Radio
on Friday from Cinncinnati.
DJ will appear on Clear
Channel radio this coming
Friday as well as iTunes
Rowdy Racing on Tuesday.