Kennington Moves To The Front...
Takes Over Canadian Tire Points Lead With Riverside Victory
ANTIGONISH, N.S. (Sept. 18, 2010)
DJ Kennington moved into the driver's seat for the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 championship with a win Saturday in the Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment at Riverside International Speedway.
Kennington, who entered the race weekend trailing JR Fitzpatrick by just 21 points, used lapped traffic to take the lead for the final time from Scott Steckly on Lap
215 and withstood Steckly's challenge on an ensuing restart to pick up the win.
The victory, combined with Fitzpatrick's 13th-place finish gives Kennington the
points lead by 40 heading into the final race of the season next weekend.
Kennington
led three times for a race-high 144 laps. Fitzpatrick led for 39 laps before being sidelined by clutch issues. While leading the race, Fitzpatrick lost power on the backstretch and coasted back around the track coming to a stop at the entrance of pit road which handed the race lead to Kennington.
It was Kennington's fifth win of the season and the ninth of his series career. The five wins is a series record for oval track wins in a season and is
just one behind Andrew Ranger's record six overall wins established last season.
Steckly, who won the pole position earlier in the day with a track-record lap, finished second. Don Thomson Jr., Ron Beauchamp Jr., and Jason Hathaway rounded out the top five.
Anthony Simone was sixth, followed by Mark Dilley, Jeff Lapcevich, Joey McColm, and
Jason White.
The race was slowed due to caution seven times for 57 laps and the race lead changed hands 15 times among six drivers.
The Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment will be telecast by TSN on Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. ET
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 will crown a new champion on
Saturday, Sept. 25 in the Kawartha 250, the 2010 season finale at Kawartha
Speedway in Fraserville, Ont.
From
Shon Sbarra, NASCAR Public Relations, (704) 309-5493 or ssbarra@nascar.com
UNOFFICIAL
NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES presented by MOBIL
1-Komatsu 300 presented by Wilson Equipment Results
Saturday
At Riverside International Speedway
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Lap length: 0.333 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) DJ Kennington,
St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 300 laps, 57.204 mph, $9,300.
2. (1) Scott Steckly, Milverton, Ont., Dodge,
300, $8,200.
3. (8) Don Thomson, Jr., Hamilton, Ont.,
Chevrolet, 300, $4,600.
4. (10) Ron Beauchamp, Jr., Windsor, Ont.,
Dodge, 300, $6,000.
5. (9) Jason Hathaway, Appin, Ont., Dodge, 300,
$4,250.
6. (7) Kerry Micks, Mt. Albert, Ont., Ford, 300,
$4,600.
7. (6) Anthony Simone, Holland Landing, Ont.,
Chevrolet, 300, $3,000.
8. (13) Mark Dilley, Barrie, Ont., Dodge, 300,
$3,400.
9. (4) Jeff Lapcevich, Grimsby, Ont., Chevrolet,
299, $3,700.
10. (15) Joey McColm, Ajax, Ont., Dodge, 247,
$2,500.
11. (14) Jason White, Sun Peaks, B.C.,
Chevrolet, 238, $2,200.
12. (16) Dexter Stacey, Kahnawake, Que., Dodge,
200, $2,000.
13. (3) JR Fitzpatrick, Cambridge, Ont.,
Chevrolet, 183, clutch, $1,900.
14. (12) Wayne Smith, Timberlea, N.S.,
Chevrolet, 173, overheating, $1,800.
15. (11) John Gaunt, Barrie, Ont., Dodge, 149,
accident, $1,700.
16. (5) Donald Chisholm, Antigonish, N.S., Ford,
61, overheating, $1,600.
17. (17) Kenny Forth, Lynden, Ont., Dodge, 35,
hub, $1,540.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 44 minutes 47 seconds
Margin of Victory: 4.350 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: S.Steckly (82.767 mph, 14.484
seconds)
Caution Flags: 7 for 57 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: S. Steckly 1-31; J. Fitzpatrick
32-33; S. Steckly 34-81; J. Hathaway 82; J. Fitzpatrick 83-85; S. Steckly 86;
J. Fitzpatrick 87-97; S. Steckly 98-106; D. Kennington 107-156; D. Thomson,Jr.
157; J. Fitzpatrick 158-160; M. Dilley 161; J. Fitzpatrick 162-181; D.
Kennington 182-190; S. Steckly 191-215; D. Kennington 216-300.
Standings: 1. D. Kennington, 1947; 2. J.
Fitzpatrick, 1907; 3. S. Steckly, 1867; 4. D. Thomson,Jr., 1846; 5. K. Micks,
1802; 6. J. Hathaway, 1680; 7. R. Beauchamp,Jr., 1597; 8. M. Dilley, 1541; 9.
A. Simone, 1474; 10. J. McColm, 1413.