DJ Kennington may be the Canadian Tire NASCAR Series presented by Mobil 1 points leader, but he is still on the hunt for his first win of the season.
As the reigning A&W Cruisin’ the Dub 300 champ, Saturday night (8:15) at Vernon’s Motoplex Speedway might be just what the St. Thomas, Ont. native needs to return to victory lane.
After four of 12 series races, Kennington has a two-point lead on L.P. Dumoulin (No. 47 WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge) and three over Jeff Lapcevich (No. 76 Tim Hortons Dodge).
Kennington piloted his No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge to a sixth-place finish at the Jiffy Lube 100 presented by Snap-On last weekend at Circuit ICAR in Quebec.
Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que. won the event, but won’t be competing this weekend at the Motoplex.
The 300-lap race on the half-mile banked tri-oval is the longest race on the series schedule. Ranger set the course record in 2009, completing the 150 miles in 1 hour, 52 minutes, 29 seconds for an average speed of 81.612 mph.
Among the starting field of 24 cars will be several Motoplex veterans with family ties. Brothers Jason and Jim White of Sun Peaks will share the track for the first time this season, and for competing teams. Jason’s No. 21 Bowers & Wilkins Dodge is prepared by DJK Racing while Jim’s Dodge will come out of the 22 Racing stable.
Father-son tandem of Trevor and Ryley Seibert from Williams Lake will also be in action.
Ryley, 21, racing in his No. 09 Lake Excavating/Marshall’s Dodge, is a series rookie of the year contender. He is the top-finishing rookie in three of the four events this season.
“I race for the enjoyment of it at this point,” said the elder Seibert. “And to gauge where Ryley is in his development. It’s not necessarily about beating me, but more to see how he reacts to things and matures as a racer.”
Practice sessions go from 1-2:30 p.m. with qualifying starting at 5:15 p.m. There will be an on-track autograph session at 7:00 before racing gets underway at 8:15.
The event will be aired on TSN, Sun., July 28, 8 a.m. PT.
