In this morning's Free Press....
Kennington ecstatic to toil in Busch league
Wed, March 7, 2007
By JIM CRESSMAN, SUN MEDIA
D.J. Kennington is living his dream.
"It's where I've always wanted to be," the 28-year-old stock car driver from St. Thomas said yesterday.
Kennington, in his 14th year of racing, will be at Phoenix International Raceway next month, trying to qualify for the NASCAR Busch Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200.
It's one of five Busch races he'll attend this year after going to three last season. He qualified 23rd, then finished 23rd at the one-mile Memphis Motorsports Park, but failed to qualify at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami in November.
"That was a huge confidence builder for all of us," Kennington said of Memphis. "It's what I've always wanted to do and for it to come to fruition is pretty awesome. It was just a matter of a guy like me getting the right breaks at the right time."
The right break was meeting Dwight Kennedy, owner of Northern Provincial Pipelines in Edson, Alta., five years ago at Cayuga Speedway. Kennedy had came to watch Kevin Dowler of Edmonton when the CASCAR Super Series had some NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers up for a race, which was won by Matt Kenseth.
Dowler's engine builder, Lou Bossio, was having problems and asked the Kennington team for advice as both were running Dodge engines.
Last year, when Kennington was out west for Super Series races, Bossio introduced him to Kennedy, whose background was dirt track racing.
"I stopped at Dwight's shop and gave him some advice on some of his motors and we became good friends -- and now he's helping me out like you wouldn't believe," Kennington said. "After I got home, he called and we flew to Charlotte and bought two race cars and three motors (for the Busch Series)."
Kennedy had ventured into NASCAR the previous year in the Craftsman Truck Series.
"The plan all along was to hire a driver familiar with racing on pavement," Kennedy said.
"I needed a driver who has a good head on his shoulders and is race smart."
They don't have a firm schedule for this year.
"Dwight plans on five. We'll start with Phoenix and see how it goes with the money," said Kennington, who will also compete in the new NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, which replaces the CASCAR Super Series after NASCAR purchased CASCAR last fall.
Kennington said the difference between Busch and Super Series cars is "night and day. But the Busch cars are really close to Hooters Pro Cup that we've run, so that experience was really valuable."
Kennington first raced a late model at Delaware Speedway in 1993
He won the track championship three years later and at 19, was the youngest champion in Delaware history, until Cole Pearn of Mt. Brydges came along in 2001 to win at age 18.
Kennington returned to regular Friday-night racing at Delaware last year after an eight-year absence, driving a car owned by Ron O'Brien of Crediton.
Kennington won't be a regular there this summer after O'Brien sold that car to Dion Verhoeven of Kerwood, who marks his return to Delaware this summer.
"Hopefully I can get out to a few at Delaware in a Mike McColl (built) car," said Kennington, who has never forgotten his racing roots.
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