Kennington Wins Wild Canadian Tire Finish At Edmonton

D.J. Kennington rolls through turn 1 in Edmonton en route to the victory in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Edmonton 100 on Sunday. Photo by Perry Nelson/NASCAR

D.J. Kennington charged into the lead in a wild scramble at the finish of the Edmonton 100 at the Edmonton City Centre Airport on Sunday to score a record fourth consecutive victory in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1.

He gained the lead when the first and second-place cars of Scott Steckly and J.R. Fitzpatrick came together on a restart as the field headed for a green-white-checkered finish.

“That was a gift,” said Kennington, driver of the No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge. “Scott and J.R. got together there and there just isn’t room for that many cars there. It opened up in the middle and I pointed the car there and somehow made it through. Honestly, I closed my eyes and was waiting to get hit. Just really fortunate to get this one.”

Kennington – the 2010 series champion from of St. Thomas, Ontario – led the final two laps for his 15th career series win, which puts him in a tie with Andrew Ranger for the most career series wins.

Steckly, who established a track record in qualifying on Saturday, had dominated the event and it appeared the two-time series champion might gain his first career win on a road course. He maintained a considerable margin for much of the race over Fitzpatrick, leading by more than four seconds at times. That margin was erased, however, when the caution flew in the closing stages of the event.

“We didn’t need those cautions, that’s for sure,” Steckly said after the disappointing fourth-place finish. “On that restart J.R. got a run on me and we were going to go two wide in the tight section. I was up against the wall and he squeezed me. After that, I was along for the ride.”

Jason Hathaway, like Kennington, benefited from the late-race fireworks to continue his hot streak. He recorded his second consecutive runner-up finish and his fourth straight top-five finish.

“We ran great today. I think we were pretty much in the top five all day and it got a little hairy there (at the end),” said the pilot of the No. 3 Snap-on Tools/Rockstar/Vortex Dodge. “It just shows that if you race hard, you never know what’s going to happen at the end.”

Trevor Seibert came home in third place in just his second start of the season after a slow start in the race.

“It turned out well,” Seibert said. “I did lose some ground at the beginning, but I’ve been like that my whole career. I start slow and finish fast. It worked out today, but in these sprint races you usually have to get going right away.”

Rookie Martin Roy finished a series career-best fifth. Kerry Micks, Andrew Ranger, Ron Beauchamp Jr., Jarred Whissell and Ryley Seibert rounded out the top 10. Fitzpatrick was unable to limp his car back around after the incident and finished 17th, two laps down.

An incident involving Ranger on a lap 26 restart led to the final caution and the subsequent restart when Steckly and Fitzpatrick came together going through the technical turn 2 area. There were just two caution periods in the race covering four laps.

It marked the first race for the series on the 2.256-mile, 13-turn Edmonton course. Previous series events from 2007 to 2010 were staged on a 1.96-mile layout at the airport.

In the championship point standings, Kennington extended his lead to 35 points over Scott Steckly, who moved into the second position. Ranger remains in third place – 37 points in back of the leader – while Fitzpatrick fell to fourth.

The Edmonton event, the third of five road course races this year, was part of a three-race swing by the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series through Western Canada that concludes with the Velocity Prairie Thunder presented by Bayer Crop Science at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon, Sask., on Wednesday, July 25.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
Edmonton City Centre Airport – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Edmonton 100 – July 22, 2012

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 6 17 D.J. Kennington Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge 31 47 4 Running
2 8 3 Jason Hathaway Snap-on Tools/Vortex Brake Pads Dodge 31 42 Running
3 10 69 Trevor Seibert Lake Excavating/EMCO Waterworks Dodge 31 41 Running
4 1 22 Scott Steckly Canadian Tire Dodge 31 42 2 Running
5 13 90 Martin Roy Veloce/Gamache Truck Center Dodge 31 39 Running
6 7 02 Kerry Micks Leland/BDI/PartSource Ford 31 38 Running
7 2 27 Andrew Ranger Pizza 73/GC Motorsports Dodge 31 37 Running
8 9 60 Ron Beauchamp, Jr. Mopar/Mobil 1 Dodge 31 36 Running
9 11 44 Jarrad Whissell SMS Equipment/Komatsu Ford 31 35 Running
10 12 09 Ryley Seibert Lake Excavating Dodge 31 34 Running
11 17 5 Noel Dowler EMCO-Kohler/Rheem Dodge 31 33 Running
12 5 66 Robin Buck Quaker State Dodge 31 32 Running
13 18 50 Joey McColm Bubbles Car Wash Dodge 31 31 Running
14 15 21 Jason White A&W/Bower&Wilkins Dodge 31 30 Running
15 14 35 Kevin Dowler Whitemud Mech./EMCO Dodge 31 29 Running
16 21 11 Mike Scholz Jiffy Car Wash/Watchfinder.ca Chevrolet 30 28 Running
17 3 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick Equipment Express Chevrolet 29 27 Accident
18 20 6 Todd Nichol West World Motorsports Chevrolet 14 26 Suspension
19 16 14 James Van Domselaar Steel-Craft Door Products Chevrolet 14 25 Suspension
20 4 47 L.P. Dumoulin WeatherTech Canada/Bellemare Dodge 3 24 Engine
21 19 83 Kelly Admiraal Willam Scottsman Chevrolet 3 23 Off Track

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