Strong Top-25 Finish for Kennington, Red Bank Outfitters in California

Event/Date:                       Stater Bros. 300/Feb. 21, 2009
Venue:                                 Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, Calf.
Starting Position:              25th
Finishing Position:            24th 
Points Position:                 12th (Drivers); 14th (Owners)

Fontana, Calif. (Feb. 21, 2009) – D.J. Kennington improved his career-best finish at Auto Club Speedway by two position with a 24th-place finish Saturday night in the Stater Bros. 300.

The 24th-place finish helped move Kennington up to 12th in the NASCAR Nationwide point standings. 

The Canadian native was second of 47 drivers to make a qualifying run Saturday morning.  A fast lap of 41.396 seconds (173.930 mph) on the 2-mile oval put the No. 81 Red Bank Outfitters Dodge on the inside of row 13, in the 25th position, for Saturday’s 300-mile event. 

At the drop of the green flag Kennington made a charge to the front before a tight-handling race began to set in.  He was 26th by lap nine, 28th by lap 17 and 29th one lap down when green-flag pit stops began to cycle through the field. 

Owner Randy MacDonald summoned his driver to pit road on lap 38 for four fresh Goodyear’s, fuel and a major chassis and air pressure adjustments.  Solid work by the over-the-wall crew netted Kennington two spots on pit road, and the No. 81 machine was listed 27th when green-flag stops were completed. 

Over the next 46 laps, Kennington continued to suffer from an ill-handling race car but was able to climb to the 26th position before a caution flag flew on lap 90. 

The Canadian native made the hard left turn down pit road to the attention of his Red Bank Outfitters crew.  Four tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment were in order for the No. 81 Dodge.  Kennington restarted the race 26th three laps down.

Over the final 60 laps a spirited battle between Kennington and the No. 61 of Brandon Witt began to develop.  The two swap spots several times.  However, Witt was able to get by Kennington in the closing laps and the No. 81 Red Bank Outfitters Dodge crossed the finish line 24th. 

Kyle Busch captured his first victory of the season with Kevin Harvick second, then Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and David Ragan rounding out the top-five finishers.

Next  weekend, the NASCAR Nationwide Series travels to Sin City for its third stop on the 35-race tour. 

The Sam’s Town 300 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be televised live on ESPN 2 Sat., Feb. 28 beginning at 4 p.m. EST and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio.  Qualifying will be televised live on SPEED the same day at noon EST.