Catchfence

Montreal, Quebec (August 29, 2010)— Team Rensi Motorsports (TRM) headed to Montreal (Canada) for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 without its regular driver, Eric McClure, who was recovering from a concussion suffered during a pair of accidents at Bristol Motor Speedway. Disappointed he couldn’t participate in one of his favorite races on the circuit, he called upon good friend and St. Thomas, Ontario (Canada) native, DJ Kennington, to drive the No. 24 Del Monte® entry for the event.

Kennington, who has had much success on the 2.708-mile road course in three different series’, qualified the TRM entry in the 30th position, overcame a pit road mishap shortly before halfway, and stayed out of trouble to post not only his career best NNS finish but a season high 11th for the team.

“What a fantastic race! The whole team did such a great job”, stated Kennington. “Chris Wright, the crew chief, kept me focused on the strategy and it really worked out for us. We had a little mishap on the first pit stop but everybody shook it off and we had a great stop the second time around. To have my best career Nationwide Series finish and give the team their best finish of the year is such a thrill. I can’t thank Eric (McClure) enough for this opportunity and I hope his recovery is going well. I also have to thank all my sponsors, Castrol Edge and Hitachi Power Tools who helped make this possible and for Del Monte for allowing me to drive in place of Eric.”

Prior to the start of the NAPA Auto Parts 200, the team, led by Crew Chief Chris Wright, discussed a game plan which consisted of pit strategy and fuel and brake conservation.

While running in the 19th position a multi-car accident occurred on lap 11. With several of the leaders visiting pit road for a routine service Kennington didn’t deviate from the plan and stayed on track allowing him to restart the race on lap 17 from the 13th position. Losing three positions in three laps, the event’s fourth caution flag waved on lap 20. Rather than pitting under caution the No. 24 Del Monte® Ford decided to take a chance and visit pit road for four tires and fuel when the race resumed on lap 24. After losing valuable time on pit road to replace a lug nut that had fallen off during the stop, Kennington returned to the track in the 34th position.

Advancing to the 26th position by the halfway point of the race Wright continued to remind Kennington to save his equipment to the end. Green flag pit stops for the leaders began on lap 44 allowing the Del Monte® car to make up some of the ground lost and advance to the 16th position by lap 50. Continuing to stick to the game plan Kennington brought his car to pit road on lap 51 for tires and fuel. Returning to the track in the 22nd position he once again began working his way through the field and was scored in the 17th position with only ten laps remaining in the event.

In the closing laps, the event saw three additional cautions, one, a multi-car accident that the driver narrowly avoided, which forced a 19-minute red flag condition and a green- white-checkered finish. Despite the car’s brakes fading Wright instructed Kennington to not worry about saving the equipment. In the end the St. Thomas, Ontario native was able to finish a NNS career best 11th in the NAPA Auto Parts 200. This finish was also the team’s best finish of the season. TRM’s regular driver, Eric McClure, plans to return to the driver’s seat next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway pending medical clearance.

- Team Rensi Motorsports Press Release