DJ Kennington: “It’s kind of like an evolution.”

By: Christian Ryan

No matter where DJ Kennington’s career takes him, the NASCAR Pinty’s Series is his home.

The son of Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Doug Kennington was destined for motorsports greatness. Heading south of the border to watch his dad race in Delaware, the young Kennington’s interest in racing was piqued. At the age of five, he began following in his father’s footsteps racing in go karts. From the beginning, his love of racing was solidified.

“I just fell in love with racing,” the St. Thomas, Ontario native says of those formative early years and the development of his passion for racing. “I fell in love with oval track racing. I raced go karts on the dirt for a lot of years. I basically fell in love with the sport, I watched it, I studied it, then got lucky enough that when I turned 16 I was able to get a stock car and go racing at Delaware speedway.”

Finding his place in the world of Canadian stock car racing, Kennington began to make his mark in the CASCAR Super Series. In 2007, the series was acquired by NASCAR in what would become the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. As Kennington was winning races in the series leading into this transition, it was time for him to make his mark in an official NASCAR-sanctioned racing series. Kennington has made the most of this opportunity, claiming two titles at the peak of Canadian stock car racing.

“It’s great, it’s the premier stock car racing series in Canada, we’re very fortunate to be able to have it,” Kennington says. “To have the Pinty’s Series and to have the NASCAR label on it in Canada is huge for racing in Canada. You get to a venue like Toronto Indy, there’s so many people, so many corporate deals, so many sponsors, and so many families. People can go out and enjoy the day there. It’s a cool setting where Toronto Indy has been there for so long. We’re just very fortunate to be able to go there and race.”

The arrival of NASCAR saw a major opportunity, not only for the growth of professional of stock car racing in Canada, but for Kennington as a driver. His success in Canada began to catch the eye of American race teams, affording him the opportunity to race in NASCAR’s three top series. In 2017, he would become the eighth Canadian to enter the Daytona 500 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

“It opened the doors for a lot of people with sponsorship opportunities by having the NASCAR name on it,” Kennington said of NASCAR’s acquisition of CASCAR. “I’ve been very fortunate to race south of the border in all three series. I think the experience that I gained racing stock cars coast to coast in Canada is obviously what gave me the experience to be able to go there and do there and do that with the biggest names in the sport.”

Despite the honour of competing at stock car racing’s highest level, Kennington maintains that the NASCAR Pinty’s Series remains his top priority.

“I’m very proud of the NASCAR Canadian series,” he explains. “It’s home for me, and it’s my main priority. I’m a very fortunate person to be able to go down there and play with the big boys once in a while. Not very many people can say that they ran the Daytona 500 coming from Canada.”

Kennington keeps his priorities at home in Canada on multiple levels. He is an avid hockey player and lifelong fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, an advocate for the growth of Canadian motorsport, and devoted family man. Having reached a point in his career with the tremendous success that he has had, he is able to take more time with his family, stating that it was “something that I never did for a long time when I was racing like a crazy man across the country.”

Of that balance of racing and family, D.J. Kennington says he learned from the best.

“My dad has been my everything in my racing career,” he explains. “DJ Kennington would be absolutely nothing in motorsports without Doug Kennington. My dad’s not only my mentor and best friend, he’s my hero… He’s made everything possible for me, without him I wouldn’t have done any of it.”

With a few more runs in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series upcoming in 2017, Kennington has his sights set on growing the series in Canada in order to secure a future for professional stock car racers north of the border.

“We need more young guys, we need more young sponsors, young race teams, to try and keep it all going,” he says. “It’s kind of like an evolution. The older statesmen are going to, at some point, be calling it quits and hopefully there’s young guys there to fill the seats.”

Don’t think that means that Kennington is looking to leave the series in which he made his name.

“The bottom line at the end of the summer we’re Canadian national champions. That’s what the main goal is.”