An old rivalry was renewed at Eastbound Speedway Sunday. Josh Collins, chasing the points lead in the Division I NASCAR series at the Avondale track, faced off against D.J. Kennington, a two-time former champion of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series in the Frontline Action 100.
Collins, who is from Placentia, is a part-time driver in the Pinty’s Series. Throw in the rest of a competitive field and it made the trek to Eastbound more than worthwhile for racing fans.
Kennington, who is from St. Thomas, Ont., brought a résumé that includes racing in the two most recent Daytona 500s, and he didn’t disappoint in the first segment of Sunday’s race, taking the checkered flag ahead of 2016 NASCAR Division I champion Jason Groves and Collins.
Wayne Walsh, the 2017 champion and current points leader at Eastbound was fourth, while Ross Thorne finished fifth. Kennington spent time leading up to the final 50-lap segment doing an interview with Eastbound race director Mike James and also playing with his son, who had accompanied him on his first trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. “I am really happy to be here at Eastbound. This is a great track and has lots of different features,” said Kennington, adding that in addition to the racing, he enjoyed walking around St. John’s, getting to know some of the people and the culture.
The 41-year-old hopes to be able to return and race here again, but has his immediate sights on a Pinty’s Series championship, where he trails by 31 points with three races remaining in the 2018 campaign. In Sunday’s second 50-lap segment, Collins jumped out front and despite challenges from Kennington and Groves, was able to secure the checkered flag and add to his point total as he searches for his first NASCAR Division I championship and a trip to the NASCAR banquet in Charlotte, N.C., in November. Walsh powered his bright yellow No. 99 home in fourth, while Chad Lawrence, making his debut as a teammate to Walsh, had a finished that matched his No. 5 car.
Other divisions
It was a big day for two drivers as they continued their dominance of their respective divisions at Eastbound this season. Owen Groves set a new track record for fastest lap ever recorded in the MNR Performance Bandolero series with a time of 18.564 seconds, besting Nick Codner, Sara Thorne, Joey Arsenault and Matthew Rideout, who finished second to fifth, respectively.
It’s also been a clean sweep so far in 2018 in the Hanlon Realty U.S. Legends Series for rookie driver Michael Neary in his MNR Performance No. 23 machine. Neary consistently clocked times sub-18 seconds all day, including one of 17.763 seconds. By the end of the race, he was almost half a lap ahead of second-place finisher Chris Cooper, who battled with Gavin Anstey for second place for most of the race
Mark Best and series points leader Shane Collins grabbed checkered flags in the duel legs of the Atlantic Dodge Dealers Hobby Stock division. Best held off Stephen Guest for the win the first segment. Cody Johnson was third and Andrew Morgan was fourth. In the second segment, Collins cruised to the victory, outrunning the No. 84 car of Guest and his teammate Cody Johnson. That segment saw the No. 9 car of Roger Ryan break something on the back stretch and burst into flames as it approached Turn 3. Ryan quickly exited the car and fire officials were able to extinguish the flames. Ryan said it was a scary experience as flames shot up between his legs and out the back of the car. While still rolling, he dropped his window net and ran towards the tech shed to escape the burning car. Racing will continue on Sept. 16 as Eastbound hosts its annual Memorial Race, paying homage to a number of people noon, with qualifiers starting at 1 p.m. and the main events get underway at 2 p.m.
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