DJ Kennington of London, Ontario turned Sunday's big Late Model show at Lee into the Dodge Dealers (Inter) - National 150, crossing the border first to run a Hooter's Cup race at Jennerstown, where he finished 13th and won a hard charger award, then making the ten hour trip to NH to collect ten grand. Kennington was quick to praise chassis builder Mike McCall, who put the car together (perhaps he'll get a call or two from somewhere in ACT nation this fall). It had been driven into the Kawartha Downs winner's circle by Dave Whitlock a week earlier. Word from Ontario is that either Whitlock or Kennington will be at the wheel this weekend at the Milk Bowl.

Kennington is a new name to area fans, but he's been racing since the age of five. He started out in a go-kart on dirt and won his first (heat) race on asphalt at age 16 at Delaware Park. Kennington was 10th in CASCAR points in 2004 and a couple of weeks back placed third in a CASCAR 200 at Mosport. Reportedly, he won a 300-lap Late Model race earlier this year at St-Eustache.

From the sometimes it's your day and sometimes it's not dept - There were seventy-six teams drawing for heat positions Sunday with 100 chips in the bag. Some drivers wanted to reach in for their spot themselves, others wanted a crew member, or anybody but themselves, to walk the plank. David Avery drew #1. Dave Pembroke drew #100. Neither made it. Pembroke was next in line when the train left the station. He finished eighth in a "B" feature taking seven cars after racing his way into the "B" by placing fifth in a 26-car "C" feature. Avery had electrical problems from the outset. Dave Wilcox's thirty-something chip translated into the third heat pole. Wilcox outran White Mountain champion Glenn Martel and DJ Kennington (who started 12th - a tipoff of what was to come) to win his heat, but then began to sputter about with fuel problems. Despite the draw, the cream rose to the top in that Brent Dragon, Patrick Laperle and Jean Cyr, all out back in the fifth and final heat, all had top-10 finishes in the 150. Laperle's coming despite having to pit from the lead when a tire went down.

The 41st New England Dodge Dealers Milk Bowl is not only the final and decisive event of the Tour, it's the final points race for Thunder Road. Cris Michaud is already being fitted for the "King of the Road" crown. Michaud is seventy-six points ahead of second-place Dave Pembroke, who can add a maximum of seventy-five points to his total by winning the Milk Bowl for a second time. Pembroke has Chad Wheeler in the mirror for runner-up honors. Coming off "the best race of my career", a second at Lee worth five large, Wheeler trails Pembroke by twenty points.
Using ACT Dodge Tour math, which awards five points to anyone who leads a lap and five more to whoever leads the most laps, the simplest way to think of things if you're a Brent Dragon fan is this. Win the Milk Bowl and have Jean-Paul Cyr finish no better than 12th without leading a lap, or lap-leading aside, finish 14 positions better than he does. If you want to calibrate things further, e-mail zig@acttour.com. If you're a Patrick Laperle fan, shoot for winning the Milk Bowl, leading the most laps and sticking pins in Cyr and Dragon dolls.

The NAPA Sportsman title is on the line Sunday and some of the usual suspects are in the hunt - defending champ Reno Gervais trails point leader Scott Payea by twenty points. Double-0 Joe Steffen sits third, eleven points back and Ryan Nolin is currently second, seven points off the pace. That same seven point lead undoubtedly seems paper thin to Payea and seven miles wide to Nolin.

Thanks are due all parties who stepped up and bought Milk Bowl laps. There's a chart posted on the web site. This year, the $50 per lap is getting split up: $25 -1st, $15-2nd, $10-3rd. $500 courtesy of NHIS is being paid for laps 25-75-125, to be divided $250-1st, $150-2nd, $100-3rd.