Music: {allcanada} Kennington Adds Award To Hot Start

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — One-third of the way through the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season and DJ Kennington is already making it quite clear who is the driver to beat in the 2012 championship chase.

Back-to-back wins to go with a runner-up finish and a fourth-place run has the St. Thomas, Ont., driver with an early 13-point lead on the field.

In addition, those victories at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Delaware Speedway to close out last month earned Kennington the top spot for the July in the Hunter Index, as voted on by a panel of auto racing writers and NASCAR representatives.

"Claiming the first two oval races on the Canadian Tire Series to compliment some nice early season runs at road courses makes Kennington a real threat to run off with his second series title in three years," said Tim Quiveryn, TheThirdTurn.com.

Kennington collected eight of the 16 first-place votes and easily out-distanced runner-up Corey LaJoie of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for first place overall, 222-202.

The Hunter Index, which was launched in 2010 on NASCARHomeTracks.com, is a monthly power poll designed to highlight the standout performances in the NASCAR touring and regional series.

Drivers are ranked on their performance over the previous month. The rankings are compiled by a panel of auto racing writers and NASCAR representatives. This season, the panel was expanded to 14 media members from across North American with experience covering NASCAR's touring and weekly series, along with two voters from NASCAR.

Panelists rank their top 15, with first place receiving 15 points, second 14, third 13 and so on.

LaJoie collected his second win of the season at Langley Speedway to move within one point of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points lead halfway through that series' schedule, and picked up five first-place votes.

"After he finally broke through with his first win at Bowman Gray, he quickly backed it up with a top five at Gresham and another win at Langley," said Tim Haddock, haddockinthepaddock.blogspot.com. "More importantly, LaJoie has positioned himself for a run at the East championship. He is by far the hottest driver in the series heading into the second half of the season."

Asphalt Late Model driver Lee Pulliam was third in voting with two first-place votes and 186 points overall. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points leader Doug Coby had a first-place vote and was fourth, followed by NASCAR Whelen All-American Series driver Wayne Helliwell.

Helliwell competes at a pair of asphalt tracks in New Hampshire: in the Super Modified division at Lee USA Speedway and the Late Model division at Canaan Fair Speedway.

Kyle Larson of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East was sixth, followed by Ted Christopher (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series), Antonio Perez (NASCAR Toyota Series), Keith Rocco (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series), and Jase Kaser (Nebraska's I-80 Speedway and Junction Motor Speedway).

Christopher and Rocco also compete on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, but were recognized for their regional series accomplishments – Christopher at Connecticut's Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, in addition to Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway, and Rocco at Stafford, Thompson and Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl.

The Hunter Index is named for the late Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications and a longtime supporter of the weekly and touring series that make up the NASCAR Home Tracks.

The Index was designed as an opportunity to compare the top drivers from the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series all the way up to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. It will also encompass drivers from the NASCAR Mexico Series, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, and Euro-Racecar.

The Hunter Index is released the first week of each month from April through November.

Voting was completed before Friday night's NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour event.

The panel also included media members: J.A. Ackley, Dick Berggren's Speedway Illustrated; Mark Billingsley, NASCAR freelance writer, Sacramento (Calif.) Bee; Shawn Courchesne, Hartford (Conn.) Courant; Bob Dillner, SPEED; Tim Haddock, haddockinthepaddock.blogspot.com; Keith Lair, Los Angeles Newspaper Group; Spencer Lewis, Inside Track Motorsports News, Canada; Pat Patterson, SIRIUS NASCAR Ch. 128/ESPN Radio; Tim Quiveryn, TheThirdTurn.com; Len Sammons, Area Auto Racing News; David Smith, MotorsportsAnalytics.com; Damien Sordelett, sports writer with the Danville (Va.) Register & Bee; Elgin Traylor, Speed51.com, and Rea White, NASCAR editor, FOXSports.com. They are joined by Brett Bodine, who is the chairman of the NASCAR Résumé Committee and represents the NASCAR competition side on the panel, and Jason Christley, a NASCAR public relations representative.

HUNTER INDEX – JULY

RANK	DRIVER
1	DJ KENNINGTON (NASCAR Canadian Tire Series)
	Why he's here: Showed his strength with a pair of oval wins and hasn't finished worse than fifth in the season's first four race as he sets his sights on a second title.
2	COREY LAJOIE (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East)
	Why He's Here: Impressively closed out a strong run at Langley to net his second win in three races and very nearly took the points lead in the process.
3	LEE PULLIAM (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
	Why He's Here: A suspension cost him the first two months of the season, but he's come on strong back-to-back 200-lap asphalt Late Model victories at South Boston and Caraway.
4	DOUG COBY (NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour)
	Why He's Here: A win at Waterford was third in four races for the Milford, Conn., driver, who has moved into the tour's points lead heading into the summer stretch.
5	WAYNE HELLIWELL (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series)
	Why He's Here: Juggling two different cars at two tracks hasn't slowed down the short-track veteran, who added four more wins over the last several weeks.
6	KYLE LARSON (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East)
	Why He's Here: Rev Racing standout picked up his first NASCAR win at Gresham and collected another top 10 at Langley to remain in the championship hunt.
7	TED CHRISTOPHER (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series)
	Why He's Here: No surprise the former national champion and Whelen Modified Tour champion is running up-front on a weekly basis at Riverhead, Stafford and Thompson.
8	ANTONIO PEREZ (NASCAR Toyota Series)
	Why He's Here: A win at Aguascalientes has moved the 2007 series champion to third in the standings and within reach of points leader Jorge Goeters.
9	KEITH ROCCO (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series)
	Why He's Here: As he runs his first full year on Whelen Modified Tour, Connecticut driver is continuing his winning ways on a weekly basis at Waterford, Thompson and Stafford.
10	JASE KASER (NASCAR Whelen All-American Series)
	Why He's Here: Moved into national title conversation with a run that's included three wins and four top fives in five starts on the Nebraska dirt at I-80 and Junction.