Pittsburgh Penguins lineup has taken a beating, with Evgeni

TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. – D.J. Kennington claims he isnt a road racer, but he keeps proving himself wrong. Kennington of St. Thomas, Ont., won the JuliaWine.com 100 in NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 action on Sunday at the 44th Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres after holding off road-course specialists Andrew Ranger and Jacques Villeneuve in a harried green-white-checkered finish in front of a crowd in excess of 30,000. After starting eighth, Kennington passed former Formula One and IZOD IndyCar Series champion Villeneuve on Lap 38 before the fifth caution flag of the day flew on Lap 40 to set up the exciting finish. On the final restart, Ranger, who had gotten around Villeneuve just after Kennington made his pass, tried in every turn of the 11-turn, 1.53-mile street circuit to rattle Kennington, but was forced to settle for the runner-up position. "We just had a great race car today," said Kennington. "The crew did a great job at getting cool air to the brakes. At the end, we still had good braking. I saved as much as I could. We got a little lucky that (Villeneuve) slipped up a little and we were able to get by." With three series road-course wins to his credit Kennington has shown the ability to win anywhere at any time, but outdueling the likes of Ranger and Villeneuve had Kennington thinking about the significance. "To beat those two guys on a road course is right up there in my career," said Kennington. "They are two of the best in the world in my estimation. Its really special. With (Ranger) starting in the rear and getting to the front, we might have been in trouble if he started on the pole." Ranger, a four-time Trois-Rivieres winner, started from the rear of the field due to missing Saturdays qualifying session after competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. Despite not getting the win, Ranger was pleased with the results. "From where we started, Im really happy with second place," said Ranger – owner of 14 series road-course victories. "The car was pretty used up at the end. I had to fight for everything in passing all those cars. I tried everything to pass (Villeneuve). He raced me totally clean and like a champion. We went through (four) turns side-by-side and we never touched." The final restart gave Ranger one last opportunity at the win. "The cautions at the end really helped me a lot on those last laps I was finally able to get the speed I wanted to in the corners, but (Kennington) didnt make any mistakes," he said. Villeneuve, who led a race-high 29 laps, finished third for his best finish in three career Canadian Tire Series starts. He finished fourth in this event in 2009. "I was taking it easy in the beginning, but I saw a chance to get around (Tagliani) and I took it," said the accomplished driver. "I misjudged a corner while passing a (lapped car) and Kennington was able to get around me. I thought I had a chance at the end to get it back, but (Kennington) clipped the wall and bounced into me which set us back." Villeneuve appreciated the opportunity to compete in the legendary event. "These are fun cars to drive and this is a fun little track," said the former world champion driver and fan favorite. "This event is important to Quebec and Canada. It has provided drivers, including me, the stage to further their careers." It was the first win of the season for Kennington, who set a single-season series record with seven victories a year ago and the 19th career win for the driver of the No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge which tops the series all-time list. Jason Hathaway finished fourth followed by IndyCar Series regular Alex Tagliani in fifth. Tagliani set a new track record in Saturdays qualifying session for his fourth series career pole win. He led the first eight laps of the race before getting tangled up with Louis-Philippe Dumoulin in a battle for the lead. Martin Roy, Alex Labbe, Scott Steckly, Jeff Lapcevich and Trevor Seibert completed the top ten. The race was slowed due to caution five times for 16 laps. The five cautions equaled the series high at the track that was established in the 2007 race. In the championship standings, Steckly saw his lead shrink to just four points over Kennington. Hathaway holds down the third spot, just 14 points behind the leader while Dumoulin dropped from second to fourth, but is still within striking distance at 16 tallies back with just four races remaining. The JuliaWine.com 100 will be telecast on TSN on Sunday, Aug. 18 at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Nike Air Max Plus Tn Hombre . -- Nelson Cruz has only two hits in 15 at-bats against the Kansas City Royals this season. Vapormax 2019 Baratas . Stepanek gave the Czech Republic its second straight Davis Cup title Sunday, sweeping past Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in the fifth and decisive match to secure a 3-2 win over Serbia in the final. http://www.vapormaxbaratas.com/ .C. United on Saturday night and boost the Unions playoff hopes. Nick DeLeon scored in the 36th minute for United (3-23-6), which had ample opportunities to build on its lead but went its 10th straight match without a victory. Comprar Vapormax Falsas . Nainggolan scored his first Italian league goal at Bologna, in October 2010, and he also opened his Roma account there following his January move from Cagliari. The Belgium midfielder volleyed home Miralem Pjanics cross from close range eight minutes from time. Vapormax 97 Baratas . PAUL, Minn.The St. Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings was short-lived, as they returned to the No. 1 ranking, overtaking the San Jose Sharks. Neither the Blues nor Sharks had their best week last week, but the Sharks three-game losing streak was enough to flip-flop the top two teams, and both held off the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. Rising up, on the strength of having lost just once in their last 14 games, the Montreal Canadiens climb from ninth to fifth, while a four-game winning streak helped the Vancouver Canucks jump from 13th to ninth. Despite losing another defenceman to injury, the Dallas Stars did get centre Tyler Seguin back last week and they bounced back from 19th to 13th as a result. The Pittsburgh Penguins lineup has taken a beating, with Evgeni Malkin and Broooks Orpik injured, then James Neal suspended, so the Penguins slide from eighth to 11th, matching their season low.dddddddddddd. With no regulation wins in the last five, the New Jersey Devils are down four spots, from 22 to 26, one spot ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers, who just lost centre Vincent Lecavalier to injury, again. Among the other Canadian teams, the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs each fell one spot, to 16th and 21st, respectively, and the Ottawa Senators inched ahead one spot, to 23rd. The Senators are followed by the Calgary Flames, who are up three spots to 24th, and the Edmonton Oilers, up one spot to 25th. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '