Now that the Daytona 500 is in the rear-view mirror, DJ Kennington is back behind the wheel of a snowplow just outside of St. Thomas.
When he's not racing alongside the likes of Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson, the so-called "Iron Man of Canadian stock car driving" works for Southwold Township.
"Right now there's no snow to plow, so we're just working on truck maintenance and stuff like that," says Kennington with a chuckle. "I'm pretty proud of what we've accomplished over my racing career and hopefully we're going to get a chance again here really soon."
The 39-year-old St. Thomas-native's race in Florida ended earlier than he had hoped Sunday afternoon when he got caught up in a 16-car pileup.
He finished in 36th place out of 40 racers.
Despite a somewhat disappointing finish in the race itself, Kennington is still coming away with a lot of positives from the experience -- including rubbing shoulders with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"I actually drafted with him and the Hendrick crew in practice and went over and talked to him after to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong or if there was anything I could do any better," says Kennington. "He's a super nice guy, he said, 'You're doing great. Congratulations, you're in the Daytona 500 -- you're obviously doing something right.'"
Kennington also knows he has come a long way over his career, fondly remembering races on dirt tracks like South Buxton Raceway and half-mile paved tracks like Delaware Speedway.
"I started my racing career in Glanworth -- beside the pig barn on the little dirt track," says Kennington. "It's been quite a ride."