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KEITH ROCCO
LOOKING FOR FIRST NASCAR WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR VICTORY
IN TSI HARLEY-DAVIDSON 125 AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY |
 When
the green flag falls on the TSI Harley-Davidson 125
this Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway, Keith Rocco
will be looking to emulate Woody Pitkat. Pitkat
picked up his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour win at Stafford last August and followed that
up by winning first Modified Racing Series feature
two weeks ago at Stafford. Rocco already won his
first MRS race at Stafford in August 2011 and he is
now hoping to collect his first NWMT win at
Stafford, just as Pitkat did.
In only 2 races together, Rocco and the #22 Canto
Paving / Milton Caterpillar team have been a force
to be reckoned with. Rocco qualified 10th for the
NAPA Spring Sizzler, but he was running as high as
second before a faulty alternator wire saw him slide
back to 12th at the checkered flag and Rocco
qualified 2nd at Waterford last weekend and finished
10th. With his experience at Stafford, he is hoping
that the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 could be his
breakthrough race.
“Things are going well,” said Rocco. “The guys all
work well together and Our Motorsports has a great
team. We were running second at the Sizzler and an
alternator wire broke off and we lost some voltage
and we started fading back. I’d say we had a top-3
car at the Sizzler and I think we’re going to be
pretty good on Friday. I’d like to hope [we can get
a win]. Granted we’ve only run 2 races together so
far, but we’ve been up front and we’ve had a fast
car in both races.”
In addition to his career success at Stafford,
another plus for Rocco is his relationship with his
crew chief Brad LaFontaine. All of Rocco’s SK
Modified® cars have come from LaFontaine’s Northeast
Racecars shop so he already had a working
relationship with LaFontaine prior to joining the
#22 team.
“Brad LaFontaine from Northeast Racecars gives us a
great racecar every race,” said Rocco. “All my SK
cars are Brad’s cars so I’m used to the way he does
things and I have good communication with him. It’s
not like working with a stranger.”
The contrast couldn’t be bigger from the NAPA Spring
Sizzler to the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 with a
difference of 75 laps in the race distance. Despite
that difference, Rocco says his team has some good
notes for the car setup and that pit strategy may
play the biggest factor in who takes home the
checkered flag.
“The team learned a lot about the new Troyer Z-link
car and I think that will help us be able to put
together a better package for this Friday,” said
Rocco. “The pit strategy is going to be a lot
different in this race where guys will either take
tires or not depending on how the cautions fall. The
new Troyer car and all Troyer cars seem to go good
on the longer runs so no tires might be a
possibility for us, but I can’t answer that question
now.”
Rocco, along with Ryan Preece, Ted Christopher,
Justin Bonsignore, Woody Pitkat, and Rowan Pennink,
will be partaking in double duty driving efforts
this Friday with both his Whelen Modified Tour ride
as well as the #88 Wheeler’s Auto / Mr. Rooter
Plumbing Chevrolet. Rocco heads into this Friday
fresh off of his second win of the season last
Friday night and Rocco is also the SK Modified®
points leader as he looks to capture his third
career SK Modified® track championship at Stafford.
Tickets for the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 are
available and on sale now at the Speedway Box
Office. Tickets are priced at $33.00 for adult
general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages
6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted
free of charge when accompanied by an adult.
Reserved seating is priced at $35.00 for all ages.
All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
Stafford Motor Speedway offers plenty of free
parking along with overnight parking in self
contained Recreational Vehicles.
For more information on the TSI Harley-Davidson 125,
or to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on
the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com.
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Source:
Scott Running /
Stafford Motor
Speedway
Posted:
June 6, 2015 |
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