Keith Rocco Clinches Waterford Championship
Driver Wins 10th Late Model Feature Of The Season
SOUTH PARIS, Maine – Now that Keith Rocco has locked up the Late Model championship at Waterford Speedbowl, don’t expect his approach to change.
“Absolutely not,” said Rocco, the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American series national champion. “Every race, we race to win. We had such a points lead built up by the middle of the summer, we had no mercy out there. We were going for wins and that was it.”
Rocco earned his 10th Late Model feature win of the season for car owner Scott Fearn last Saturday night, September 21, to mathematically clinch the track championship before season’s end. The No. 1 Mr. Rooter/Critical Sign Toyota was built brand-new during the offseason by Crazy Horse Racing.
Rocco, who is a multi-time Modified champion at Waterford Speedbowl, has only one other non-Modified championship on his career resume – a Street Stock title from his days just starting out at the .333-mile oval.
“In past years, we’ve always had the intention to run full season – before we got hooked up with (Crazy Horse),” said Rocco, of Wallingford, Conn. “Two years ago, we broke the rear end in the first race, and then in the second race, we got wadded up. That put a damper on things.
“Last year, we had intentions again to run the full (Late Model) schedule, and then I busted my wrist up and that stopped the hunt for us. This year, Scott really got things together. Last year after we went to Lee (USA Speedway) and caught fire after our heat race – I think that made him realize we needed to step things up.”
Step up they did. Not only does the team now have 10 wins on the season and a 127-point lead with two races remaining, but Rocco’s won three straight races heading into this weekend’s feature event.
The championship is also a first for Fearn as a car owner at Waterford.
“We really made a statement with that car,” Rocco said. “A couple weeks ago, I was listening to the ‘Overdrive’ radio show. Before we started getting cars from (Crazy Horse) and working with them, I didn’t know much about them – and I’m not sure how many people down here knew about them. But on this radio show, they were talking about the cars and how good they are, how good the equipment is.
“It’s pretty cool to hear people talking about Crazy Horse and their cars down here in Connecticut. We’d like to go run some ACT (Late Model Tour) races together, because I think we’d be pretty competitive.”
Sources: Travis Barrett/Crazy