Rocco Takes Lead In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Standings
Daytona Beach, FL — After a fellow competitor protested his victory at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway Friday night, Keith Rocco had to wait until Monday to find out whether the win held up. It did, and Tuesday Rocco found himself atop the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national standings. By one point.
The 23-year-old Wallingford, Conn., driver has four wins and 13 top fives in 18 races at a trio of Connecticut short tracks – Stafford, Thompson International Speedway and the Waterford Speedbowl. Rocco’s 686 points give him an edge over Coleman Pressley of Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. Pressley has seven wins and 15 top fives in 16 starts.
Marty Ward of Greenville-Pickens is third with 565 wins, followed by Andy Loden of Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, N.C., with 562 and David Roberts of Greenville-Pickens, also with 562.
While Rocco may have dwelt on the protest when he woke up Saturday morning, by Saturday night, it was forgotten as he strapped into the driver’s seat again.
“When you’re at the track, there isn’t any time to think about anything else,” said Rocco, who added the same goes for points. “Everybody thinks that’s what we’re gunning for, the national championship. You think about it a little bit. But I’m down there to race; I’m not down there to collect points.
“We go out there racing to win every week. Sometimes it bites you – you’re second and you’re going for the lead and you wind up fifth.”
Some drivers like to get the season started off with a good finish. Rocco is just the opposite. In fact, his 27th-place finish in the opener at Thompson was a perfect start for him. Last year, he had similar misfortune in the first race and wound up winning the track title en route to finishing fourth in the nation.
“The best thing is you’re behind the eight-ball and always trying to catch up,” Rocco said. “You never say, ‘this is the best we can do.’ ”
Rocco races a Modified at all three tracks. Each track has slightly different rules, and Rocco runs for three different car owners. He’s fifth in points running at Thompson (.625-mile) on Thursday nights for Don Bannister. They won the championship in their first year together last season. At Stafford (.5-mile) on Friday nights, Rocco races for Jean Guy and Brigette Poulin, and leads the points over former national champion Ted Christopher. He’s second in points at the New Waterford Speedbowl (.375-mile), where he runs for Mark Payne.
This is the first year Rocco is racing all three divisions on a regular basis. Payne, who had raced Waterford in the past, decided to step away from driving duties because of family commitments and offered the seat to Rocco. Rocco got his start in the Strictly Stock division at Waterford in 2003 and won the title in 2004 before moving up to Modifieds.
“If somebody tells me I can drive their car, I’m going to drive it,” Rocco said. “If it’s got four wheels and a steering wheel, I’ll drive it.”
Under the point structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the race winner will receive two points for every car in the event up to 25 cars. Second place will receive two fewer points, and so-on through the field. For example, if there are 25 cars, the winner receives 50 points, second gets 48 and third 46. If there are 15 cars, the winner receives 30 points, second gets 28 and third 26. New this year, drivers receive five bonus points for a win. The final day for the 2008 points is Sunday, Sept. 14.
FEATURE DIVISION
National Top 25 NASCAR Leaders
PosDriver Name Home Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10
Pts
1 Keith Rocco Waterford Speedbowl 18 4 13
15 686
2 Coleman Pressley Greenville-Pickens Speedway 16
7 15 15 685
3 Marty Ward Greenville-Pickens Speedway 12 5
12 12 565
4 Andy Loden Hickory Motor Speedway 20 4 18
20 562
5 David Roberts Greenville-Pickens Speedway 15 2
12 14 562
6 Philip Morris Motor Mile Speedway 11 5 10
11 521
7 Brian Harris West Liberty Raceway 13 6 13
13 498
8 Gary Glenn All American Speedway 12 4 11
11 490
9 Ralph Carnes Greenville-Pickens Speedway 16 0
7 16 484
10 Kenneth Headen Greenville-Pickens Speedway 12 0
9 12 468
11 C E Falk, III South Boston Speedway 14 0 10
12 450
12 Andy Eckrich West Liberty Raceway 14 2 11
12 432
13 Jeff Strunk Grandview Speedway 10 1 9
9 419
14 Joey Stearns Madera Speedway 16 2 9 14
414
15 John Moore All American Speedway 10 1 8
9 391
16 Nick Joanides Toyota Speedway At Irwindale 10 6
8 8 386
17 Guy Jubinville Autodrome St. Eustache 10 4 8
8 382
18 Kyle Gottula Madera Speedway 14 5 11 13
381
19 Jimmy Blewett Stafford Motor Speedway 12 0 5
8 374
20 Paulie Harraka All American Speedway 10 4 8
8 368
21 Doug Coby, III Waterford Speedbowl 12 1 4
8 363
22 Charles Price Toyota Speedway At Irwindale 12 2
6 9 362
23 Adam Royle Elko Speedway 12 2 11 11
356
24 Doug Manmiller Grandview Speedway 10 0 4
7 354
25 Jonathan Bouvrette Autodrome St. Eustache 10 3
5 9 353
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR PR