Rocco Scores Sixth SK Modified Win Of Season At Speedbowl
Waterford, CT — Keith Rocco won the USG Night 35-lap SK Modified feature on Saturday evening at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Model), Ed Lamb Jr. (Sportsman), Kyle James (Mini Stock), Jay Palmer (Legends), and Robert Norman (Super-X Cars).
Starting from the outside-pole, Rocco held-off a determined Ron Yuhas Jr. to the checkers in leading every circuit of the event. Point-leader Dennis Gada gave chase for several circuits before Yuhas bolted into second following a lap-twelve restart. Rounding-out the top-5 was Gada, Jeff Pearl, and Tyler Chadwick.
The second-generation driver is justifiably pleased with a season that’s reaped six victories at the Speedbowl as well as success at other area ovals. He’s also candid in expressing his appreciation of the role that his car-owners play in getting him to the winners circle.
You’re always happy when you win, whether it’s one, or six,” stated Rocco. I never dreamed we’d be having a season like this, but here we are. I can’t say enough about my car owners. They put a huge amount of effort into this, and they deserve the success as much as I do. Without them, I’d obviously not be in this position. Bad-luck had kept us out of victory lane for the last few weeks, and we’re here to win. Tonight, the car was just-right, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
Rich Staskowski led the field to green in the 30-lap Late Model feature. Defending champion Bruce Thomas Jr. moved to the front with thirteen-circuits remaining. The events only caution period occurred on lap-twenty when Ken Bamford spun in turn-3. Thomas easily scored his ninth feature of the season over Vin Esposito, Keith Rocco, Joe Curioso III, and Tim Jordan.
When asked if he ever grew tired of winning during what has obviously been a stellar season, the defending champion answered with a definitive “no”.
“Tonight we had an entirely new setup in the car,” said Thomas. “At first we weren’t sure if it was going to work, but we went with it. We work very hard preparing the car; there are a lot of garage-hours that go into this. Winning is the reward, and no, it never gets tiring. The other teams will catch-up soon, so right now we’re going to enjoy our success.”
In the caution-free 20-lap Sportsman main event, it was Ed Lamb Jr. in for his second victory of the season. The event’s best battle was waged between a surprisingly-fast Nate Appell and Josh Galvin, the dual lasting until the final circuit when Galvin squeaked-by for runner-up honors. Following Appell was Walt Hovey Jr., and Brandon Plemons.
According to the winner, “not looking in the mirror” was a key factor in his winning performance.
“I just got into the lead as quickly as I could, and never glanced into the mirror,” Lamb stated. “My starting place (outside pole), helped, but believe me, I knew Galvin and Appell were there. In the past, I’ve had problems because of concentrating on who was behind me. Tonight, I didn’t look and just drove as fast as could.”
The 20-lap Mini Stock feature saw Jeff “Soup” Civardi leading the early-going before overtaken by Jack Aquilina. Next, it was Ray Christian III taking the point. Executing a daring last-lap maneuver, Kyle James moved into the lead, going-on to score his second-career victory. Following was point-leader Ken Cassidy Jr., Phil Evans, Christian, and Lou Bellisle.
In 20-lap Legends action, Jason Palmer passed early leader Dan Bisignano on lap-10 in going-on to score his fifth Saturday night victory of the year. Shaun Buffington, Bisignano, Michael Gervais Jr., and Mark Esposito followed.
“Tonight the car was just remarkable right out of the box,” stated Palmer. In practice I think we may have set a record with a lap of 16.65 which is really fast for a Legends car. We started near the back, went to the outside, and kept passing cars. It was just a great run.”
Robert Norman scored a career-first victory in the 20-lap Super-X Car feature. He was followed by Jon Porter, Kevin Moon, Greg Moran Jr., and Ray Phillips.
Action continues next Saturday evening at the Speedbowl with a full slate of action for the NASCAR Whelan All American Series, plus X-Cars and the annual “Faster Paster” event.
Please log-on to www.speedbowl.com for breaking news as well as information on upcoming events at the Speedbowl.
SK MODIFIED (35); 1. Keith Rocco, 2. Ron Yuhas Jr., 3. Dennis Gada, 4. Jeff Pearl, 5. Tyler Chadwick, 6. Rob Janovic Jr., 7. Don Fowler, 8. Dillon Moltz, 9. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., 10. Wendell Dailey, 11. Glenn Pressel III, 12. Dan LaJeunesse, 13. Diego Monahan, 14. Matt Gallo, 15. Mike Sweeney, 16. Rich Hammann, 17. Bill Benoit, 18. Wayne Arute, 19. Walt Hovey Jr., 20. Pete Pavone Jr., 21. Jeff Paul, 22. Ed Reed Jr., 23. Shawn Monahan.
LATE MODEL (30); 1. Bruce Thomas Jr., 2. Vin Esposito, 3. Keith Rocco, 4. Joe Curioso III, 5. Tim Jordan, 6. Jeff Pearl, 7. Jeff Smith, 8. Rich Staskowski, 9. Ed Reed Jr., 10. Dave Zemke, 11. Robert LeBlanc Jr., 12. Phil Rondeau, 13. Mark Hudson, 14. Rich Duranti, 15. Ken Bamford, 16. Rick Nelson, 17. Dan Holben.
SPORTSMAN (20); 1. Ed Lamb Jr., 2. Josh Galvin, 3. Nate Appell, 4. Walt Hovey Jr., 5. Brandon Plemons, 6. Mark Cooper, 7. Al Stone III, 8. Sean Curtis, 9. Jack Aquilina, 10. Mark Lajoie, 11. John Puglisi, 12. Kevin Gamborcorta, 13. Ronnie Oldham Jr., 14. Chucky Rogers, 15. “Grandpa Jim” Procaccini, 16. Randy Waterman, 17. Jon Porter, 18. Tim Fogg, 19. Joe Nogiec, 20. Zachary Fisher, 21. Chris Meyer.
MINI STOCK (20); 1. Kyle James, 2. Ken Cassidy Jr., 3. Phil Evans, 4. Ray Christian III, 5. Lou Bellisle, 6. Andrew Becker, 7. Nick Pappacoda, 8. Jack Aquilina, 9. Jeff Mehlenbacher, 10. Ian Brew, 11. Randy Churchill Jr., 12. Mark Panaroni, 13. Ben Bargnesi, 14. Sean Caron. 15. Charles Canfield, 16. Bill Leonard, 17. Ryan Cipows, 18. David Sylvia, 19. Jackie Wolfram, 20. Jeff “Soup” Civardi, 21. Christina Cunliffe.
LEGENDS (20); 1. Jason Palmer, 2. Shaun Buffington, 3. Dan Bisignano, 4. Michael Gervais Jr., 5. Mark Esposito, 6. Ryan Morgan, 7. Adam Gada, 8. Justin Rau, 9. Ed Field, 10. Carl Blandina, 11. Max Zachem, 12. Joe Cipriano, 13. Matt Maring, 14. David Stanton, 15. Tom Gray, 16. Pete Portante, 17. John Weaver, 18. Joe Gada, 19. Bob Weymouth, 20. Carl Bohn, 21. Dan McGourin, 22. Kevin Nowak, 23. Scott Tapley, 24. Jeff Paul, 25. Glen Thomas Jr.
SUPER-X CARS (20); 1. Robert Norman, 2. Jon Porter, 3. Kevin Moon, 4. Greg Moran Jr., 5. Ray Phillips, 6. Mark Boisvert, 7. Gary Avery Jr., 8. Ken Downing III, 9. Dan Moon, 10. Larry Maskell Jr.
CURRENT POINT STANDINGS, (TOP-10);
(SK MODIFIED); Dennis Gada (892), Rob Janovic Jr. (880), Keith Rocco (874), Tyler Chadwick (818), Ron Yuhas Jr. (816), Jeff Paul (802), Jeff Pearl (778), Dug Coby (680), Mike Sweeney (472), Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. (472).
(LATE MODEL); Bruce Thomas Jr. (900), Tim Jordan (834), Vin Esposito (776), Ed Reed Jr. (676), Rich Staskowski (624), Joe Curioso III (556), Larry Goss (544), Robert LeBlanc Jr. (536), Ron Yuhas Jr. (534), Jeff Smith (528).
(SPORTSMAN); Al Stone III (944), Walt Hovey Jr. (886), Ron Oldham Jr. (846), Mark Cooper (768), Jack Aquilina (734), Josh Galvin (732), John Puglisi (704), “Grandpa Jim” Procaccini (648), Ed Lamb Jr. (630).
(MINI STOCK); Ken Cassidy Jr. (920), Randy Churchill Jr. (876), Lou Bellisle (842), Ray Christian III (708), Mark Panaroni (698), Jack Aquilina (684), Kyle James (674), Phil Evans (668), Ben Bargnesi (668), Ian Brew (606).
(SAT. LEGENDS); Shaun Buffington (494), Michael Gervais Jr. (490), Jason Palmer (484), Adam Gada (420), Ryan Morgan (370), Mark Esposito (338), Max Zachem (300), Carl Blandina (276), Art Moran Jr. (268), Justin Rau (250).
Sources: Dave Dykes/Waterford Speedbowl PR