Rocco Chases Perfection In Connecticut
Whelen All-American Series Leader Increases Total To 16 Wins
Daytona Beach, FL — If the old adage is “you have to lose one before you can win one,” Keith Rocco is long overdue for a championship.
The 25-year-old Wallingford, Conn., driver has finished in the top five in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national points standings in each of the last three years — second (2009), fourth (2008), and fourth (2007). In time, Rocco has spent significant portions of the season atop the points standings, only to watch somebody else walk off the stage at the awards banquet with the big trophy.
Rocco is determined not to let that happen this year.
He won Friday night at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, and then again Saturday night at Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl. It gives him 16 wins in 28 starts and further cemented his hold on first place with 788 points.
“We ain’t taking our foot off the pedal until Sept. 19,” said Rocco of the deadline for races to count toward the national championship, as well as U.S. state and Canadian province titles. “There isn’t any slowing down. No cutting the week short in the shop. We’re just making sure we’re well maintained and staying on top of our game.
“As much as races are won on the track, they’re won in the shop, too.”
Pos Driver Starts Wins Points
1 Keith Rocco 28 16 788
2 Craig Preble 19 12 692
3 Justin T Johnson 16 9 603
4 Bill Leighton, Jr 20 0 584
5 Matt Buller 19 3 557
Craig Preble, of Yutan, Neb., remains second in points with 692, racing his dirt crate Late Model at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., on Saturday and at I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Neb., on Sunday. Preble has 12 wins and 19 top fives in 19 starts.
Justin Johnson of Durham, N.C., is third with 605 points. He has nine wins, 13 top fives and 16 top 10s in 16 starts in the asphalt Late Model divisions at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and Radford, Va.
Bill Leighton Jr. (584 points) and Matt Buller (557), who race against Preble at the two Nebraska tracks, are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the national standings.
NATIONAL TOP 500 | STATE/PROVINCE TOP 20
Rocco was the only driver in the top five to race this past weekend.
A driver’s best 18 results are counted toward their state and national points totals, and the champions are decided on overall points total.
Under the points structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the race winner received two points for every car in the event up to 20. Second place received two fewer points, and so-on through the field. Race winners received an additional five bonus points. For example, if there are 20 cars, the winner received 45 points, second gets 38 and third 36. If there are 15 cars, the winner received 35 points, second gets 28 and third, 26.
Fourteen of Rocco’s 16 wins have come with a maximum 20-car field, leaving him just 22 points shy of a perfect score of 810.
The last drivers to record a similar season under the NASCAR championship format were the late Larry Phillips and current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle in 1995. Phillips and Biffle achieved the maximum points under the system at the time; Phillips won the crown by virtue of more overall wins (32-27).
Track Starts Wins Points
Thompson 7 2 158
Stafford 10 7 315
Waterford 11 7 315
TOTALS 28 16 788
Rocco has 16 wins, 23 top fives and 27 top 10s in 28 starts. He began this past weekend with his worst finish of the season, a 17th at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway, before bouncing back with victories in the asphalt Modified divisions at the other two Connecticut NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks.
Rocco realizes that his racing calendar is a bit of old school scheduling.
Only 13 other drivers have run more races this season than Rocco has won.
For Rocco, it’s the way his father raced in the late 1980s, and it’s what he’s grown up around. Racing three nights a week is the norm for him, and he wears it as a badge of honor.
“To be one of the few that does that, it does feel like I’m a bit of a throwback,” said Rocco.
The biggest reward for the long hours in the shop and the dominance on the race track, though, would come in the form of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship trophy he’s been chasing.
Track, state and provincial champions and the top three finishers in the national standings earn invitations to the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet. The winner of the national championship will also earn a secure spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR PR