Rocco One Step Away From National Title
Passes Christopher on final lap at Stafford for win No. 19
Stafford Springs, CT — Keith Rocco used a last-lap pass to collect the win at Stafford Motor Speedway Friday night and to move within a win of clinching the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship.
Rocco slipped by Ted Christopher on the final lap of the second 40-lap SK Modified Division feature at the half-mile asphalt oval.
The victory was the 19th overall of the season for the 25-year-old Wallingford, Conn., driver and gives him 808 of a maximum 810 points. He can unofficially wrap up the national title Saturday night with a win at the Waterford (Conn.) Speedbowl. Friday was his eighth win at Stafford, while he has nine at Waterford.
All points are unofficial pending verification and confirmation by the NASCAR Points & Membership Department. The official points are released each Tuesday.
Of Rocco’s wins this season, 17 have come against a maximum field of 20 cars. He also has a 43-point (19-car) win at Thompson (Conn.) International Raceway on April 10 and a 39-point (17-car) win at Thompson on May 27. A driver’s best 18 results through Sunday, Sept. 19 are counted toward their state and national points totals, and the champions are decided on overall points total.
“At least now we only need one more,” Rocco told the Hartford (Conn.) Courant following the race. “It’s one closer. How do you really take it in any different? From the day I started racing I’ve been out there to win races. I’ve calmed down a little bit and keep the wheels on it now I’ve got a lot better shot now than I did when I first started.”
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.
If two drivers finish the season with identical points, the positions are determined by a tiebreaker procedure. If two drivers finish with the maximum 810 points, the eventual tiebreaker is the first driver to have achieved the 18th 45-point win.
Overall, Rocco has 19 wins, 29 top fives and 37 top 10s in 40 starts. Craig Preble of Yuma, Neb., entered the weekend second in points at 769. Preble also has 19 wins — 11 coming against the maximum 20-car field.
Rocco struggled in the first 40-lap feature Friday, which was a makeup of the July 16 rain-out and was won by Frank Ruocco. Rocco pitted several times to adjust the car en route to a seventh-place run.
In the second feature, which had 24 starters, Rocco moved into second following a multi-car accident on a Lap 19 restart. He briefly challenged Christopher for the lead with 10 laps to go before settling back in line. On the white-flag lap, Rocco made his move to the inside in Turn 1 and pulled alongside him on the backstretch before edging ahead off the final lap.
Christopher, the 2001 national champion who entered the weekend fifth in points, finished second.
Rocco has finished second in the national standings last year and fourth in 2008.
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: NASCAR WA-AS PR