WATERFORD \u2014 His accomplishments at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl are mind-boggling. Keith Rocco has racked up 121 wins in his 13 seasons at the Bowl, 15 more than any other competitor. He\u2019s the all-time win leader in the SK Modified division with 73 victories. He\u2019s also nailed down eight track championships, including five in the SK Modifieds, and has won the last three SK crowns in a row.
\nEven with all those accomplishments in his resume, Rocco says his desire and determination remain at full speed. He\u2019s just as hungry as he ever was.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing beats winning races,\u201d Rocco said. \u201cWhen you get older, it does get more difficult in the shop, especially when you and your crew do all the work on the car. And I have a lot more going on in my life, with two kids and a lawn to mow.
\n\u201cBut when you step on the track, it makes it all worth it.\u201d
\n<\/p>\n
Rocco will be in action Saturday at the 2016 season opening Blastoff. Ten Divisions will be making the debuts Saturday, including the SK Modifieds.<\/p>\n
That means Rocco will be out to defend his title.
\n\u201cNothing has changed from last year,\u201d Rocco said. \u201cWe have the same car, same team. Hopefully we can pick up where we left off. Obviously, we\u2019ll be shooting for victories. We always have, and we always will.\u201d
\nRocco won the final race of 2015, the Modified Nationals, as he fought off the challenges posed by Tyler Chadwick, Ted Christopher, Rob Janovic and Diego Monahan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe missed the opening practice because we didn\u2019t want to show all our cards,\u201d Rocco said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll be ready.\u201d
\nSo will Chadwick, who missed winning his second SK championship by just four points.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s given me extra motivation to get ready for the season,\u201d Chadwick said. \u201cI have been on both sides of the championship picture \u2014 I\u2019ve won one and I\u2019ve lost one, and last year taught me I\u2019m capable of winning another one. I\u2019m much more focused.\u201d
\nChadwick has upgraded his game. His team has renovated his back-up car, Old Betty, and it has become his new ride for 2016.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not a new car, but it feels like one,\u201d Chadwick said. \u201cIt\u2019s the best piece I\u2019ve had in a few years. We practiced last week, and we did everything we wanted to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chadwick knows the Speedbowl\u2019s SK competition level also has been upgraded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is better than beating the best in the business,\u201d Chadwick said. \u201cThere are going to be a lot more good teams this year. And there\u2019s also Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher. Last year they had everyone\u2019s number. I definitely hope to stay with those guys this year.\u201d
\nThat\u2019s why Chadwick and his team made sweeping changes to his car.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t come back with the same stuff we had last year and hope to run with those guys,\u201d Chadwick said. \u201cWe knew we had to make some changes. We made those changes and now we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ted Christopher finished third in the SK standings in 2015, 13 points out of the lead. He led the division in wins, however, with eight. The same car-driver combination is back for another season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe practiced last week, and the car started to come around,\u201d Christopher said. \u201cI\u2019m happy.\u201d
\nHe\u2019s also healthy. Christopher underwent rotator-cuff surgery on his right shoulder during the off-season and now has 95 percent motion back in the arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept it a secret last year, but I was driving on adrenaline,\u201d Christopher said. \u201cBut now I\u2019m 100 percent healthy.\u201d
\nAnd that means he\u2019s in perfect shape to renew his rivalry with Rocco, one of the best in Modified racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of fun last year,\u201d Christopher said. \u201cWe seem to mirror each other. And we\u2019ll probably be doing it again this year.\u201d
\nAlso expected to be part of the field are Speedbowl veterans such as Janovic Jr., Monahan, Joe Gada, Tim Jordan, Paul Kusheba, Frank Mucciacciaro, Dylan Izzo, Ryan Morgan, Kyle James and Tom Abele Jr. Bo Gunning, a three-time Stafford SK champ, will be joining the field , along with rookie Paul Buzel, the reigning SK Light champ.<\/p>\n
The SK division is just one layer of Saturday\u2019s blastoff. The race program will also feature the Late Models, Limited Sportsmen, Mini Stocks, the Magnus Racing Products SK Lights, the Joie of Seating Legend Cars, the Micro Blue Bandoleros, the Coastline Fire Protection Super X Cars, the X Cars and the Mr. Rooter Trucks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WATERFORD \u2014 His accomplishments at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl are mind-boggling. Keith Rocco has racked up 121 wins in his 13 seasons at the Bowl, 15 more than any other competitor. He\u2019s the all-time win leader in the SK Modified division with 73 victories. He\u2019s also nailed down eight track championships, including five in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,1,15836],"tags":[15835],"class_list":["post-20554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-uncategorized","category-waterford-speedbowl","tag-waterford-speedbowd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}