{"id":4117,"date":"2011-01-14T23:38:14","date_gmt":"2011-01-15T04:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-01-14T23:38:14","modified_gmt":"2011-01-15T04:38:14","slug":"jesse-ruocco-joins-2011-sk-light-modified-rookie-class-stafford-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/01\/jesse-ruocco-joins-2011-sk-light-modified-rookie-class-stafford-motor-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"JESSE RUOCCO JOINS 2011 SK LIGHT MODIFIED ROOKIE CLASS AT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

JESSE RUOCCO JOINS 2011 SK LIGHT MODIFIED ROOKIE CLASS AT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Stafford Springs, CT)— In recent years the SK Light Modified division has
\nbecome a stomping ground for the youngest competitors of Stafford Speedway
\nand 2011 will be no different. The Earth Technologies Racing team will be
\nbringing a new driver to the paddock, 15-year-old Jesse Ruocco, son of 2006
\nSK Modified\u00ae champion Frank Ruocco.
\n\u201cI am really excited to get a chance to race SK Lights,\u201d said Ruocco. \u201cI\u2019ve
\nbeen racing the Wild Thing Kart Series for five years now and I am ready to
\nmake the move to the full-size cars.\u201d
\nJesse will have a slight advantage in 2011 with an already proven race team
\nbehind him. His crew chief Steve Butova, the 2010 Craftsman Mechanic of the
\nYear, has established himself as one of the best in the Stafford paddock.
\nButova has crewed on the SK Modified\u00ae #91 team for owner\/driver Frank
\nRuocco, and in 2010 they accumulated four victories and a third place finish
\nin the season point standings.
\n\u201cMy goal for the 2011 season is to keep the car in one piece,\u201d said the
\nyounger Ruocco. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to be able to improve week after week and
\neventually be a competitor at the front of the field. With Steve behind me
\nI know I\u2019ll have one of the best cars on the track so it comes down to me
\nbeing patient and gaining seat time.\u201d
\nPatience will be key in the SK Light Modified division in 2011 as it will be
\nfull of rookies young and old.
\n\u201cI have a big advantage over some of the other rookies,\u201d said Ruocco. \u201cI
\nhave my dad to give me advice, he has a lot of laps in a modified at
\nStafford, and I listen to him as much as I can.\u201d
\nJesse is another graduate of the highly competitive Wild Thing Kart Series.
\nHis resume includes numerous wins in both the Junior and Senior Outlaw
\ndivisions along with the 2008 Junior Outlaw Championship. The Wild Thing
\nKart Series has become a great development series for Stafford competitors
\nto make the jump from the Mini-Mile to the Half-Mile. The 2011 season will
\nsee two Senior Outlaw rivals, Ruocco and Dylan Kopec, make the jump to the
\nSK Light Modifieds.
\n\u201cThe Sr. Outlaw division has become a great stepping stone for young
\ndrivers,\u201d said Wild Thing Kart promoter Wade Gagner. \u201cDrivers like Jesse
\nand Dylan put on an unbelievable show almost every Monday night and I can
\nguarantee that they will both bring that high level of competition to the SK
\nLights.\u201d
\nNot only is Jesse a budding racecar driver, he is also a student athlete at
\nNotre Dame High School in West Haven CT, where he plays right wing on the
\nvarsity hockey team. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing hockey for a long time and its
\nsomething that I really enjoy,\u201d said Ruocco. \u201cWhen it comes to racing I
\nthink it helps me. All the hard work on the ice helps me stay a little bit
\nsharper behind the wheel and get that extra inch out of the racecar.\u201d
\nRuocco will look to make his SK Light Modified debut at the season opening
\nCARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for April 29-May 1. The SK
\nLights will be joined by the Whelen Modified Tour as well as Stafford’s
\nother four NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions. Tickets for the
\n“Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are on sale now at the Speedway Box
\nOffice. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets,
\n$5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted
\nfree of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced at
\n$38.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking
\nwith overnight parking available.
\nFor more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
\n860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com
\n.<\/http:><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JESSE RUOCCO JOINS 2011 SK LIGHT MODIFIED ROOKIE CLASS AT STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Stafford Springs, CT)— In recent years the SK Light Modified division has become a stomping ground for the youngest competitors of Stafford Speedway and 2011 will be no different. The Earth Technologies Racing team will be bringing a new driver to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,197],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-stafford-connecticut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117","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=4117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}