Over a career that spans over 20 years in the SK Modified® division at Stafford Motor Speedway, Keith Rocco has amassed an amazing resume full of accolades. Rocco has won 77 SK Modified® feature races at Stafford, which trails only Ted Christopher, who won 109 races during his career. Rocco has also notched 4 career track championships (2008, 2010, 2017, 2020).
Thanks to his 2026 performance, Rocco is on the verge of capturing a fifth career championship, which would tie him with Bob Potter for the second most in Stafford history and leave him trailing only Christopher, who has 9 career SK titles at Stafford. Rocco goes into the September 25th feature event with a 76 point lead over his closest championship pursuer in the form of Todd Owen. With back to back SK Modified® feature events on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 as part of the NAPA Fall Final, if Rocco can maintain a margin of at least 52 points following the Saturday event, he will become Stafford SK Modified® champion.
“It would be a pretty good stat for us and it would be exciting for sure,” said Rocco. “But it’s still not here yet so we have to keep on working on things. Our plan is always to win races and that will be our plan again this weekend. Last week didn’t quite go as planned for us, but we had a good car and just didn’t have the opportunity to get up there. We need to just keep on doing what we’ve been doing all year long and don’t overthink anything.”
In addition to winning a championship for a fifth time in his Stafford career, Rocco will also be looking to capture a championship for a third different car owner. Rocco won his first title in 2008 racing for Jean-Guy Poulin and his subsequent three titles were won while driving for John Rufrano. Rocco would like to be able to deliver a championship to his current car owner Dan Avery.
“This championship would be different than the others because it would be for a different owner,” said Rocco. “I started with Jean-Guy Poulin and won with him, then I raced for John Rufrano and won with him, so it would be pretty cool to get one for Dan Avery and these guys.”
Rocco’s 2026 season has been a model of consistently strong finishes. He is tied with Marcello Rufrano for the division lead with 3 wins each, but he leads all SK drivers with 10 top-5 and 14 top-10 finishes. Since a pair of 13th place efforts spread out among the first four races of 2026, Rocco has not finished lower than 9th in the last 12 races and 10 of those 12 finishes have been top-6 efforts. Although his results on paper are already quite impressive, Rocco says his season could have been even greater up to this point.
“The season has been really good,” said Rocco. “We certainly had some bumps along the way that didn’t go as planned. I can think of at least 2 races where we should have been in victory lane. But it’s been a really good season. We’ve consistently been running up front, got some podium finishes, and it’s definitely been a fun year.”
Friday, September 25th is a Weekly Racing Program that will see all five Stafford divisions in action. Saturday, September 26th is the NAPA Fall Final which will see the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series, the SK Modifieds®, and SK Lights in feature action. Tickets for both races are available now online and tickets will also be available for purchase at the admission gates. If you are unable to attend the event, tune into the live stream on FloRacing Order Friday, September 25 Weekly Racing & Saturday September 26 NAPA Fall Final Tickets
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
