Keith Rocco
Around the short tracks of the Northeast it’s a well known fact that Keith Rocco will give just about anybody a quality run for their money behind the wheel of racecar.
But when it comes to winning, Rocco is also well known for taking the top spot when it comes to banquet appearances.
It seems the Wallingford driver always has an ace up his sleeve to liven up any staid banquet.
And when it came to Friday’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series banquet in Charlotte, Rocco didn’t disappoint.
Anthony Anders, the 2014 Whelen All-American Series National Champion, was heavily criticized by many around short track racing for his manipulation of NASCAR’s system of rating short track drivers nationally. During the season Anders regularly filled up the fields at his home track of Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C. with start and park cars that he owned himself, essentially jobbing his way to a national title.
On Friday in Charlotte, Rocco – who finished third in the national championship race – didn’t let his opportunity on stage go to waste. Rocco, the 2010 Whelen All-American Series national champion, used his chance on the dais to perfectly roast Anders for his manipulation of the system.
“In this sport, you can never underestimate your competition and how far they are willing to go to win races and championships,” Rocco said in the speech. “With that being said, I’d like to congratulate our champion, Anthony Anders, and his entire team, including the 36, the 36x, the 36xx, the 01x and the 1x. Great job, guys.”
And the zingers just kept on coming from Rocco. Check out raw video below from Race22.com of Rocco’s speech.
Hypocrite alert – Rocco isn’t Mr. Innocent because he and his car owners have gamed the system in similar fashion in past seasons.
It’s funny how certain individuals in CT seem to think the racing world revolves around them.
That’s awesome!!
Best Banquet Speech Ever!
Jeez Andy B., isn’t there a mall Santa you could go heckle for being fake today? Or did you just get bored with going to Toys R Us the last couple weeks to tell random kids that Christmas got cancelled?
sour grapes and glass houses… you will NEVER go any further in NASCAR and this is why..you should have left out the dig.. it may be true but your home track also did its best over the years to get you your trip to Charlotte. yes you have a wonderful family and great sponsors/crew but you just shot yourself in the foot.. just my opinion..
Great job Keith. Didnt know you were so multi talented. Best for 2015. See you at Stafford.
It’s unfortunate that some people can’t take a joke. All divisions of NASCAR operate within very broad gray areas that EVERY team manipulates to their own advantage. Rocco took the opportunity to point it out in a very funny and entertaining way. Kudos to him. I thought it was hilarious!!!
LOL!!!!!
Cant put all the blame on the drivers alone.Some tracks allow crap to happen just so the light will shine on them for having national champions race at their track.NASCAR needs to open their eyes to this.Funny stuff. has happen before and will happen again as long as NASCAR just collects money from tracks and doesn’t do any checking on how things are run
lighten up Andy Keith does have a point I give him credit for making light of the situation and for your information Richie Evans complained about the same thing back in the 80’s but I guess you don’t like him either because he won a lot of races too so just go on being a hater and Keith will go on winning races and having fun,
Speedbowl put the lites out with mods so keith could get max points
Its a shame anyone would go to those extremes to win in that fashion.God bless him if he thinks he is the better person.Just a rich man playing games,with cars.Its his sandbox and toys to do with whatever he wants.What a joke it is.
Not a Rocco fan in particular, but I give him a ton of credit for putting this situation in a humorous light. By doing it this way I think he got his point across without ruffling anybody’s feathers….except for a couple of people above.
totally classless the apple doesnt fall far from the tree
NOT A FAN How is this any different that starting and parking cars for points ? It’s legal so WHAT’S your point ?