Honey Badger of the Week Award: Jeff Rocco

Honey Badger don’t care and nobody epitomized that more this week than Waterford Speedbowl SK Modified driver Jeff Rocco of Wallingford. Well, maybe with a little flashback mixed in.

(Photo: http://photos8.org/)

Thanks to Randall and his glorious YouTube classic, we all know this, “Honey Badger don’t care.”

According to Randall: “The honey badger has been referred to by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless animal in all of the animal kingdom.”

So we know the Honey Badger: “Just takes what he wants. He has no regard for any other animal whatsoever.”

And therein lies the gist of the Honey Badger of the Week Award. It might be a good thing, might be a bad thing, we don’t really know. The award winner stands as someone each week who best exemplifies the attributes of the Honey Badger.

There was no “racing” this week at the Waterford Speedbowl, but there was a special event there Thursday. Some folks from the Howard Stern Show came to the track to do a special event and Rocco was there to check it out.

And suddenly the flashbacks to the ultimate Honey Badger move came back.

Some of the folks from the Stern show wanted to visually see what a car going around the track at speed looked like. It was then that track owner Terry Eames handed the keys of the Waterford Speedbowl Mustang pace car over to Rocco and told him to show the Stern Show folks how to make a car go fast around the Speedbowl.

It was an interesting situation considering the last time Rocco got behind the wheel of a pace car at the track. In 2001 a then 16-year old Rocco, with a still warm from the printer driver’s license in his pocket, took a dare from his twin brother Keith that people still talk about to this day.

Waterford Speedbowl SK Modified driver Jeff Rocco gets ready to take the track pace car around the oval to show Howard Stern Show personalities how fast he could get it going

With a touring stunt and thrill show on hand one evening at the Speedbowl in 2001, Rocco was dared by his brother to jump in the show’s pace car, which had been left in turn three with the keys in the ignition while the show went on on the frontstretch.

Rocco took the dare, jumped in the car and got a few donuts in before track officials got him out of the car. It proved to be the most exciting part of the thrill show that evening.

It was ultimate Honey Badger style before anybody ever knew Honey Badger style.

As Randall says: “The Honey Badger is really pretty badass. It has no regard for any other animal whatsoever.” and clearly Rocco showed that in 2001 and again Thursday.

Despite getting handed the keys Thursday, Rocco still put on a show, motoring the Mustang deftly around the track, squealing through the corners and dancing with the wall, opening the eyes of all the Stern Show personalities and production crew on site.

And this time he was able to climb out of the car without any assistance from any crew members looking to dismember him.

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Comments

  1. Jeff Rocco has impressed me this year. He may has struggled some but I think next year, if he still has a full time ride. He could be a legitimate threat to the championship run.

  2. The history of the honey badger is irrelevant in thism its the recent resurection of the honey badger is the issue here. Everyone on the local scene who is anyone in the traditional post race parking lot party scene KNOWS that Team Critical and the Junior Mafia brought the Honey Badger back to prominence and for you to have the audacity to continue to hand out this award is ridiculous. At least this time, someone who has experienced the Honey Badger first hand got the award. Give some credit where credit is due. WE brought the Honey Badger back. Where was this Honey Badger award last year or 2 years ago?… Exactly… Congrats to you Jeff from the dudes who brought the Honey Badger back from its 5 minutes of internet fame and into the forefront of the parking lot party. Honey Badger doesn't give a s*#t!

  3. Thanks for making an appearance James. Move along now.

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