Keith Rocco
THOMPSON – Keith Rocco began defense of his 2013 Thompson Speedway SK Modified championship in perfect fashion.
Rocco, of Wallingford, held off Ryan Preece and Woody Pitkat in the late going to win the season opening 30-lap NASCAR All-American Series SK Modified feature at the Icebreaker Sunday at Thompson Speedway.
Pitkat, of Stafford, was second and Preece, of Berlin, third.
It was the second victory of the day and third of the weekend for Rocco. He won the Late Model feature Sunday at Thompson and and the Late Model feature Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl. He was second in the SK Modified feature Saturday at Waterford. He was 20th in the NASCAR Modified Tour Icebreaker 150 at Thompson after retiring with mechanical issues after 123 laps.
“This car was awesome,” Rocco said after the SK Modified feature at Thompson. “I’ve got to thank the team. I’m spreading them thin this weekend between two tracks and five or six cars. They’re what gets me here.”
Division rookie Cam McDermott had checked out from the field before a caution flew on lap 21 to bunch the field back up. Rocco went the lead on the restart and never trailed again.
“We were gaining on him little by little, but he was fast,” Rocco said. “We needed that caution in the worst way because I was definitely to abuse this thing to need.”
On the final lap 25 restart, Rocco and Preece made contact in turn one, allowing Pitkat to move to second place.
“I just got in a little hard,” Rocco said. “It’s tough when you don’t get the good jump. We got a little free on the restart there. We had to drive in a little further.”
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