(Press Release from Thompson Speedway)
Keith Rocco celebrates victory in the SK Modified division at Thompson Speedway earlier this season
It will be a busy night at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Wednesday night as six divisions and a drifting exhibition will all take on the 5/8 mile oval. The Whelen Modified Tour is the headliner with Timmy Solomito attempting to duplicate his efforts from Icebreaker weekend and get back to victory lane They will be joined by the NEMA Lites that are in town with point leader Danny Cugini. That is just the tip of the iceberg with a racing card that features fiercely contested battles in the track’s weekly divisions.
In the Sunoco Modified division the question is whether or not anyone can stop the roll that Keith Rocco is on right now. Rocco has won every one of the three events contested so far. His toughest competition has come from rival Ryan Preece, who has been runner-up to Rocco the last two times out. One driver that has risen to gain the attention of many in the class is the rookie driver Stephen Kopcik who is coming off his career best finish of third. So far he is one of few this season who could keep pace with the duo of Rocco and Preece.
“To be honest, I figured out how to drive the track,” said Kopcik. “I still have a lot to learn, but I learned a lot in that race. That whole day I was running better lines where I could drive it in and see what I could do different. The car was really on point that night too. With the car being good and me being able to figure it out we can get good results.”
Rocco is currently 3rd in the NWAAS National Standings and, like him, late model driver William Wall has garnered 3 victories as well. His strategy has been to simply stay out of trouble early and take a well-prepared car to the front when the time is right. Wall’s team has done their homework, but the rest are closing in. Larry Gelinas was able to secure a win in the first of two features during the last event, but crashed his race-winning ride the second feature when fluid from his car got under the tires.
In the Xtra Mart Limited Sportsman, the typically veteran dominated class has been taken over by the youth movement. Over the past few seasons the topic of conversation has revolved around drivers like Scott Sundeen, Larry Barnett, and Corey Hutchings. Each have been competitive, but have lacked that little extra speed to catch the young guns. Josh Wood has won twice and Phil Jacques earned an emotional first career win at the last race. Ryan Waterman is knocking on the door as well and it is only a matter of time before he is holding the trophy at the end of the night.
Similar to the Sunoco Modified division and Keith Rocco, Dave Trudeau has had the Mini Stock field covered. He has 3 straight wins and has shown no signs of slowing down. Wayne Burroughs Jr. is the only other driver this season to finish on the podium in every race and, as a result Trudeau hasn’t been able to distance himself in the point battle, even with his dominance in victory lane. He only holds a 14 point, or 7-feature position advantage over Burroughs in second. One slip in a 10-race schedule and the tables can turn quickly. When it is that close it puts even more pressure on running well in the heats, which pays five points to the winner, four for second place and so on through the top-5. Qualifying begins at 5pm on Wednesday night.
The Thompson 125 in scheduled for Wednesday, June 15. Qualifying heats for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series weekly divisions begins at 5pm, with pre-race ceremonies to follow at 6pm. Joining the racing card will be the NEMA Lite division. For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.thompsonspeedway.com.
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