Keith Rocco
Spending time over the past few years running in both the SK Modified and Late Model divisions at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, there have been plenty of double-win evenings between the divisions for Keith Rocco of Wallingford.
Saturday night he pulled off the trifecta.
Rocco won the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature and swept both 30-lap Late Model features at the track.
It was Rocco fifth victory of the season in the SK Modified division.
Dennis Perry of Pawcatuck was second and Ted Christopher of Plainville third.
Rocco’s Late Model victories marked his fourth and fifth in that division this year.
Anthony Flannery of East Hampton was second in the first Late Model feature and Jason Palmer of Berlin third.
Palmer was second in the division’s second feature and Jeff Smith of Old Lyme third.
Monte Gibbs of Killingworth won the first of two 25-lap Limited Sportsman features. Chris Meyer of Norwich was second and Charles Beal of Ledyard third.
Meyer won the second Limited Sportsman feature with Gibbs finishing second and Al Stone III of Durham third.
Jordan Hadley of Quaker Hill won the 25-lap Mini Stock feature. Charles Canfield of East Haven was second and Sean Caron of East Hampton third.
Turn 2 gate got hit again…Doug Curry absolutely destroyed it in the mini stock heat. I thought he was dead. So much of the car went outside of the track before he hit the end of the backstretch wall. It’s a good thing his car had a lot of meat in the front end. Sooner or later a Legends car or a smaller X car is gonna hit that gate and it won’t be pretty. Long night again, got out at 11:15. Took 75 minutes to run 33 laps of the Legend feature from Thursday. The it took an hour to get the gate fixed. Limited Sportsman put on two awesome races. Second Late model race was great. Rocco nudged Palmer just enough to push him out of the groove in turn 4 for the win.
Much press about the turn 2 pit gate lately, good idea for the north pit however management needs to reconsider the construction, design and placement of the gate before someone gets seriously injured. Never mind the time it adds to the racing card to repair it every time it gets hit.
Are they gonna wait for someone to get killed before that put the wall back in
turn two gate should not be there. they need to put the wall back in before they kill someone. that is the third time someone has gone threw the wall there. an sk mod went threw there 4 or 5 years ago and also and got the beginning of the cement wall
They can either remove the turn 2 gate – or if they insist on having it there – make it resemble the turn 4 gate.
Is the placement of the turn 2 gate the same as the turn 4 gate.
The gate has been destroyed twice in a matter of weeks. That’s just unacceptable. Having a gate in turn 2 is a convenient thing but it’s obviously not working out. I’d be surprised if there isn’t a change next week, or if the gate is completely removed.
I can not believe there are not more posts on the turn 2 pit gate it might help if there was a full story about it the only way the issue is going to be fixed is if the drivers talk about it.
The turn 4 pit gate configuration doesn’t appear to be particularly safe, but the gate’s in a position that is much less likely to be hit by a car during a race. Let’s hope the turn 2 gate problem can be addressed soon.
How many times has CrossBow in the Critical Signs number 22 started on the pole (I believe seven times now ) and yet to post a top 10 finish because of it . Whose idea was it to bring him out of retirement Im thinking Charlie Savage or Moose Hewitt would’ve been a better choice !
I think that management should go to Thompson and take a look at the turn the turn 2 gate they have and its location. Knock on wood they don’t seem to have an issue there.
I think the way to fix the issue is take the gate out of the radius of the turn and install it in the straightaway.
Just a fella why don’t you drive it? You think it’s easy go for it. And that gate should not be there period. It should be just like turn 4 but a different angle. The track is shaped a little different in 2.
” that is the third time someone has gone threw the wall there. an sk mod went threw there 4 or 5 years ago and also and got the beginning of the cement wall”…. hmmmmm, I wonder how an sk mod went THROUGH there 4 or 5 years ago, since they just put the gate in this year….. just sayin’. On another note, the turn 2 gate was a great idea in theory, but it is in a pretty bad spot. In my opinion, a chute type design would be ideal for that location. Glad nobody has been seriously injured yet and would like to commend the Speedbowl staff, including the guys on the welding truck and Bubby Brouwer for an expedited jod repairing the gate. At one point, it was looking like they would’ve had to postpone the remainder of the show. These people did a great job in fixing the gate in an hour.
Yes mike grate job now fix it pay the money and have someone who know how to weld and design it the right way not do what costs the least, if you ever looked at the weld job or if you knew how or anything about welding you would know a single pass weld is not how you weld 1′ steel or even use c channel realy just do it right……..
Better yet someone should ask the person running the track did he get 3 quotes and did he choose the cheapest one thats the roomer going around
Maybe the drivers should get together and turn up the heat up on management to get it done right or relocate it on to the straightaway. My vote is for relocation like Thompsons.
hey mike seriuca, i said the sk went threw the wall not the gate , yes the gate is new this year but if you remember there was an armco barrier there before the gate, ask Harry Reheaume if his sk ever went threw that wall and got the corner of the cement wall almost like sat night. . better yet ask webby . he should remember. i was there that night so i do know what i am talking about. its not a safe place for a gate
Let’s face it, nothing is going to change until a driver is taken out by ambulance. Good idea to add a gate for the north pits just should have been thought out a little more. Just man up, admit the mistake and fix it.
Turn 4 should go back to its old configuration (a “chute” minus the gate) – this would allow drivers to re-enter a race while the field is pacing to go green the next time by. Turn 2 should be the same as turn 4 – a”chute” without a gate – this would allow the backstretch wall to run down into the pit area behind the chute the same way the homestretch wall runs down into the pits behind the turn 4 chute.
Newtown Jack, I think the reason they put a gate at turn 4 is because of what happened last year when the tour car came onto the track under green. It was one of the craziest things I’ve seen. I’ve been to tracks where cars can exit and enter the track under green, fairly safely. Unfortunately the speedbowls pit areas and track itself is not designed for anything like that.