THOMPSON – At the Icebreaker on April 10 it was Keith Rocco and Mike Christopher Jr. putting on lead swapping show at the front for most of the Sunoco SK Modified feature at Thompson Speedway.
It was Rocco coming out on top that day after tussle on lap 29 of the 30-lap event.
Wednesday the show picked up where they left off in April between the pair, and once again it was Rocco celebrating at the end.
Rocco, of Wallingford, held off the charges of Mike Christopher Jr. over the final eight laps to win the 30-lap Sunoco SK Modified feature Wednesday at Thompson.
Christopher, of Wolcott, was second and Danny Cates of Chaplin third.
Christopher went the lead by Troy Talman on lap seven. By lap 22 Christopher was all over Rocco’s bumper.
Christopher made an aggressive bid to get under Rocco in turn four on lap 27, but had to back out of the move. From there Rocco was able to find some slight breathing room.
“I knew he was there,” Rocco said of the lap 27 move by Christopher. “It made my life easier for two laps. I’ll take it.”
“It didn’t work out and obviously we lost a lot of ground.” Christopher said. “I feel like we were real even. It is what it is. He’s one of the best, he knows how to get around this place. He’s just real good at the defensive part of driving and making it hard to get around him.”
It was the fourth consecutive SK Modified victory at Thompson for Rocco dating back to the 2020 season.
Eight cars on the track at the end. Awesome
Forum royalty atwitter with excitement over the tour mods but the poor old SK race can’t draw flies that are interested. Mainly because these SK affairs at Thompson boil down to Rocco and Christopher and last night Christopher wasn’t going to gamble on a risky move that could get Rocco riled and chasing him again were it to go south.
The Thompson faithful are every bit as loyal as those at the Speedbowl as are we Stafford fans. However if you are completely objective Thompson is the third best track for modified events mainly because the low groove has become a death sentence for most every team with few exceptions. Last night the 57, 6 and 25 gave a master class in why this is true. Preece the only one to dare step out of line and gets crushed. The bottom groove so bad now it won’t even allow a car to maintain just enough momentum to simply avoid losing the spot.
Best division at Thompson could be the Minis if they had three times the cars but the Limited Sportsman get it done race in and race out.
🌈🦄2020,
If there were 28 cars on the track at the end would it have made the last 20 lap battle between Rocco, Preece and later Williams better?
I understand using car count as a barometer for the overall health of a series or track division, but not always an individual race. I’ll take a 16-car field with 12 legit contenders to win over a 28-car field with six cars that can win.
i have seen GREAT RACES with 8 cars in feature , Quality over quantity every time… Doug the low groove was and still is not the place to pass at Thompson…. The High Groove reigns supreme at the High Banks.. You can use it to cross someone over on turn exits or diamond the corner like Fullers and swoop under the other driver… Same as before , High Groove and outside line on restarts is where you wanna be as a Driver…