Keith Rocco celebrates a sweep of both SK Modified features Wednesday at Thompson Speedway
THOMPSON – Keith Rocco came into Wednesday at Thompson Speedway looking for his first SK Modified feature win of the season at the track.
He ended the night on a streak.
Rocco capped the evening with a victory in the second 25-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature, two sweep the events of the night at the track.
Ryan Preece of Berlin was second and Nick Ladyga of Voluntown third.
It proved a big night for the Rocco family overall at Thompson. Keith’s twin brother Jeff rolled to his third consecutive victory in the 30-lap Late Model feature.
Keith Rocco ended seventh in the Late Model feature after being involved in a mid-race wreck battling near the front.
“It was a good night for the Rocco family,” Keith Rocco said. “I wanted the Late Model race too. I thought we had a car that could have won that too but the tires got flat spotted and we were out to lunch after that.”
In the second SK Modified feature, Preece went to the lead on lap nine past Jay Sundeen with Rocco following to second.
On lap 14 Rocco got a look under Preece, but Preece was able to stave off the challenge. But two laps later Rocco made the move for the lead stick and left Preece behind the rest of the way.
Preece had come into the evening having won four of the six SK Modified features of the season.
“I’ve been waiting all year to get that Keith Rocco/Ryan Preece battle and I got it tonight and it was a lot of fun,” Rocco said. “It was a good race. You always want to run against the top guys here and tonight we were able to.”
Shawn, any word on where Cam McDermott was tonigh
Jimr,
I have no idea why he was missing.
I had the chance to mull around the pits at Thompson last night and what I discovered was quite disturbing. I have seen many posts on this site about rules being enforced or not at different tracks and in several of the Touring Series. I have not seen too much said about Thompson and thought it was because they are only running 6 races this season and car counts are at an all time low. For example in the Sunoco Mods they average 12 to 15 cars, of those 12 to 15 cars maybe 5 are capable of winning a race, I realize anything can happen and if those 5 were out of the race maybe someone else could win. What I discovered last night may be the “Real Story” about lack of cars and fans at Thompson Motorsports Parks oval track facility. In July Thompson ran what they call a Segment Race for the Sunoco Modifieds. It was 2 races of 20 laps each and 1 race of 10 laps. Points were awarded by your finishing position, 1 pt. for first, 2 pts. for second, ect., the driver with the lowest point total for the 3 segments was given the win for the night. The night of the segment race, the Rocco team had 2 cars on hand, the 16 for Rocco and the 76 for Eric Berndt, it was announced that Eric was at the track to boost car count for Rocco’s run at the National Championship. As it turned out there was not enough cars at the track to make a full field for the National Points but Eric did run the car and was given the go ahead to race for the win is what was announced. At the end of the 3 segments Eric Berndt had the least amount of points and was declared the winner of the race. Next up was tech and that is where the problems begin, the Dodge motor that was in the Ceravolo owned 76 was not legal for Thompson’s Sunoco Modified Division, no penalty was issued but the Ceravolo team was told not to bring that motor back to run in the Thompson Sunoco Modifieds. Last night the Ceravolo team showed up with both the 16 for Rocco and the 76 for Berndt, the difference is they took the Dodge motor out of the 76 of Berndt and put it into the 16 of Rocco, and as you can see by this article Rocco went on to win both 25 lap races! The Sunoco Modified pit area had a few angry drivers and car owners last night, there does not seem to be anyone in charge in the tech area or they are just not willing to follow the rules. Don’t know where Tapley fits into all this, but I think it is safe to say that this will probably be the last year of the so called Weekly Series divisions at Thompson Motorsports Park. What driver, car owner or fan wants to go to a track that has the most expensive entry fees along with the concession stands to watch races where the outcome is decided by clueless tech officials, or their boss. It appears no talent, skill or luck needed at Thompson, just have to be a buddy of someone in tech area. When you see this kind of thing happening, Mod Tour looks better every week, guess I will stick with that.
I had heard that the Dodge motor was illegal and was the reason why Waterford told them not to bring it there anymore either. It was pretty obvious that the 16 was a lot faster this week than when it was there the last time. Only the world series is left so what does the track care? I bet if this was happening at the beginning of the season it would be a different story. Bad enough that there were 15 cars there for a double feature night. The world series should pull in a couple more cars. Although that’s what people have been saying about these nights where the sk’s had special races and nobody else showed up. If you needed more proof that Thompson’s premier division was in trouble, this is it. I predict less “weekly” racing for next season.
Mod Fan, I know nothing about what goes on in the pits at Thompson, but I hope your “Real Story” on that is more accurate than your car count numbers. (4/12 = 23 SK, 6/10 = 17 SK, 7/8 = 14 SK, 7/29 = 14 SK, 8/12 = 16 SK, 8/29 15 SK) That’s an average of 16.5, not great, but better than than your 12 to 15. The last couple times I have gone to Stafford there was only 16 SK’s, so for Thompson to have 15 on a Wednesday night I was not disappointed.
Where in the rules does it say the open Mopar engine is not legal? It’s still a written rule for legal use at both tracks. Haters gonna hate .. Go Larrys’ Power !!!
mod tour fan aka “muffy” I guess we can agree that in almost any division in Ct 1/3 of the field is capable of winning.as for the cerevolo cars I guess you were there for the engine swap ? or did they just swap panels from car to car ? a dodge vs chevy engine visually is obvious to almost any pit dweller. you argument doesn`t add up. if the engine was illegal as you say and they returned with dodge power they should not have been allowed on the track to begin with. besides your “guy” wasn`t even running. I guess you have a problem with good equipment and a good driver winning
#1 Eric was always running for the win. #2 both of those cars were dodges, so chew on that. #3 the track never said don’t bring a dodge back.
Mod tour fan has about as much knowledge of what’s going on as a turkey sandwich. His stupidity makes his “spotting” look good.
Eric was always running for the win? Did Todd not say he only brought the car there to help with national points for Rocco? Then when there weren’t enough cars either way told Eric go ahead and go for it.?
Paul, You are missing the point, 23 cars at the Ice Breaker could be correct, I am not going to bother to look it up, the Ice Breaker is the first race of the season, cars from other tracks always show up to try out their cars, never to be seen for the rest of the season. How many are actually a threat to win the race, 5 or 6, most are what they call pack fillers. Most have never even finished in the top 5 at any track and some of the cars look like they were from 20 years ago. How many actually finish the race, I don’t care to take the time to look that up, I do believe in the 2nd Sunoco Mod race on 8/29, 8 cars finished the race with 2 or 3 with a chance of winning? Maybe you enjoy that kind of racing, I do not. Last night Stafford only had 15 cars, but the difference is at least 10 have actually won races!
speed kills, I have been attending races at Thompson for many years, there has always been a problem in the tech area, when they had good people that actually knew what they were looking for, any penalty that was attempted to be issued to certain teams was over ruled by the owner. It has been that way for years, I assume one of the reasons why they have the Officials they have now, the good ones have come and gone, same with most of the good teams. I have no problem with a good driver with good equipment winning races, as long as it is legal equipment. That is not always the case at Thompson, never has been and probably never will be, remember, I am talking about the weekly series, not any of the touring series. It could be that the Ceravolo team simply tore the duct tape off the car Berndt drove in July Segment race and had Rocco drive that car, after all how long does it take to remove or put on a piece of duct tape?
Mod Tour Fan, one car is a troyer and one is a spafco. Its not a matter of Duct tape. You must of not of noticed that when you were mulling around the pit area. I agree though that when Ryan Preece was caught with a bum head and no one disqualified him, then they wrote another line in the rulebook to clarify what everyone already knew, Guys were soured.
Mod tour nobody, Your name is very appropriate, read the article on this site from July 29 Segment race, note the comments by both Ceravolo and Berndt. I assume you are a member of the 16/76 team as you claim to know so much about the cars and what went on in tech. Hope your duties are limited to cleaning the cars, as you do not appear capable of much more. That last comment, just my opinion..
I don’t know how anybody can be content with 15 modifieds on a big track like Thompson. Hope the management doesn’t have the same outlook.
TC FAN, No I did not inspect the 16 or 76, from a distance they look the same to me. My original post was the motor from 76 that Berndt won with in Segment race was put in the 16 for Rocco. I have heard Rocco usually drives Troyer cars, so I will go out on a limb here and say Rocco must have been in the Troyer car. Interesting that you bring up Preece as his owners were quite vocal about the motor in the 16 on Wed. night. As for “Muffy”, he would have known the difference between a Troyer and a Spafco, so all you PI’s on here, hate to break the news to you, although I have heard of “Muffy”, the only thing I know about him is that he is a spotter that spots for various teams. Never met him never, spoke to him, and as I write this I would assume he is at some race track spotting for someone.
I guess the lesson of the day is, do not let others use your computer to check out racedayct. I was not at Thompson on Wednesday, therefore do not have anything to say about what went on at the track or in the pits, unlike Mod Tour Fan!
Just my thoughts, you’ll know you’ve seen Muffy when you spot the guy in the pit area with an off white, terry cloth sweat band made in the final year of Dr. J’s 76ers NBA career wrapped around a giant mop of hair the likes of which seemingly hasn’t seen even a small amount of shampoo since the Stafford banquet.
You may also take note of the Racing Electronics tool belt wrapped around his ample waist, stuffed with enough doo-dads and assorted garbage to make the most seasoned Verizon service tech jealous.
This gentleman is often seen wandering the “paddock” at tracks through out New England trying to make contact with the ever dwindling numbers of teams and drivers that have not yet fired him due to his lack of cognitive abilities to assess situations quickly and pass the on track info to the poor driver in a timely fashion and who inevitably ends up driving into a wreck that was two corners ahead because “Muffy” was slow on the call.
DFG, I know who Muffy is, it is Mod Tour Fan using my computer that does not know who he is. I assure you this is the last time Mod Tour Fan will have access to my computer, speaking of Muffy, I believe I just saw a picture of him on NASCAR Hometracks updates from Riverhead, it appears he was at the James Civali car, possibly spotting for him tonight?
What is the real reason why Thompson can’t draw a full field SK’s? (18 cars) For years it was the economy, trying to run on Wednesday or Thursday nights or the rule book, and now Muffy claims it’s tech. Who has left because of tech?
If you look at the last 5 years, probably 90% of the races were won by Preece, Rocco, Woody, TC or Kerry Malone. Of the cars that come to mind that have left, I read the 00 was going to be sold and Eddie Partridge sold his SK’s. I don’t know about any of the Perry cars, Ricky Shawn, Danny Cates, Tyler Chadwick, Wayne Arute, Carl Oberg, Paul Newcomb, Tom Abele, Jodi Johnson, Nichole Morgillo…..but most of them were just what Muffy calls “pack fillers” anyway.
WOW, how did I get pulled into this???
-Although I am not Mod Tour Fan (but I know him and he knows me), I agree with most of his points
-Thanks Speed Kills, slow down your proving it does kill brain cells
-Just my thoughts- yeah, I do know the difference, thanks for the credit 🙂
-You other clowns bashing me….thanks! That must mean I am doing something right in order to get haters….keep it coming. We all could use more idiotic comedy to brighten up our days.
-DFG, Your just an idiot and really have no clue….I feel sorry for you, really I do.
-Have the guts to put your real name
-Let me know when you find it……a clue!
-and yes, it was Civali at Riverhead
Sorry Muffy, Did not intend to bring out the “Muffy Bashers” with my posts on this site. I know you are not Mod Tour Fan as do you, so that is all that matters. They say great minds think alike, and I will just leave it at that. Paul, It is my understanding that the owner of the #00 had enough of the BS that goes on in tech, at Thompson, similar to that which went on last Wed. I believe he decided not to waste his time or money. As far as Eddie Partridge, I think he has bigger fish to fry, possibly does not have time for SK or Sunoco Mod racing. The Perry Family is still at the track when Thompson runs, they prepare the Stan Mertz owned #6 for Woody Pitkat. Dennis Perry did run last Wed. in the first 25 lap race, he gave up his ride in the next 25 lap race to Woody Pitkat, as the #6 had a mechanical issue, Pitkat is the points leader. Don’t know where Ricky Shawn is, Danny Cates got married and may have started a family, Tyler Chadwick runs Waterford, Wayne Arute is probably selling real estate somewhere, hope he is better at that as he could not drive, Carl Oberg, not sure what he is doing, Paul Newcomb, personally do not remember him, Tom Abele is running some WSMT races and 32 Signs, Jodi Johnson may have figured out she just didn’t have what it took and Nichole Morgillo also got married and could be starting a family also.