Keith Rocco two-for-two at Stafford after thrilling victory

It’s time to retire the “Kid Rock” nickname for Keith Rocco.

After a decade’s worth of dominance on the Connecticut Modified racing scene, “King Keith” suits him better.

Rocco was victorious for the second time in as many races in Friday night’s SK Modified feature at Stafford Motor Speedway. The race came down to another battle with longtime competitor Todd Owen, who led late. But with just two laps to go, Owen shot up the track in turn one after contact, allowing for Rocco to scoot by on what would be the winning pass.

“Tough racing,” Rocco said in “I kept trying to cross him, and he’d throw the block on me… We’ve been down that road too many times last year.”

Second was Woody Pitkat, followed by Michael Christopher Jr, Michael Gervais, and Owen. Rounding out the top-10 were Cory DiMatteo, Tony Membrino, David Arute, Troy Talman, and Mikey Flynn.

Glen Reen started on the pole. Christopher got past Reen on lap six and pulled away from the rest of the field.

The race was slowed for the first time on lap 14 for a Daniel Wesson spin off of turn four. It would be the first in a series of caution flags, the largest of which came with 16 laps to go when Chase Dowling was squeezed into the wall off turn four. It set off a pileup that took three cars out of the race.

In between the restarts, a fierce battle for the lead broke out between Christopher, Rocco, and Ronnie Williams. Williams was able to pass Christopher, but on the penultimate restart, Williams got sideways and and was forced into the frontstretch grass, taking him out of contention.

On the final restart, Christopher held the lead until Owen’s challenge succeeded with seven to go. That was when the Owen-Rocco duel began.

The full results can be found below:

1. Keith Rocco
2. Woody Pitkat
3. Michael Christopher Jr.
4. Michael Gervais
5. Todd Owen
6. Cory DiMatteo
7. Tony Membrino
8. David Arute
9. Troy Talman
10. Mikey Flynn
11. Tyler Leary
12. Teddy Hodgdon
13. Matt Gallo
14. Bryan Narducci
15. Jonathan Smith
16. Jeff Malave
17. Glen Reen
18. Andrew Molleur
19. Ronnie Williams
20. Todd Patnode
21. Tyler Hines
22. Matt Vassar
23. John Catania
24. Marcello Rufrano
25. Stephen Kopcik
26. Daniel Wesson

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