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    Saturday, May 11, 2024

    Rocco wins twice to become career leader in wins at Speedbowl

    Waterford — Keith Rocco won a pair of features to become the career leader in racing victories at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night.

    Rocco, 30, began the night tied with Speedbowl legend Phil Rondeau with 106 victories, but wasted little time taking the all-time lead by himself by winning the first feature race of the night, the 30-lap Late Model race. He later added a win in the final race of the night — the 35-lap SK Modified feature.

    "It's awesome," Rocco said in a story published on website RaceDayCT.com. "The Speedbowl is where I grew up as a kid, playing behind the grandstands ... racing little cars around. That's the way I was brought here up, watching my father grow up racing here. To come down here and become the all-time winningest driver is absolutely awesome."

    Other feature winners Saturday night were Ryan Waterman in the 30-lap Limited Sportsman race, Wayne Burrows Jr. in the 25-lap Mini Stock race and Corey Barry in the 25-lap SK Light Modified race. It was the third win of the season for both Burrows and Barry.

    The night, however, belonged to Wallingford's Rocco, who ironically had to battle his brother Jeff to win the Late Model feature and etch his name into the Speedbowl record books. Jeff Rocco finished second after being passed by Keith with eight laps remaining.

    "I think it just adds to the storyline all together battling for the win," Jeff Rocco told RaceDayCT.com. "We were leaning on each other, we were sideways, it was a fun race all in all. He had a better car. We're going to keep working on it and hopefully we can get one soon."

    In the SK Modified feature, Rocco took the lead for good with 14 laps remaining and was never seriously threatened. Diego Monahan finished second and Joe Gada third.

    Waterman was an easy winner in the Limited Sportsman race, taking the lead with 12 laps to go (Jason Chicolas wound up second and Montgomery Gibbs placed third), while a late crash between Randy Churchill Jr. and Paul Buzel allowed Barry to win the SK Light Modified race, and Burrows outdueled Ken Cassidy Jr. to capture the Mini Stock feature.

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