Jeff Rocco Bests Field in Dunkin’ Donuts Late Model 20/20 Event at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

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Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) bested Mother Nature on Wednesday, July 8th as four local series took to the track providing some high intensity racing despite a rainstorm that dampened practice in the early afternoon.

The highlight event for the evening was the second annual Dunkin’ Donuts Late Model 20/20 event, a series of three segments, two 20-lap and one 10-lap feature, to decide an overall winner on the night. Each of the first two segments also served as separate points paying events.

The first segment of the event started quiet but 15 laps into the event a crash in turns one and two slowed the field with yet another accident sparked on the restart seeing Chad LaBastie, running second at the time, spin out in turn two, collecting a series of cars in the ensuing chaos. Following another quick caution, again in turns one and two, the segment went green for the final five laps as Jeff Rocco took a victory in segment one.

For the second segment the field was inverted according to the finish of segment one, sending Jeff Rocco back to twelfth. Rocco would manage to finish 8th after scraping the wall and avoiding a near collision on lap ten when cars in front of him came together. The big winner in round two was Brian Tagg, a new name to the Late Models who said he was thrilled to see success early in his Late Model career.

“This is very exciting. For the crew and everyone to be in the Late Model division and have a very competitive car is extremely exciting,” said Tagg. “That last race I couldn’t have even planned that. I didn’t even know what was going on out there. I was just driving and (my crew) made the car better after the first segment.”

The third segment, a 10-lap sprint, had drivers line up using the fastest laps times from the first segment for the front row and average finish in the previous segments determining the rest of the field. That put twin brothers Jeff and Keith Rocco on point making for some of the best racing of the night. On the line in the final segment were a $1,000 prize and a guaranteed position in the American-Canadian Tour race at the World Series at TSMP in October.

The Rocco brothers led the field for the first half of the race, battling side by side for the bulk of the five opening laps and even making contact with each other at times. Jeff Rocco would grab the lead and maintain it following a pair of cautions but would see heavy competition from his brother and Marc Curtis before claiming a big win in segment three. The wins were Rocco’s first in a Late Model car. Curtis would finish second after nearly claiming the win in a dive bomb effort out of turn four. Keith Rocco held on for third while Larry Gelinas and William Wall rounded out the top ten. Segment two winner Brian Tagg finished a respectable sixth.

After the hard fought and dramatic victory Jeff Rocco said he was thrilled for his team and the effort put into the night. “I’ve run second to my brother a long time. It was a hard fought battle out there. We door slammed. He might not be happy with me but in the end I think it was good racing,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier right now.”

The opening feature of the afternoon was a 30-lap sprint for the Sunoco Modified division, which proved to be disastrous for a few heavy hitters in the series. The action started early when defending champion and series points leader Ryan Preece, who started near the rear in the 14-car field, hit the wall attempting a pass on lap two going into turn one. While Preece’s car continued the race it would not survive long, stalling on the track during a caution six laps in and requiring a push to pit lane. He would continue the race after falling several laps down.

Keith Rocco, racing the event as a precursor to his Late Model duties, found himself out of the race after failing to clear Kerry Malone out of turn four eight laps into the event. Malone, who had momentum coming off the turn, clipped Rocco’s right rear quarter panel, sending Rocco into the outside wall and ending his day. Malone would continue the race and would be collected in a wreck after a restart 24-laps into the race as drivers scrambled to gain position going into turn one. The troubles for Preece, Rocco and Malone meant all three of the frontrunners in the points had trouble during the 30-lap feature.

The drama continued when the race restarted after Nick Ladyga – who led most of the race to that point and was chasing his first Thompson win – was black-flagged after faltering on the restart and failing to maintain speed. While Ladyga would go on to finish fourth, it was Cam McDermott who took home the hardware with his first win in the division after holding off a hard charging Woody Pitkat for the final five laps.

After the race McDermott said he knew veteran Pitkat would race him hard, but race him clean, “He knows what we do and I appreciate him for keeping it clean. We ran well. That’s all I can say.”

The Monster Mini Stocks would follow with a relatively tame event compared to the Sunoco Modified feature. The 15-lap race got off to a slow start after an opening lap accident stalled the field right from the get go. When the race returned to green, South Killingly, CT native Scott Michalski took the lead and never looked back, leading the remainder of the race and fighting off challenges from rivals Dave Trudeau, Joe Baxter and Eric Bourgeois who at times took their battle for second three-wide in the closing laps. After entering victory lane Michalski commented on his hard fought win. “I had to have a little patience and a little luck. On the third restart there I have to thank Eric Bourgeois. He gave me this win (with a push on the restart),” said Michalski.

The final event of the night was the Xtramart Limited Sportsman feature with another multi-car wreck in the opening lap continuing the carnage of the night.

The first half of the event was dominated by pole sitter Al Stone until a fast charging Corey Hutchings caught Stone on lap 8 before another wreck brought out the yellow. Hutchings inherited the lead on the restart and never looked back, taking the win after a dominating performance in the second half of the 20-lap feature to close out the night.

SUNOCO MODIFIED FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Cam McDermott, Scituate, RI; 2. Woody Pitkat; 3. Ryan Morgan; 4. Nick Ladyga; 5. John Studly; 6. Andrew Charron; 7. Jason Sundeen; 8. Kerry Malone; 9. Ryan Preece; 10. Nicky Ouelette

MINI STOCK FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Scott Michalski, South Killingly, CT; 2. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield, MA; 3. Joe Baxter, Pascoag, RI; 4. Eric Bourgeois, East Haddam, CT; 5. Ed Field, Deep River, CT; 6. Louis Bellisle, Lisbon, CT; 7. Mike D. Veins, Putnam, CT; 8. Steve Michalski, Brooklyn, CT; 9. Christopher Viens, Putnam, CT; 10. Brandon Fisher, Plainfield, CT

LATE MODEL 20/20 FEATURE SEGMENT 1 FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 3. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 4. Keith Rocco, Berlin, CT; 5. Marc Curtis, Spencer, MA; 6. William Wall, Shrewsbury, MA; 7. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 8. Rick Gentes, Burrillville, RI; 9. Ray Parent, Tiverton, RI; 10. Anthony Ryan, Ridgefield, CT

LATE MODEL 20/20 FEATURE SEGMENT 2 FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 2. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 3. John Lowinski-Loh, Milford, MA; 4. Keith Rocco, Berlin, CT; 5. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 6. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2.; 7. Marc Curtis, Spencer, MA; 8. William Wall, Shrewsbury, MA; 9. Chad LaBastie, Uxbridge, MA; 10. Rick Gentes, Burrillville, RI

LATE MODEL 20/20 FEATURE SEGMENT 3 FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2. Marc Curtis, Spencer, MA; 3. Keith Rocco, Berlin, CT; 4. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 5. William Wall, Shrewsbury, MA; 6. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 7. Ray Parent, Tiverton, RI; 8. Rick Gentes, Burrillville, RI; 9. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 10. Anthony Ryan, Ridgefield, CT

LATE MODEL 20/20 TOTAL SEGMENT POINTS FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford, CT; 2. Brian Tagg, Oxford, MA; 3. Keith Rocco, Berlin, CT; 4. Larry Gelinas, Buxton, ME; 5. Marc Curtis, Spencer, MA; 6. Glen Boss, Danielson, CT; 7. William Wall, Shrewsbury, MA; 8. Rick Gentes, Burrillville, RI; 9. Ray Parent, Tiverton, RI; 10. Anthony Ryan, Ridgefield, CT

LIMITED SPORTSMAN FEATURE FINISH (TOP-10): 1. Corey Hurchins, Salem, CT; 2. Ryan Waterman, Danielson, CT; 3. Al Stone, Durham, CT; 4. Scott Sundeen, Sutton, MA; 5. Jesse Gleason, Lisbon, CT; 6. Larry Barnett, Moosup, CT; 7. Ed Puleo, Branford, CT; 8. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale, CT; 9. Todd Dean, Danielson, CT; 10. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill, CT

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