Feature Winning Driver Looking For Success In Malta, NY
Story By: ROB HAZER / ALBANY SARATOGA SPEEDWAY MEDIA
Photos By: DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Malta NY – January 27, 2017 – On Friday nights Albany-Saratoga Speedway is a hot spot for dirt modified racing action. There’s hall-of-fame drivers, white nights, young guns, and some would even argue the greatest of all time twisting metal for a moment of glory. Any given Friday fans can even see one or two NASCAR caliber drivers turning laps in Malta, NY and that’s exactly why Jeff Rockefeller wants to compete at the great race place.
“Our team has wanted to race there regularly for a while now. Every Friday night is like a mini Super Dirt Series race and I want to get better as a driver. It presents a huge challenge with the caliber drivers in that field, but we’ll be ready,” said Jeff Rockefeller.
Last season the Scotia, NY pilot partnered with Fairways of Halfmoon for his racing ventures and with their return to the DR & Sons Landscaping and Snow Removal team it made the decision to call Albany-Saratoga Speedway his Friday night home that much easier.
“We began our marketing partnership last season with Fairways of Halfmoon and were committed to racing elsewhere and they were ok with that, but this year they were appreciative that we were moving to Malta since it’s in their back yard. It made the decision for my father and I simple,” continued Rockefeller.
Rockefeller ran Albany-Saratoga Speedway in the past only a handful of times and even scored a top 10 finish. Perhaps his best race came one night starting 8th and racing his way to 2nd before getting caught up in an accident that ended his evening. It didn’t stop the former Super Dirt Week Futures winner at the Moody Mile from challenging himself with set goals.
“To be honest with you I’d love to get handful of top 10 finishes and maybe even a few top fives. If we could end the season in the top 10 in points, that’d be like winning a championship for us racing against those guys,” Rockefeller said with a chuckle.
Jeff Rockefeller will hit the clay running with a brand new 2017 Bicknell Racing Chassis powered by a Dan Bedell Big Block power plant. It’s the same motor he used to time trial in the top six at Super Dirt Week back in 2013 at the famed Moody Mile, but it was the memory of his first Big Block race that brought out an excitement in his voice.
“After running Sportsman from 2011 to 2013 we moved into the Small Block Modifieds, but my first Big Block race was Brett Hearn’s Big Show at Albany-Saratoga in 2013. Man I was so nervous. I had no idea what I was doing with all that power, but I had a blast. I proved to myself I wasn’t afraid of the speed,” he continued.
Jeff Rockefeller is a fun loving kind of guy; a gentle giant if you will. He does what he can to pay forward the kindness given to him by his peers and mentors. What he looks forward to most racing Albany-Saratoga in 2017 is perhaps rubbing nurf bars with a long time friend.
“I look forward to racing with my friend Elmo Reckner. He’s the kind of guy I can ask anything and he’ll give me a strait answer. He’s been that way since day one in my racing career,” said Rockefeller.
He concluded by saying with a laugh, “He’s a very good friend and he’s helped me personally and helped us as a team. That doesn’t mean if it comes down to winning a race I won’t lean on him in a friendly way. We’ll rub nurf bars and laugh afterwards.”
When the season begins in 2017 fans of Albany-Saratoga can count on seeing another friendly face on the grounds in Jeff Rockefeller. He’s ready for the challenge of racing against arguably the toughest weekly field assembled in the Northeast; the great race place indeed.
More info about Albany-Saratoga Speedway can be found online at www.albany-saratogaspeedway.com, Facebook at www.facebook.com/Albany-Saratoga-Speedway, on Twitter, and on Instagram.
