(THOMPSON, CT) - With a full season under his belt driving the Eric Grant owned entry at Thompson Speedway, Jeff Rocco’s name ranks high on the list of contenders in 2016. Rocco drove to victory lane 4 times last season, in addition to winning the special Late Model 20/20 Sprint comprised of 3 distinct segment of racing on one night. It was the 14th, 16th, and 17th place efforts that spelled misfortune for Rocco that made him fade from the spotlight at the Sunoco World Series.
“It was a lot less pressure last year coming into a new series,” said Rocco. “If we ran in the top-5 it was a success for us. Now we have set the bar high to go back and achieve that. If you look at where we stacked up against touring competition (American-Canadian Tour) that set the bar of where we need to be. As good as we were for weekly competition we wanted to get better.”
Rocco’s team is one of several that take advantage of Thompson’s Late Model rules aligning with the American-Canadian Tour rules. Defending champion Brian Tagg honed his craft on the ACT circuit for a year before winning the title in his rookie season.
“The biggest thing for us and me is the confidence; having the confidence of what happened last year and rebuilding the car throughout the winter, everything was a positive note,” said Tagg. “It made the winter go through kind of slow because we want to repeat what we did.”
It won’t be easy to repeat in a division of so much talent. Keith Rocco returns for a full season after losing the championship by virtue of a last lap pass made by Tagg in the 2015 finale.
Six time division champion, Rick Gentes returns with a new engine package for 2016. After running a blue oval power plant last season, Gentes made the switch back to the bowtie seeking that competitive edge. Looking back on his years of racing at Thompson, he recalled the competition as being the same as it was back in the 1990's when there were 10-12 cars on the track who could win any given night.
“It is tough just to finish in the top-5 now let alone winning and we have probably fallen behind a little,” said Gentes. “We used to be right on top of it. We need to step of our game to get back to where we were.”
During the open test in March, Gentes backed his car into the outside wall forcing him to rebuild the car in time for the season opener.
While names like Rocco, Gentes, and Tagg are just a few of the proven winners in the division, there will be some interesting newcomers to the class this season. Well, relative newcomers that is. William Wall was among one of the first names Tagg noted as one to watch in 2016. Wall led laps last season as a rookie and is back for his sophomore season. A graduate of the Limited Sportsman ranks, Wall is looking for late run speed to propel him to his first victory.
“A lot of times I would get a good start and pick off a few cars in the early stages of the race,” said Wall. As it went the car tended to fall off and I wouldn’t be able to complete a pass and you need to have it fast at the end.”
After the open test, Wall was confident in the speed his team gained in the off-season.
Returning to Thompson as a rookie is Corey Fanning who began racing in the Limited Sportsman division before spending two years racing at Seekonk Speedway. Fanning is back and for the first time will compete in a late model. Fanning finished 3rd in the standings during his last full season at the Big T in 2013. Last season, he managed a 4th in points at Seekonk after a dismal start backed by a late season charge that saw 7 consecutive runner-up finishes.
Michael Bennett will be running a three race schedule this season which includes the Icebreaker. Bennett is the defending Late Model champion at Stafford Speedway coming off a 7 win season and this year will be his first time competing on Thompson’s high banks. Bennett plans to run the Late Model 20/20 Sprint and the World Series, in addition to a slate of ACT events.
Thompson Speedway opens its gates for The Icebreaker on the weekend of April 9-10. An additional practice day is scheduled for Friday, April 8. For more information on Thompson Speedway news and events, visit www.thompsonspeedway.com.
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