ROCHA LOOKING FORWARD
Blaine Rocha entered the 2019 SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Series coming off his worst championship season of his four and a half year SRL career. After championship finishes of sixth, fifth and then third, the team struggled with a 10th place effort last season. The 2019 season hasn’t fared much better, as the two-time Southwest Tour Series winner sits ninth in the standings, through the first six events. His best finish was a fifth at Madera Speedway and his only other top-10 was a sixth at Irwindale Speedway last month. It is an anomaly for the powerhouse driver and team.
Rocha will look to springboard back towards the top-five, when the series visits Madera Speedway for the second time in the “SPEARS Southwest Tour 125 presented by 51 FIFTY LTM.” on September 28th. Rocha has plenty of experience at the “Fastest One-Third Mile in the West”. In addition to his three-consecutive top-five finishes in the SRL, Rocha is a multi-time winner in Madera’s televised Pro Late Model Series.
The final two events of the season are the October Classic at Kern County Raceway, and the “$10,000 to Win Retro Custom Metals 150 presented by Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse San Dimas” at the Bullring @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both of those tracks have yielded SPEARS Southwest Tour Series victories to the Oakdale, CA driver. Those final three events give Rocha self-assurance, about taking home a victory before season’s end.
“I feel good, the last three tracks are places that I have experience at, so I’m confident that we have a shot”, Rocha speculated. “We have been working hard to make things run the way they should be. I think the end of the season should see us up front competing for the win.”
To aid in closing out the season, Rocha and the Collins Motorsports Team debuted a new Port City Racecars Super Late Model at Irwindale. Rocha qualified 13th, but drove into the top-five, before eventually finishing sixth. It was a positive debut for the new car, and something the talented Fresno State Senior and the CMS Team can build upon.
“With the first run in the books with the new car, I feel good about how we can make it better”, Rocha told the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series. “It takes a little bit to know what the car wants in the long run, and I think we are getting closer to figuring that out.”
Rocha is looking forward to these final three events of the season, and he is thankful for the opportunity to get back to Victory Lane. That opportunity is brought about by his friends, family and especially his sponsors.
Rocha stated, “I can’t thank Rocha’s Valley Enterprises, Masellis Drilling, Masroc Farms, Port City Racecars, and Central Valley Auto Transportenough for all their help this season.”
Celebrating its nineteenth season in 2019, the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series is a regional stock car series competing on paved ovals in the southwestern portion of the U.S. “The SPEARS Southwest Tour Series..…Where the Champions Race”.
