Rocha to Perform Double Duty at the “All-Star Showdown” at Irwindale Speedway
Bakersfield, CA – Blaine Rocha has been a regular on the Spears Srl Southwest Tour Series for the last eight seasons. On February 5th, he will make series start number 67 in the $25,000-to-win “All-Star Showdown 200” at Irwindale Speedway. He will also perform double duty, racing in the $10,000-to-win Pro Late Model portion of the weekend. His Super Late Model start will put him only one behind 2007 SRL Champion Dave Byrd and just outside the top-10 in that category. Rocha will once again be teamed up with Strmiska Racing and will be looking for series victory #3 to start off his 2022 SRL campaign.
Rocha had his season start last weekend at Tucson Speedway. in the “Chilly Willy 150”. He was the winner in Saturday night’s preliminary Qualifying Feature, but tire issues caused the Oakdale, CA driver to drop out after the halfway mark. He finished sixth in the SRL Championship Standings in 2021 scoring three top-five and six top-10’s. His career highlights include 19 top-five and 35 top-10’s putting him 13th and 14th in those categories respectively. Rocha had a best championship season finish of third in 2017, to go along with another top-five in 2016.
Rocha will be looking for a much-improved finish over last season’s “All-Star Showdown 200” result of 28th. In April he improved to 10th and scored a runner-up finish to Derek Thorn in July. In four SPEARS Pro Late Model presented by Sigma Performance Services starts, he had a best finish of second at the $7,600-to-win “Asparagus Cup 125” at The New Stockton 99 Speedway. He did sweep the weekend at the October Classic at Kern County Raceway Park in 2020 however, in a precursor event to the SPEARS Pro Late Model Series. He will make his first Pro Late Model start at Irwindale on “All-Star Showdown” weekend.
Rocha is thankful for his opportunity to compete in both the Super Late Models and the Pro Late Models.
“I would like to thank Strmiska Racing and the whole family”, Rocha stated. “Without them and Duane Sharp none of it would be possible. I would like to thank my sponsors Masellis Drilling, Rocha’s Valley Enterprises, HCI Docks and War Shocks”.
The “All-Star Showdown 200” will take place on February 5th at Irwindale Speedway. It will kick off the 22nd season for the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour and the second for the SPEARS Pro Late Models presented by Sigma Performance Services. The SPEARS Modified Series will take part in their second event of the season, after Jaron Giannini won the opener at Havasu 95 Speedway. The Super Late Models will race for $25,000-to-win. The Pro Late Models will compete for $10,000-to-win and the SPEARS Modified Series will shoot for $5,000.
Celebrating its twenty-second season in 2022, 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”.
