Richard Petty (Left) with NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Keith Rocco (right) outside the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C. (Photo: Chris Richards/NASCAR)

Petty is the quintessential All-American driver who became a legend on the short-tracks. Of his 200 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career wins, 108 were on short tracks. For the NASCAR Hall of Famer from Level Cross, N.C., running more than 40 races a year was the norm in the early years.

That’s what makes Rocco such a throwback to the sport’s formative years.

The 25-year-old from Wallingford, Conn., has found success behind the wheel racing three nights a week by working on the cars the other four nights. With different cars for different tracks and different owners, that often means splitting time at multiple garages in an evening as a matter of course. Racing his asphalt Modified at Connecticut’s three NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks, Rocco has 53 wins over 189 starts in the last four years.

After finishing in the top four the previous three seasons, 2010 marked Rocco’s first NASCAR national championship.

“It’s just something you can only dream of,” Rocco said. “You don’t realize how much you have to put into it to get to where you are. It just makes you realize how much the payoff is – to spend the extra time, to go the extra distance to be that much better.”

For Rocco, who is far more comfortable in the garage than in front of the camera, the photoshoot with Petty was a unique experience. At one point, “The King” looked over at Rocco and teased him, “I bet you didn’t know about all the stuff you have to do when you won. You thought you just had to drive.”

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It’s not something Rocco would trade for anything, though.

“There’s a lot of stuff you have to do to represent and be a champion, but to me it’s pretty cool,” Rocco said. “NASCAR does a lot for the champions and makes them feel like a true champion.”

As a footnote, Rocco has done something Petty did not: Win at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. Rocco was the 2007 track champion, while Petty’s best finish in two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the .625-mile oval was a second in the 200-lap event in 1970.