For two years Kenny Bock seemingly found ways to lose races. He last visited victory lane in June 2022 before winning this past weekend’s sportsman modified feature at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
(For more on Bock’s second win, read “Kenny Bock: Warm Congrats from Second-Place Friend.”)
Two years seems to be the average duration for a victory, though, for Bock. His first win came in 2020, the second came in 2022. The road to the third seemed more difficult.
“After that win in 2022, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Bock, of Oley, Pennsylvania, said. “It was one thing after another. Getting involved in minor crashes. Missing the setup. One night we were looking like we were going to take the lead, and a measly shock bolt broke.”
Despite the bad fortunes, Bock kept a positive attitude.
“It was a rough season for all of us on the crew,” said Bock. “I kept telling them that this is how racing is. Despite bad luck or frustration, a racer keeps on racing.”
This year, they bought a brand-new chassis from Bicknell Racing Products, hoping to turnaround their luck.
“Three races ago, a young driver in front of me in the heat race clipped the yuke tires and spun in front of me — we hit nose to nose,” Bock said. “Again, wrong place, wrong time.”
After a new front clip, Bock returned. Last Saturday, he had two features, a makeup one and a regular one. Bock and his team decided to start at the rear of the field for the first feature of the night to prepare for the second.
“I wanted to run a couple of laps to see how the track was doing,” said Bock. “I wanted to feel the car out. We had a new setup and wanted to gauge how we would do for the second feature.”
After the first caution, Bock pulled off the track and called it a feature. That first caution occurred mid-pack, just where Bock was slated to start. Because of his poor finishes, he began the second race up front. He took the lead on the first lap and never looked back.
“Ultimately, we sacrificed the first race to win the second,” Bock said. “It’s tough for a driver to choose to go to the back of the lineup. Racers want to race — every position counts. I swallowed my pride to do what was best for the team, rather than what I would normally want to do.”
That victory surpassed the victory total for his father, Greg Bock. Kenny Bock now hopes to break another record.
“One thing for sure, I don’t want to wait another two years for another win,” said Bock.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
Photographers
The Outside Groove contributor from Macungie, Pennsylvania, has covered the sport since 2012. Sabo serves as the official track photographer of Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania. Photography is a family ordeal for Sabo. He shoots with his daughter, Abby, at Shellhammer Dirt Track in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. At Grandview and other venues Sabo travels to, he and his father, Stephen “Poppa Pepper” Sabo Sr., capture the night’s action with their cameras.
