combining speed and reliability, rocky di lecce powered his way to five pmra points race victories in 2013. by brennan shorTall
PMra ChaMPiOn T
he 2013 racing season couldn’t have gone much better than it did for Rocky Di Lecce. The Pro Mod racer from Mississauga, Ontario
won a record-setting five Pro Modified Racing As- sociation events in one season, en route to earn- ing the title in fine style. The cherry on the season came, in September,
when Di Lecce also captured a special Pro Mod In- vitational held at Maryland International Raceway. The inaugural ‘Canada vs. USA’ matchup featured many of the finest Pro Mod teams in the eastern United States. “The year went well; I’m happy with it,” said Di
Lecce, after completing his second full year of PMRA competition. “But I’ve still a ways to go. I was still on a learning cycle last year.” For a new racer in the Pro Mod ranks, Di Lecce,
a former OSCA champion, has been a quick study with solid qualifying attempts at all PMRA events in 2013. Throw in a high level of consistency and he and the rest of the Metro Infrastructure Inc. team were on the road to success. Di Lecce is quick to credit the support and ef-
forts of his crew for their incredible 2013 season. “These guys worked so well throughout the year. They were very thorough and provided a solid car, which made a big difference.” Coming out of the gates strong in 2013, Di
Lecce qualified fourth for the season opener at Martin, Michigan before winning the final round over fellow PMRA racer Jay Santos, of Halton Hills, Ontario. For the next three events – all of which took
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2013 PrO MOdifiEd raCing assOCiatiOn titLE WinnEr rOCky di LECCE
place at Toronto Motorsports Park’s Cayuga Drag- way – Di Lecce qualified ‘number one’ on the lad- der prior to powering his Camaro to victory at each race. In the finals, he eliminated Jeff Roth, Bruce Boland and Derek Hawker, respectively. PMRA Round 5 saw the tour make its first ap-
pearance of the season at Grand Bend Motorplex. Di Lecce started ‘number two’ on the ladder, but once again made it all the way to the finals, be- fore ultimately beating Boland again. In the season finale, Rocky qualified ‘number
two’ again, and went out in the first round. Re- gardless, it was a fantastic season that resulted in Di Lecce’s first PMRA crown. In two non-points PMRA races held last sea-
son, Di Lecce qualified ‘number one’ during the IHRA MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals at Grand Bend. He raced until the semi-finals. In the other, he came out on top of the first Interna- tional Pro Mod Challenge, held at Maryland In- ternational Raceway. Angelo Aceto serves in the role of crew chief,
and is joined on the crew by Emilio Aceto, Kevin Cooper, Tony Presto, Michael Aceto, Robbie Ce- sario and Nadia Di Lecce. The team is spon- sored by Metro Infrastructure Inc. and Midway Automotive. The Camaro recorded trips down the quarter-mile in the 5.9-second range at over 242 mph in 2013. The Camaro is powered by a 526-cubic inch
Brad Anderson (BAE) supercharged hemi cou- pled to a Lenco Drive in the Tim McAmis Race Cars chassis. The car features a Waterman Rac-
by bill mehlenbacher
ing Components fuel system and Kobelco super- charger. “I want to thank my sponsors and especially my
crew,” said Di Lecce, looking back at 2013. “And I want to thank Hutch’s Transmissions and Neil Chance Convertors.” Looking ahead to 2014, Rocky isn’t letting up.
He plans to make his car even faster by reducing the weight of the Camaro. “We’re good for power, but we’re going to lighten up the car. We’re always looking to improve.” •
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