Rogers Makes Speedbowl History

Kyle Rogers did more than win his second Saturday Legends championship at the New London Waterford Speedbowl.
He also made Speedbowl history.
Rogers became the first driver to capture multiple Speedbowl Saturday Legends championships when he captured the 2017 crown by 24 points over John O’Sullivan.
“Winning back to back is something that stands out,” Rogers said. “To be the first to do it is great.
Rogers also won the title in 2016. At the start of the season, however, winning a title wasn’t Rogers primary goal.
“My goal was to try to get my first win,” Rogers said. “And trying to get that win gave us a competitive edge. We were running up front every week. That goal was the carrot on the stick that kept me motivated.”
Rogers didn’t get that first win, but he was a constant visitor to the podium. He enjoyed five seconds and two third places in 11 races.
“We pretty much led for the entire year,” Rogers said. “I had to maintain what I usually do and I usually ended up on the podium every week. The year before when I won the title, we didn’t have any podium finishes.”
Rogers owned a healthy lead over O’Sullivan heading into the season’s final race, but he couldn’t let up.
Rogers finished sixth in the finale, but O’Sullivan finished seventh to put a padlock on the championship.
“The race before was the first time I really looked at the points all season,” Rogers said. “I’m not one to look at points because our goal is to win. But even though I had a bad night (finishing ninth) Johnny O. only finished two spots ahead of me so I still had a good lead.
“Going into the last race, I didn’t want to be in that position again. So I laid low for a while, until there was a caution with 10 laps to go. I figured anything in the race that was going to happen had already happened. So it was time to go, and I was satisfied with the outcome.”
Rogers’ sponsors include Del’s Vinyl Siding, Dave Gravel Racing, Earl Rieley Racing and Rob Vitale.
He credits his championship to his dad Paul Rogers, his mom and his brother Cody.
A year ago, Rogers wasn’t declared the to be the champ until the season was over, but this year he was able to celebrate on the track.
“That was awesome,” Rogers said. “It was great to be there with friends and family. I didn’t have to read about it a couple of days later.
“When we started in 2008, we were going against drivers who had been there year in and year out and had better equipment. I couldn’t even get out of my own way. But every year we got better and better. We kept improving”
This year was the ultimate improvement.
“You can never forget where you came from,” Rogers said. “You just have to keep thanking the people who got you where you are today.”
In Rogers case, it was a very special place — the history book.