Waterford Speedbowl
Encyclopedia
Waterford Speedbowl is a 3/8 mile asphalt oval race track located on Rte 85 in Waterford, Connecticut
, just off Interstate 395. It first opened for business on April 15, 1951 as "The New London-Waterford Speed Bowl", the track has been in continuous operation every season since it initially opened. It has continuously promoted Modified stock car racing as its featured division since its first year of operation. Its current owner & promoter Terry Eames has been the track's promoter since 1995 (except for the 2007-2008 seasons) and has been owner of the facility since 2000. It currently operates under NASCAR
's Whelen All-American Series
banner on Saturday nights from April through October. It also holds family-oriented events such as the Wild N' Wacky Wednesday Series and several Sunday Spectacular events thoughout the year.
The one and only fatality from racing competition occurred on August 1, 1954 when Jack Griffin's car flipped end-over-end approximately 10 times down the straightaway. The 41-year old was transported to the local hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after 1am the following morning. His type of car, known as a "cut-down", was banned shortly thereafter for being too unsafe for competition.
Through the 1961 season, the track ran on both Saturday and Wednesdays featuring the same divisions, meaning each division ran twice a week. Since the 1962, the Speedbowl's primary weekly divisions have raced once a week on Saturdays (although other divisions and events have since been held on other days of the week)
The operating Board of Directors had some turnover over the years. In the early 1960s, local businessmen Jack Brouwer and Lou Esposito bought into the track. By the early 1970s, the track ownership group consisted of Brouwer, Esposito and 2nd generation members of the Benvenuti and Albino families.
The first Modified Champion at the Speedbowl was Dave Humphrey, who also won the same title at the Seekonk Speedway
that year, and would later win multiple titles in the Northeast Midget Association (NEMA) Series later in his career. Other big stars during the track's early days were 2-time Champion Bill Slater, 5-time Champion Don Collins, 4-time Champion Charlie Webster, Moe Gherzi, Melvin "Red" Foote, Newt Palm and Ted Stack.
(among other tracks) bought the track from the previous ownership group. Tattersall revamped the structure of the supporting Late Model division, which was now called the Grand Americans. During his reign, Tattersall would lease the track to Dick Williams on two occasions. First in 1978, only for Tattersall take promoter duties back the following year, and then again in the early 1980s when Williams was actually operating 4 tracks at once, until focusing solely on the Waterford Speedbowl by the 1983 season Both Tattersall and Williams served as both the promoter and Race Director during their respective operational control of the track.
Stars on the track during this time were 4-time Modified Champion Dick Dunn, Bob Potter, George "Moose" Hewitt and Late Models racers Don Fowler, Bob Gada and Ron Cote among others. One of the more star-studded events during this time was the Yankee All-Star League events that ran at the track from 1975-1978. Winners of these events at Waterford included future NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars Geoff Bodine
, Ron Bouchard
and Ken Bouchard
, NASCAR National Modified Champions Carl "Bugsy" Stevens and Fred DeSarro
and legendary Long Island, NY Modified driver Charlie Jarzombek
. NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans
competed in these events and a few others at the Speedbowl during his career before his death in 1985. The Waterford Speedbowl, however, is one of the few tracks that Evans raced at without ever recording a victory.
in Stafford Springs, CT. Two significant changes came during their reign as track operators: The headlining division was changed from the Modified division, to the upstart SK Modified division (at the time, the SK's were designed as a low-budget alternative to modified racing) and they also brought the NASCAR sanction to the track for the first time. The first SK Modified Champion at Waterford was future NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Rick Fuller, driving the Ted Marsh #55 car in 1985. The Arutes leased the track for 3 seasons, before leaving to once again focus solely on their family owned track in Stafford.
Another star who blossomed during the mid-1980s was Late Model driver Phil Rondeau of Baltic, CT. He won a record 6 Late Model Championships in an 8 year span (1985, 1987–89, 1991–92) and recorded over 100 victories during his career that lasted into the early 2000s at the track. Rondeau was considered one of the top short track Late Model drivers in the Northeast during his time at Waterford. Other stars on the track in the 1980s included C.J. Frye and Brian McCarthy in the Late Model division and Rick Donnelly, Bob Potter, George "Moose" Hewitt and Dick Ceravolo in the Modifieds. Potter won 6 Championship between the Modified and SK Modified divisions in the 1970s & 1980's. Hewitt was a 5-time Modified Champion.
The early 1990s brought some hurdles for the Korteweg family. Local residents complained in numbers about the noise the facility generated during its events. The track made it mandatory for all race cars to have mufflers in 1991. The town of Waterford did implement a noise ordinance in August 1993, but it excluded racing at the Speedbowl. During July 1991, the Speedbowl was endanger of closing its doors for one of its big events on July 4 weekend, when then-Connecticut Governor Lowell P. Weicker Jr cut the state budget for non-essential jobs, including the DMV officials who regulated race events at all Connecticut tracks. Less than 48 hours before the event, the state allowed DMV officials to the Speedbowl, however they would now be paid by the track directly.
Throughout the 90's, more divisions were created. In 1995, the Mini Stock division (a former enduro-type division that ran on Sundays) was revamped as the 4-cylinder alternative to the Strictly Stock class. The Legends Cars, Trucks and several other enduro-type divisions were also run on Sundays and then Thursdays throughout the decade.
Stars on the track during the 90's included Jerry Pearl, Dave Gada, Todd Ceravolo and future NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Champion Ted Christopher
in the SK Modified division; Phil Rondeau, Jay Stuart, Tom Fox and future K&N Pro Series East Champion Matt Kobyluck
in the Late Model division; Glen Boss, Ed Reed Jr, Ken Cassidy and Chris "Moose" Douton in the Strictly Stock division; Jeff Miller, Dan Darnstaedt and Bruce Thomas in the Mini Stock division.
The dominate driver in the SK Modifieds during this time was Dennis Gada, who won a record 5 straight Championships from 1999-2003 including the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series Northeast Regional title in 2003. Gada's 62 career SK wins at the track is also a record. During the early part of the decade the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Busch North/East series visited the track annually.
However, by the mid-2000s the track was falling on hard times. In 2006, Washington Mutual Bank proceeded with foreclosure proceedings against Eames. A year later, in late July 2007, a foreclosure auction was avoided when Connecticut businessmen Rocky Arbitell and Peter Borelli bought the note and removed Washington Mutual from the picture. Eames continued as owner, but leased operational control of the track to Jerry Robinson of Mystic, CT for 2007-2008 seasons.
Stars during the first decade of the 2000s included: Dennis Gada, Jeff Pearl, Ron Yuhas Jr and Rob Janovic Jr in the SK Modifieds; Allen Coates, Corey Hutchings, Bruce Thomas Jr and Tim Jordan in the Late Models Ed Gertsch Jr, Dwayne Dorr, Walt Hovey Jr and Al Stone III in the Street Stocks; Danny Field, Phil Evans and Ken Cassidy Jr in the Mini Stocks. Regional Modified/SK Modified drivers who started out in the Speedbowl's Legends Car division during this time include James Civali, Chris Pasteryak, Mark Bakaj and Jeffrey Paul.
The Speedbowl is still a NASCAR sanctioned weekly short track featuring SK Modifieds, Late Models, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks that compete on a weekly basis on Saturdays. INEX Legends Cars and SK Modified Lights also compete sporadically throughout the season. Their Wild N' Wacky Wednesday series continues to be a successful mid-week series during the summer that features INEX Legends Cars and Bandoleros (for drivers as young as 8-years old), Super-X and X-cars and various "wacky" races throughout their season.
Current touring divisions that visit the track each year include the ISMA Super Modifieds, the Valenti Modified Racing Series, the NEMA Midgets, the Northeast Trucks Series (NETS), the Pro4 Modifieds, the Allison Legacy North Series (ALNS) and the Northeast Mini Stock Tour (NEMST). 2-time SK Modified Champion (2010–11) Keith Rocco, who also competes at the Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, clinced the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship at the Speedbowl on August 14, 2010. He became the first driver to win a NASCAR National Championship while an active weekly competitor at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Waterford, Connecticut
Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The population was 19,152 at the 2000 census. The town center is listed as a census-designated place .-Geography:...
, just off Interstate 395. It first opened for business on April 15, 1951 as "The New London-Waterford Speed Bowl", the track has been in continuous operation every season since it initially opened. It has continuously promoted Modified stock car racing as its featured division since its first year of operation. Its current owner & promoter Terry Eames has been the track's promoter since 1995 (except for the 2007-2008 seasons) and has been owner of the facility since 2000. It currently operates under NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
's Whelen All-American Series
Whelen All-American Series
The Whelen All-American Series is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local racetracks around the United States and Canada....
banner on Saturday nights from April through October. It also holds family-oriented events such as the Wild N' Wacky Wednesday Series and several Sunday Spectacular events thoughout the year.
Early days
The Waterford Speedbowl opened on April 15, 1951 as a 1/3 mile crushed blue stone oval race track. Its ownership group was composed of local businessmen: brothers Fred and Frank Benvenuti, Anthony Albino, Conrad Nassetta, William Hoffner and J. Lawrence Peters. John Whitehouse was the track's first Race Director, a position he held through most of the track's seasons into the early 1970s. Whitehouse lived in Florida during the winter and would then moved up north and stay in a house on the Speedbowl property during the racing season. The Speedbowl featured Modified stock car racing, called Sportsmen stock cars at the time. The first event winner was Bob Swift. After several weeks of operation, and with the dust created from the track surface during green flag segments of racing, the track closed for about a month and re-opened as an asphalt oval, which it remains today.The one and only fatality from racing competition occurred on August 1, 1954 when Jack Griffin's car flipped end-over-end approximately 10 times down the straightaway. The 41-year old was transported to the local hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after 1am the following morning. His type of car, known as a "cut-down", was banned shortly thereafter for being too unsafe for competition.
Through the 1961 season, the track ran on both Saturday and Wednesdays featuring the same divisions, meaning each division ran twice a week. Since the 1962, the Speedbowl's primary weekly divisions have raced once a week on Saturdays (although other divisions and events have since been held on other days of the week)
The operating Board of Directors had some turnover over the years. In the early 1960s, local businessmen Jack Brouwer and Lou Esposito bought into the track. By the early 1970s, the track ownership group consisted of Brouwer, Esposito and 2nd generation members of the Benvenuti and Albino families.
The first Modified Champion at the Speedbowl was Dave Humphrey, who also won the same title at the Seekonk Speedway
Seekonk Speedway
Seekonk Speedway is a semi-banked 1/3 mile paved oval located on U.S. Route 6 in Seekonk, Massachusetts.The track holds the distinction of being the longest continually operated race track in the United States, under the guidance of the Venditti family since it opened on May 30, 1946...
that year, and would later win multiple titles in the Northeast Midget Association (NEMA) Series later in his career. Other big stars during the track's early days were 2-time Champion Bill Slater, 5-time Champion Don Collins, 4-time Champion Charlie Webster, Moe Gherzi, Melvin "Red" Foote, Newt Palm and Ted Stack.
Tattersall Era
Prior to the 1975 season, Harvey Tattersall Jr, long-time president of the United Stock Car Racing Association and one-time operator of the Riverside Park SpeedwayRiverside Park Speedway
Riverside Park Speedway was a 1/4 mile oval race track, located inside of Riverside Amusement Park in Agawam, Massachusetts, one mile north of the Massachusetts/Connecticut state line....
(among other tracks) bought the track from the previous ownership group. Tattersall revamped the structure of the supporting Late Model division, which was now called the Grand Americans. During his reign, Tattersall would lease the track to Dick Williams on two occasions. First in 1978, only for Tattersall take promoter duties back the following year, and then again in the early 1980s when Williams was actually operating 4 tracks at once, until focusing solely on the Waterford Speedbowl by the 1983 season Both Tattersall and Williams served as both the promoter and Race Director during their respective operational control of the track.
Stars on the track during this time were 4-time Modified Champion Dick Dunn, Bob Potter, George "Moose" Hewitt and Late Models racers Don Fowler, Bob Gada and Ron Cote among others. One of the more star-studded events during this time was the Yankee All-Star League events that ran at the track from 1975-1978. Winners of these events at Waterford included future NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stars Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine
Geoffrey Eli Bodine is an American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers . Bodine currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina....
, Ron Bouchard
Ron Bouchard
Ron Bouchard is a former NASCAR driver who was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His brother Ken Bouchard was the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.-Local driving career:...
and Ken Bouchard
Ken Bouchard
Ken Bouchard is an American former NASCAR driver. His brother Ron Bouchard was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year and one time Winston Cup race winner.-Modified career:...
, NASCAR National Modified Champions Carl "Bugsy" Stevens and Fred DeSarro
Fred DeSarro
Frederick DeSarro was an American racecar driver. He was the 1970 NASCAR National Modified Champion. In NASCAR's Modified All-Time Top 10 drivers, he was ranked eighth.-Career:...
and legendary Long Island, NY Modified driver Charlie Jarzombek
Charlie Jarzombek
Charlie Jarzombek was an American racecar driver from Baiting Hollow, New York.-Racing career:He started racing in 1962 on the Long Island tracks of Islip, Riverhead Raceway and Freeport Stadium...
. NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans
Richie Evans
Richard Ernest Evans , was an American racing driver who won nine NASCAR National Modified Championships, including eight in a row from 1978 to 1985. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists this achievement as "one of the supreme accomplishments in motorsports"...
competed in these events and a few others at the Speedbowl during his career before his death in 1985. The Waterford Speedbowl, however, is one of the few tracks that Evans raced at without ever recording a victory.
The Action Track Era
By the end of the 1984 season, the track was enduring a tough time. The 1984 season was the only season which didn't have an end of the year banquet to celebrate its champions. But prior to the 1985 season, Tattersall leased the Speedbowl to the Arute family, who owned and operated the Stafford Motor SpeedwayStafford Motor Speedway
Stafford Motor Speedway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile paved oval located in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. It is part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. It hosts four events on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2010....
in Stafford Springs, CT. Two significant changes came during their reign as track operators: The headlining division was changed from the Modified division, to the upstart SK Modified division (at the time, the SK's were designed as a low-budget alternative to modified racing) and they also brought the NASCAR sanction to the track for the first time. The first SK Modified Champion at Waterford was future NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Rick Fuller, driving the Ted Marsh #55 car in 1985. The Arutes leased the track for 3 seasons, before leaving to once again focus solely on their family owned track in Stafford.
Another star who blossomed during the mid-1980s was Late Model driver Phil Rondeau of Baltic, CT. He won a record 6 Late Model Championships in an 8 year span (1985, 1987–89, 1991–92) and recorded over 100 victories during his career that lasted into the early 2000s at the track. Rondeau was considered one of the top short track Late Model drivers in the Northeast during his time at Waterford. Other stars on the track in the 1980s included C.J. Frye and Brian McCarthy in the Late Model division and Rick Donnelly, Bob Potter, George "Moose" Hewitt and Dick Ceravolo in the Modifieds. Potter won 6 Championship between the Modified and SK Modified divisions in the 1970s & 1980's. Hewitt was a 5-time Modified Champion.
Into the 1990's
In 1988, the Korteweg family took over track operations. Headed by father George and his sons Dan and Wayne, the Kortewegs invested a lot into track renovations, including the only repaving of the track's racing surface, new concrete barrier around the track, new catch fence and renovated restrooms and concession stands. A 3rd division was created in 1988 to support the SK Modified and Late Model divisions, called the Strictly Stocks - an entry level division of 8-cylinder stock cars. This division proved to be wildly popular.The early 1990s brought some hurdles for the Korteweg family. Local residents complained in numbers about the noise the facility generated during its events. The track made it mandatory for all race cars to have mufflers in 1991. The town of Waterford did implement a noise ordinance in August 1993, but it excluded racing at the Speedbowl. During July 1991, the Speedbowl was endanger of closing its doors for one of its big events on July 4 weekend, when then-Connecticut Governor Lowell P. Weicker Jr cut the state budget for non-essential jobs, including the DMV officials who regulated race events at all Connecticut tracks. Less than 48 hours before the event, the state allowed DMV officials to the Speedbowl, however they would now be paid by the track directly.
Throughout the 90's, more divisions were created. In 1995, the Mini Stock division (a former enduro-type division that ran on Sundays) was revamped as the 4-cylinder alternative to the Strictly Stock class. The Legends Cars, Trucks and several other enduro-type divisions were also run on Sundays and then Thursdays throughout the decade.
Stars on the track during the 90's included Jerry Pearl, Dave Gada, Todd Ceravolo and future NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Whelen Modified Tour
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified division. The Modified division is NASCAR's oldest division, and its one of two open-wheeled divisions...
Champion Ted Christopher
Ted Christopher
Ted Christopher , from Plainville, CT is an American racing driver who has raced and won in many different types of race cars, including Modifieds, SK Modifieds, Camping World East Series, Late Models, Pro Stocks, Midgets, and Supermodifieds. He has also raced in NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide...
in the SK Modified division; Phil Rondeau, Jay Stuart, Tom Fox and future K&N Pro Series East Champion Matt Kobyluck
Matt Kobyluck
Matt Kobyluck is a driver in the NASCAR Camping World Series East, a regional stepping-stone series to NASCAR's national divisions...
in the Late Model division; Glen Boss, Ed Reed Jr, Ken Cassidy and Chris "Moose" Douton in the Strictly Stock division; Jeff Miller, Dan Darnstaedt and Bruce Thomas in the Mini Stock division.
NASCAR sanction returns
In 2000, Terry Eames, who was the promoter at the track since the Korteweg's left the track in the mid-90's, became owner/operator and secured the return of the NASCAR sanction which had been removed in the late 1980s. In 2001, the Wild N' Wacky Wednesday series debuted featuring the Legends Cars as the headlining division along with enduro-type cars called Super X (8-cylinder) and X-cars (4-cylinder) for a weekly summer series that is largely family oriented and still popular to this day. It was around this time that the track was remeasured per NASCAR guidelines and officially declared a 0.375 (3/8) mile oval after a half-century of being recognized as a 0.333 (1/3) mile track.The dominate driver in the SK Modifieds during this time was Dennis Gada, who won a record 5 straight Championships from 1999-2003 including the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series Northeast Regional title in 2003. Gada's 62 career SK wins at the track is also a record. During the early part of the decade the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Busch North/East series visited the track annually.
However, by the mid-2000s the track was falling on hard times. In 2006, Washington Mutual Bank proceeded with foreclosure proceedings against Eames. A year later, in late July 2007, a foreclosure auction was avoided when Connecticut businessmen Rocky Arbitell and Peter Borelli bought the note and removed Washington Mutual from the picture. Eames continued as owner, but leased operational control of the track to Jerry Robinson of Mystic, CT for 2007-2008 seasons.
Stars during the first decade of the 2000s included: Dennis Gada, Jeff Pearl, Ron Yuhas Jr and Rob Janovic Jr in the SK Modifieds; Allen Coates, Corey Hutchings, Bruce Thomas Jr and Tim Jordan in the Late Models Ed Gertsch Jr, Dwayne Dorr, Walt Hovey Jr and Al Stone III in the Street Stocks; Danny Field, Phil Evans and Ken Cassidy Jr in the Mini Stocks. Regional Modified/SK Modified drivers who started out in the Speedbowl's Legends Car division during this time include James Civali, Chris Pasteryak, Mark Bakaj and Jeffrey Paul.
Speedbowl today
The Waterford Speedbowl is currently run by a Board of Directors personally selected by Terry Eames, who came back into control after the end of the 2008 season when Robinson's lease was not renewed. Now the promoter once again, in November 2008, Eames appointed former competitor and 2-time Speedbowl Champion Tom Fox as Race Director and also named former Mini Stock competitor Mark Caise and local supporter Brian Darling to the Board. The original conception also featured former Street Stock Champion Shawn Monahan as a joint operator of the track and track historian Tom "Sid" DiMaggio on the board. However, by February 2009, Shawn Monahan resigned from his post sighting differences in the operational agreement with Eames. DiMaggio resigned 3 days later, although remains an active part of the track's fan base. Fox would resign after the 2010 season as Race Director but remain on the board as an advisor. Scott Tapley was named the new Race Director prior to the 2011 season.The Speedbowl is still a NASCAR sanctioned weekly short track featuring SK Modifieds, Late Models, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks that compete on a weekly basis on Saturdays. INEX Legends Cars and SK Modified Lights also compete sporadically throughout the season. Their Wild N' Wacky Wednesday series continues to be a successful mid-week series during the summer that features INEX Legends Cars and Bandoleros (for drivers as young as 8-years old), Super-X and X-cars and various "wacky" races throughout their season.
Current touring divisions that visit the track each year include the ISMA Super Modifieds, the Valenti Modified Racing Series, the NEMA Midgets, the Northeast Trucks Series (NETS), the Pro4 Modifieds, the Allison Legacy North Series (ALNS) and the Northeast Mini Stock Tour (NEMST). 2-time SK Modified Champion (2010–11) Keith Rocco, who also competes at the Stafford Motor Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, clinced the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Championship at the Speedbowl on August 14, 2010. He became the first driver to win a NASCAR National Championship while an active weekly competitor at the Waterford Speedbowl.
2011 Track Champions
- Keith Rocco - SK Modifieds
- Jeff Smith - Late Models
- Ed Puleo - Street Stocks
- Glenn Colvin - Mini Stocks
- Paul French - SK Modified Lights
- Dana DiMatteo - Legends Cars
- Dana DiMatteo - Legends Cars (Wed)
- Pete Zaikarite Jr - X-cars (Wed)
- Frank Alessio - Super X-cars (Wed)
- Rachel Forte - Bandoleros (Wed)
External links
- http://www.speedbowl.com/ Official site
- http://www.sids-vault.com/ Historical site - Sid's Vault of Speedbowl Statistics