Waterford Speedbowl
| Location | 1080 Hartford Turnpike Waterford, CT, 06385 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | Eastern |
| Coordinates | 41°14′05″N 72°06′12″E / 41.2348°N 72.1033°E |
| Opened | April 15, 1951 |
| Former names | Waterford Speedbowl (1980s-2014) The New Waterford Speedbowl (2007-08) |
| Surface | Crushed blue stone (April 15, 1951-May 18, 1951) Asphalt (May 19, 1951-present) |
| Turns | 4 |
The New London-Waterford Speedbowl is a 3/8 mile asphalt oval race track located on CT 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 as its featured division since its first year of operation. It also holds family-oriented events such as the Wild N' Wacky Wednesday Series, Friday Show & Go drag racing and several Sunday Spectacular events throughout the year. Glastonbury (CT) businessman Bruce Bemer won the track property via foreclosure auction bid in October 2014 after several seasons of financial struggles under former owner Terry Eames. Former track champion Shawn Monahan was named the track's new General Manager in February 2015. It formerly operated under NASCAR's Whelen All-American Series banner on Saturday nights. On April 6, 2017 NASCAR announced they ended their relationship with the New London-Waterford Speedbowl following the arrest of track owner Bruce Bemer for charges relating to sex trafficking.
The New London-Waterford Speedbowl opened on April 15, 1951 as a 1/3 mile crushed blue stone oval race track. Its ownership group, The New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Inc., 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 original ownership group's tenure 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 3 weeks of operation, the dust created during green flag segments of racing became a nuisance to spectators. The track closed for about a month and re-opened as an asphalt oval, which it remains today.
The one and only fatality as a result of injuries from an incident during a race 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 style of racecar, known as a "cut-down", was banned from the Speedbowl shortly thereafter for being too unsafe for competition. In the coming years, the cut-downs were eventually banned throughout the northeast.
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