HISTORY OF WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL

Waterford Speedbowl opened its doors as New London Speedway on Sunday, April 15, 1951.  Bob Swift found the quickest way around the brand new crushed blue stone surface to go down in history as the first winner.  The first race event was preceded by a "Preview Practice Session" that drew 8,000 curious on-lookers and caused traffic jams on Route 85.

After three events on the original surface, the dust problem was terrible, and the track was paved.   Known as the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, the track took its place on a racing horizon filled with tracks, almost all of which are now gone.

Hall of Famer Dave Humphrey captured the first championship by a scant two points over Moe "Moneybags" Gherzi, setting in motion a continuum of close competition that exists to this day.

From Humphrey to present defending Modified champion Ron Yuhas Jr., the sport's legendary names have taken on the challenging oval in both stock cars and open-wheel machines.  Johnny Thomson, considered New England's greatest open-cockpit driver, was a two-time winner at the Speedbowl in 1951.

The open-wheeled, ground pounding Modifieds have been the mainstay of the Speedbowl since the beginning.  Now featuring the SK Modifieds as the weekly headline division, the Speedbowl's list of Modified champions rivals that of any track. 

While the Speedbowl has had many widely successful racers conquer its three-eighths mile surface, Phil Rondeau and Don Collins stand alone as the only to win greater than 100 feature events.  Collins was one of the earliest stars of the track, while Rondeau achieved the mark in the 'modern-era', eclipsing the 100-win mark in 2001.  Rondeau successes came in the full fendered Late Model division.

In 2008, Dennis Gada won his seventh SK Modified track championship, the most titles in Speedbowl history. 

In 2001, the Speedbowl introduced its Wild 'n Wacky Wednesday series.  The mid-week race program was conceptualized around affordability for both the racer, and the race fan.  The series has blossomed into another popular race night, offering an affordable family fun race night to compliment the Speedbowl's NASCAR All-American Series Saturday night program. 

For a more in-depth statistical review of the Speedbowl's history, visit www.sids-vault.com