Going into the 1961, only Tony Albino and Frank Benvenuti remained from the original ownership group. At this point, local businessmen Jack Brouwer and Lou Esposito bought into the track. Albino was the majority owner at 51%, Benvenuti at 25% and the new members at 12% each.
During their first season together in 1961, they dissolved the Non-Ford division and did the same for the Bomber division after the 1966 season. They created the Speedbowl’s first Late Model division in 1965, at the time called “Daredevils” which remained the support division to the Modifieds for the rest of their tenure. In 1962, they permanently discontinued racing on Wednesday nights. Speedbowl competitors would compete only once a week from this point forward.
The group also paved the outer sand strip (left when the track was originally paved in May of 1951) during the 1968 season. It created an uneven banking in the turns. The track surface was also beginning to be known for a bump in turn 1, which some crafty veterans (most notably Bob Potter in later years) utilized to help settle the car through the turns.
In the 1960’s they would hold Modified Championship races that typically were the longest race of the years and attracted some other stars from other tracks. The Hott Wheels 100 was also a prominent race they created in 1973 but was only held for 2 years.
When Frank Benvenuti passed away, his sons Don and Richard became part owners and when Tony Albino passed away on December 1, 1967 his son Bob took over as majority owner. Under the second generation owners, the track tried to incorporate different type of racing events. Most prominently was a motorcycle track they built in the infield that held events on Friday nights during the 1972-1974 seasons. The venture was not really successful and caused a riff internally between the ownership group. Jack Brouwer would pass away shortly after the 1974 season and they group decided it was time to sell the track. United Stock Car Racing President Harvey Tattersall Jr, who spent some of the 1974 season as the Speedbowl’s Race Director, would purchase the track that off-season.
The entity called New London-Waterford Speedbowl Inc. collectively operated the Speedbowl for the track’s first 24 seasons of operation.
OPERATIONAL TENURE AT A GLANCE
| OPERATIONAL TENURE | 1961-1974 |
| SANCTIONING BODY | 1961-1970, 1972-1974 Independent Racing Club |
| 1971 unsanctioned | |
| DIVISIONS INTRODUCED | 1965 Daredevils (evolved to Sportsman Sedans in 1971) |
| DIVISIONS DISSOLVED | 1961 Non-Fords |
| 1966 Bombers | |
| EVENTS INTRODUCED | Powder Puff Derbies ( 1963-present) now called Ladies Enduros |
| Demolition Derbies (1966-2020) | |
| Friday night Motorcycle racing (1972-1974) | |
| Hott Wheels 100 (1973-1974) |
NEW LONDON-WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL INC
PHOTO ALBUM
