Dick Beauregard was one of the early stars at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. He could be super-aggressive and he won a lot of races in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Legend has it that Beauregard was using the 3-tap rule long-before Ted Christopher made it famous.
He started out at the Speedbowl during it’s inaugural 1951 season, and although he went winless he finished 5th in the final point standings. The following season he found his groove, winning 4 times and clinching the Modified Championship (known as Sportsman Stocks at the time). That season the Speedbowl held their first-ever 100 lap race for the Modifieds. Beauregard and Cy Yates had a photo-finish and since their was no electronic scoring or video footage to review, the officials declared them co-winners.
One of the more memorable moments during Beauregard’s career came in an ARDC midget race on September 1, 1958. “Dirty Dick” was given the chance to compete in the event and ended up flipping his midget in the outer sand strip of the track. He remarkably only suffered minor injuries.
Beauregard was also won of the first drivers to compete in multiple division regularly at the Speedbowl. From 1957-1960, he won 20 features in the Non-Ford division, a 6-cylinder supporting class to the Modifieds, including a career best 9 wins in 1958.
Dick continued to win Modified races throughout the track’s early years, winning 3 or more races in 8 of the Speedbowl’s first 12 seasons. By the 1960’s, he hooked up with Lawrence “Putt” Maffei and Walter Kinsel to drive their potent 53 coupe.
Beauregard dominated the 1962 season, winning 14 feature races including a record streak of 5 straight early in the summer. By season’s end he won his 2nd Speedbowl Championship, then promptly retired from racing. The 10 seasons between his two titles was the longest such span in any single division until Shawn Monahan won the 2020 Street Stock Championship 18 seasons after his first.
Beauregard’s 64 wins are now 12th all-time on the Speedbowl Career Wins List. Dick later relocated to California. He passed away on September 7, 2011 at the age of 85. Beauregard was posthumously inducted into the NEAR Hall of Fame in 2019.
STATISTICAL SNAPSHOT
| TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS | 1952, 1962 Modified Champion |
| CAREER WINS | 64 – (44 Modified, 20 Non-Ford) |
| SPEEDBOWL RECORDS | 5 consecutive Modified wins (tied with Don Collins, Ted Stack & Rick Donnelly) |
| SPEEDBOWL FIRSTS | First driver with 10 seasons between Speedbowl Championships in same division |
| AWARDS & HONORS | 2000 Speedbowl’s 50 Favorite Drivers |
| 2019 New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame inductee |
DICK BEAUREGARD
SPEEDBOWL PHOTO ALBUM
