Jerry Robinson was a former Legend Car racer who leased the track from Speedbowl owner Terry Eames for the 2007 season under the banner of The New Waterford Speedbowl, LLC. Robinson even had plans to own the track, announcing at the awards banquet in January of 2008 that he was in agreement with Eames to purchase the facility sometime in the near future.
Robinson retained Bill Roth as GM initially but Roth left the Speedbowl after the 2007 season. Former Race Director Bill Roberts then returned to the Speedbowl, and while not officially named the new GM, he essentially replaced Roth in a similar capacity for the 2008 season. Pete Zanardi moved to more of a consultant role with racing historian & columnist Dave Dykes’ stepping in as Public Relations Director. Former Street Stock competitor & flagman Steve Harraka continued in the Race Director position he had been in since mid-2005. Gary Danko, Matt Buckler and Dave Baribeault were the announcing team, and Sid DiMaggio started publishing the track program in 2007.
In early 2007, the Speedbowl announced that it would no longer host NASCAR Modified Tour or Busch North Series races for the upcoming season, citing the costs too high for the Speedbowl’s current business model, yet the weekly events remained sanctioned for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
The weekly schedule remained largely the same format of 3 big races for the weekly divisions in the beginning, middle and end of the year, but with two new promotions added. The first one was actually held in late 2006 under Bill Roth’s watch and was called the Double Down Shoutout. The event’s format included 2 features for the 4 weekly Saturday divisions with an overall winner declared via best overall finish. The other event was called Wings N’ Wheels and featured the SK Modifieds, the Modified Racing Series, the ISMA Supers and NEMA Midgets. The first event was a huge success, easily drawing the biggest crowd of the year.
Overall, Robinson’s tenure as operator saw a drop in both car counts and fan attendance. Behind the scenes, Eames & Robinson’s relationship deteriorated beyond repair, and despite his public goal to purchase the track from Eames, Jerry Robinson instead disappeared from the Speedbowl scene after the 2008 season. He passed away a few years later.
OPERATIONAL TENURE AT A GLANCE
| OPERATIONAL TENURE | 2007-2008 |
| SANCTIONING BODY | 2007-2008 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series (Saturday divisions) |
| 2007-2008 INEX (Legend Cars & Bandoleros) | |
| EVENTS INTRODUCED | Double Down Shootout (2006-2008) |
| Wings N’ Wheels (2007-2018) |
NEW WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL LLC
PHOTO ALBUM
