Yerrington-Beal Family

Ed Yerrington is the patriarch of this family who has been winning races for over 7 decades at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Like so many drivers of the era, Ed started out in the Bomber Division in the late 1950’s, eventually moving up to the headlining Modifieds where he won 4 races in the late 1960’s.

His familiar #66 coupes were always beautifully prepared and numbered after the Phillips 66 brand of gas Yerrington sold at the service center he owned & operated in Preston, CT. He later drove for other car owners at Waterford, including NEAR Hall of Fame car owner Bob Johnson.

In 1963, The Speedbowl owners decided to hold all-female races called Powder Puff Derbies. In that era, the sport was male-dominated as women were not even allowed into the pits during race events. But for the Powder Puff Derbies, they were allowed into the paddock area as competitors. In the 3rd of 5 derbies held that season on August 8, 1963, Ed’s wife Shirley Yerrington drove her husband Ed’s car to the win in the 10 lap race. In fact, it came almost 3 years before Ed first visited victory lane at the track, making Shirley the first race winner of the Yerrington family at the Speedbowl.

Ed would become the GM of Stafford Speedway after he retired from driving in the 1970’s, becoming part of the team that moved the track’s weekly events to Friday and creating the SK Modified division. When the Arute family leased the Speedbowl from Harvey Tattersall Jr from 1985-1987, Yerrington also became the GM of the Speedbowl. It was during this time that the SK Modifieds became the headlining division at the shoreline oval (which it remains today) and the track became NASCAR sanctioned for the first time, holding the first NASCAR Modified Tour events at the track during the series’ first 3 seasons. Under his management, Yerrington also held the first Enduro in the state of Connecticut at the Speedbowl late in the 1985 season. During his tenure as GM, he also oversaw facility upgrades like the turn 4 pit gate and the track’s first scoreboard on the backstretch.

Ed Yerrington Jr came onto the Speedbowl scene in the late 1970’s in the upstart Street Stock division (now the current Late Model division). Ed won 4 races between 1978-1981, including the Firecracker 100 on July 3, 1979. Not only was the race the first 100 lapper for the division, but it was also worth quadruple points, which propelled him to the track championship by season’s end. His last win came in 1981 when the division was known as Super Stocks.

Charles Beal, son of Bonnie Yerrington (and grandson of Ed Yerrington), started out in the Strictly Stock division in the late 1990’s with little success. He came back to the Speedbowl in 2006 in the Super X-Car division, winning for the first time two years later in 2008, then had career best 5 wins in 2009. In 2010, he became the 2nd Speedbowl Champion in his family capturing the 2010 title. Charles moved to Saturday nights in 2011 and getting his first career Street Stock win that year. He has also driven and won in the Mini Stock and Truck divisions as well. His father Charlie Beal drove occasionally in Enduros and Strictly Stock races and won the Mechanics Race the night Charles won his Super X Championship.

Charles’ son Jaysin Beal continued the family’s Speedbowl legacy with some historic moments in the 2020’s. In 2023, driving Bo Norman’s #12 Street Stock, Jaysin earned his first career win and in doing so became the first 4th-generation winner in the track’s history and the 5th member of his family to visit Speedbowl victory lane. Then in 2025, driving Mike Jolly’s #29, Jaysin earned the Speedbowl Truck Championship. This made him the first 3rd generation Speedbowl Champion in track history.

Charles’s two daughters also race at the Speedbowl. Hailey Beal was the recipient of the Best Appearing Car in the beginning of the 2023 season, while Pipper Beal competes in the Super X-Car division on Wild N’ Wacky Wednesdays. They are both trying to become the next 4th generation winners in the long history of their family having success at the Speedbowl.

The Speedbowl is a family affair for the Beal family to this day. Under the banner of their family business CIC Automotive, they support the track in multiple ways, bringing multiple cars with multiple drivers through the pit gates each week, supporting both the Saturday and Wednesday series. With Ed Yerrington starting his racing career at the track in the 1950’s, there has been a Yerrington/Beal racing at the track at some point during each of the 8 decades the Speedbowl has been in operation.

WATCH 2023 PROFILE ON YERRINGTON-BEAL FAMILY

STATISTICAL SNAP SHOT

YERRINGTON-BEAL FAMILY
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