One of the more colorful members of the Waterford Speedbowl fan base, Tom ‘Sid’ DiMaggio was honored this weekend as ‘Fan of the Year’ at the Speedway Expo during their first annual Speedy Awards ceremony. The awards, presented on Sunday March 4th, recognize excellence in various categories both on and off the track in the auto racing community. Nominees were announced earlier this year and voted on by the Northeast racing community. Recipients were presented with a steering wheel style trophy by NASCAR on Fox broadcaster Dick Berggren, organizer of the event.
DiMaggio was recognized for his continued efforts researching the statistical history of the Waterford Speedbowl, his entertaining post-race recaps of the weekly events his writes for the jeff-pearl.com website and the annual Little League Night event he created pairing up 10 lucky kids with Speedbowl competitors in a wiffle-ball homerun derby on the frontstretch.
Other award recipients included Matt Hirschman of Northhampton, PA as Breakout Racer of the Year, Woody Pitkat of Stafford, CT as Best Weekly Racer, Thompson Speedway Limited Sportsman driver Larry Barnett for Best Individual Performance in an Event, Nick Teto’s Yankeeracer.com for Best/Track Coverage and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for Best Weekly Show. Visit www.speedwayexpo.com for a complete list of the award recipients.
Other nominees affiliated with the Waterford Speedbowl included Legend Car driver Max Zachem for Breakout Racer, SK Modified Champion Dennis Gada and Late Model Champion Tim Jordan for Best Weekly Racer, 4-time Allstar Truck Champion Chris Correll from Waterford, CT and NASCAR Busch East driver Matt Kobyluck of Uncasville, CT for Best Northeast Touring Racer and the Wild N’ Wacky Wednesday series for Best Weekly Show.