Our documentary series – ‘A Chronological History of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl’ – is a 6-film series which covers the history of the 1/3 mile asphalt since it’s initial construction which started in the summer of 1950 (opening in April 1951) to it’s survival of a foreclosure auction in October 2014.
The series was a passion project for racing historian Sid DiMaggio, who began researching stats in 2005 with the support of then-Speedbowl owner Terry Eames and Public Relations Director Pete Zanardi. “This bad boy took me over a decade to complete.” DiMaggio conducted his first interview (with former Speedbowl owner Don Benvenuti) in 2010, and released the final film in the spring of 2021. “It was a long journey. I first thought I’d pull it off in a couple years, then thought maybe 5 years. I’ll be honest, I was exhausted by the time it came to put the last 2 films together, but it was worth it. There are so many stories that needed to be preserved.”
DiMaggio is non-committal when it comes to continuing this project past the 2014 season. “I’m not sure if that’s something I want to do right now. Never say never, but there’s other projects that keep me occupied currently. The Speedbowl’s always home though, so we ya never know.”
Read more about the cast, crew and sponsors who made this comprehensive documentary series possible.
SPEEDBOWL DOC SERIES
SPEEDBOWL DOC SHORTS
