Like so many other racing divisions around the country, the COVID-19 global pandemic has wreaked havoc on the schedule for the Modified Racing Series.
But series founder and operator Jack Bateman said the Modified Racing Series is ready to take a green flag for 2020 very soon at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
Bateman told RaceDayCT Monday that the series has put together a deal to run on Aug. 8 at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
Bateman said the deal is contingent upon the track getting through the permitting process with the Town of Waterford.
“It’s a go as long as the town gives them their permit,” Bateman said. “I’m looking forward to that in the hopes that that will kind of kick things off for us.”
Speedbowl management has been taking steps toward reopening but no date for a reopening for racing events has been publicly announced. The track hosted an open practice on Saturday and has announced two more practice sessions this week scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday evening.
The last event at the Speedbowl was run in October 2018. Construction on two new main grandstands was completed in recent months. The track is expected to reopen without completing plans for a new official’s tower, which was expected to be built behind the start/finish line between the two new main grandstand sections. Track management is expected to use a coach bus parked between the grandstands as a temporary official’s tower.
Rich Turcotte, who is overseeing the track’s operation with Mike Marfeo, said earlier this month that track management will not speak with media outlets regarding any opening plans until an official announcement concerning opening is made by ownership.
“They’re supposed to have an inspection on Wednesday, so I would say hopefully we know by Wednesday night or Thursday and we have a yay or a nay,” Bateman said.
Beyond a potential event on Aug. 8 Bateman said the Modified Racing Series is looking to have their next event as part of the Star Classic Weekend at Star Speedway in Epping, N.H. on Sept. 20.
MRS coming back online, combined with Tri Track and NWMT I’d say if you can’t find modified racing in New England, your not looking too hard. Hope everything goes off as planned
Welcome back New London Waterford Speedvowl.
I hope for the Speedbowl and the MRS it’s a “yay” and not a “nay” on Wednesday.
Grimy what they did to Mike Serluca. He was such an asset to the racing community, especially the speed bowl. Sad to see him go. Sad to see he put so much effort in just to be kicked to the curb like trash. Shame on you, remember Karma is a Bitch!!!
Speak your mind as long as they agree with your comments they will keep them up.
Kim Bee,
Or maybe just have a little bit of patience because I didn’t approve the comment you posted 12 seconds after you posted it. Calm down.
Comments get posted here, good, bad or indifferent, they just don’t always get posted immediately after you submit them.
Not only is it a Bemer is the owner so I won’t go thing it looks like there is a new they treated Serluca bad so I won’t go thing.
15 divisions practicing this week on two nights. An outside touring show is perfect if for any reason the regular divisions are thin.. Aside from the drama surrounding the track seeing what the mix of teams will be should be fun to watch.
25% capacity? Seems like a cruel joke after the tumult surrounding the stands and finally getting them built.
Keep an ambulance handy on the midway there may be injuries from culture shock. The personality of the old stands is gone and gleaming, functionally modern and a bit Spartan stands are the deal now.
Stafford butts heads with the NWMT this Saturday and their Open 100 Friday the 7th. So many tour modified races, so little time.
Hey Doug dont forget the Stafford SK 5K is August 8th, the same night as this event. You think they are going to have any Mods for an MRS race with an open show Friday and the SK race Saturday? Look at the MRS entry list for the season. Who is actually going to go?
What they did to Mike Seluca??? I read the article that said he resigned his position. From that article I got he was furloughed and was not told ge wasn’t returning. If I was the buisness owner and read an article that my manager just resigned i would take steps to replace him so my buisness could run. I’m very happy with what Bemer did to the track. I was there Saturday and let me tell you the staff was top notch the best I have ever seen there. What they did to Mike Serluca please they did nothing he did it to himself
Agree with Steve. Mike resigned, he wasn’t fired. Although he had been furloughed due to the Covid crisis, so we’re many other people in the country. The RacedayCT article from July 8th says he heard if the reopening, yet had not heard from Bemer, therefore he resigned saying he couldn’t take it anymore. Bemer moved forward as any smart business owner would do. Don’t see any wrong doing. BTW the phones work both ways last I knew.
The important thing is that it seems the track will indeed reopen at some point this season, which is good news for both racers and race fans alike.
karma? LOL what can Serluca possibly do to Bemer a convicted sex trafficker ? poor mike nothing more than a mouthpiece ..another in a long line of chooches , armchair promotors, wanna be race track professionals who know what is going to make the speedbowl great again. so he got blocked from commenting on the website. boo hoo. go have a good meltdown with shawn monahan ,you can both cry in your beer and exchange ” if we only coulda ,shoulda, woulda ” while your at it get with sid DiMaggio who was kicked off the “board of directors”.. LOL..Hey steve running a practice with a couple cars is a whole lot different than a Saturday night show along with ticket sales and vending on the midway and making those difficult calls on the racetrack .if it was so easy everyone would do it.. just ask joe tinty or the carroll family . pretty soon you can ask the hoenigs about running a race track too. yup.. more of the same . ask the kortewegs who walked away from overflowing pits and grandstands… REALLY someone ask them ???..its about money, loyalty and commitment .one outta three aint bad right??
Glad to read all the comments from the peanut gallery, all of you who think you know how to run a successful racing facility. If you think you are so freaking good and know everything about the business then jump in and get your feet wet. If not then just say thanks to those who are trying to bring racing back to southeastern CT.
Sour grapes,
You should be embarrassed, you make enough comments in one post that I can pick you out of a line up. Salty old man, cheer up. Your just upset that you never accomplished much in racing and your time has been up. Don’t take it out on everyone else. Stay behind me and you can continue to be the hole between my crack. Congrats, you finally got me to post, that should keep you busy for a few more years. I almost thought you forgot about me. My promotional skills put me in the speedway illustrated, you had an occasional mention in the sump. Peace
Good to hear the Bowl is opening back up pending permitting. It is interesting that the schedule on the MRS website still lists 8.1 Beech Ridge on their schedule. It also has 4 races which has passed but not run doesnt say cancelled or postponed. According to this statement from Jack Bateman in which he says the next race after waterford would be Star on 9.18. Obviously the schedule hasnt been updated since originally posted even though there website has been updated with various press releases
So I guess we can assume the following dates are cancelled while still listed on their 2020 schedule.
8.1 beechridge
8.29 waterford
9.5 white Mtn
that would leave them with
8.8 waterford new not listed on current MRS schedule on their website
9.18 star
10.3 waterford
10.9-10 Thompson indicated plans to run the world series
I think this Waterford 8/8 date will be interesting with them running directly against Stafford’s big SK race. I am not sure the local support will be there to make this show successful. The MRS fields were pretty light last year outside CT. Now you are splitting the CT support I really dont know where the cars will come from. I dont know what the MRS pays but I think Stafford 5k purse might be higher, It will be interesting.
Good to see the series and Waterford opening up. That is definitely good news. I think the odds are kind of stacked up against them on this date. Then again with everyone trying to make up lost dates there probably isnt a good date available. Best of luck to them.
MRS web site:
“Things that we do know at this point are that the event entrance fee is going to be 100.00 for each event ,tires will remain at 165.00 each . Also, for the remainder of the 2020 season the series will be allowing the NASCAR WMT SPEC engine to run in the series following NASCAR WMT rules and must have all NASCAR seals.”
Specs allowed. Don’t know if any would show up but it’s kind of a big change isn’t it?
Shawn Monahan, you have to admit, the Waterford racetrack is a disaster and has been for decades, regardless of who was trying to promote it. If it were a cash cow, it wouldn’t have been the mess it has been for the last couple decades. No promoter has been successful, no promoter has lasted.
The promoter could have said feel the power as the stands shake and quiver as the cars zoom by.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Is August 8th a Tuesday?
🤣🤣😝😝🤪
CSG, stop looking at websites. All the changes for all the series are updated in real time on Facebook. The Beech Ridge info is addressed there too. You need to get on FB.
Also, try reading what SC wrote. The next event for them is clearly stated above. Hint, it’s in the last paragraph.
csg:
Beech Ridge recently reopened with a 7-race schedule, but the State of Maine is still not permitting gatherings of more than 50 people, so opening the grandstands have been a no-go. Just the pits are open for events at the present time.
csg, do not get on FaceBook. Do not listen to 🌈JD🌈.
The dregs of humanity are on FaceBook.
Good news is we are finally going to kill a lame horse this season, MRS is done. Stafford is beating the WMT for this Saturday’s head to head match up and will never look back, the 5k is also going to beat the MRS at Waterford if it even happens. Stafford also will beat the Jtown WMT race on the 7th. Tour Types out number Sk cars currently and it looks like Stafford is heading back to its roots with Big Mods on Friday Nights.
So next year I think Stafford has 6-8 Opens and Tri Track will be 5-7 shows, not enough room anymore for a low paying MRS Schedule,
Yeah I have kind of given up on Facebook over the last year. If the MRS website can be updated for a press release why not the schedule? I did note the last paragraph in the article which would indicate the cancellation of the White MTN and Waterford MRS events scheduled for 9/5 and 8/29. Still not sure August 8th going against Stafford is the best idea for their first race.
Seekonk isnt looking great for Tri track. They started Friday race July 10th without fans, It looks like they are going Saturday racing on Aug 8th without pro stocks and no fans. They are dropping the Nascar sanctioning for 2020. Says all large events are postponed until fans are allowed in but MA wont allow fans until phase 4 vaccine or cure. That doesnt bode well for the tri track races or the postponed Whelen show. Its a bad situation for everyone this year. Be thankful for Stafford.
Has anyone checked out the new grandstands at Waterford? I hope they are not like the Low-Rise I Can’t See a Damn Thing stands they erected at Monadnock.
Hey Arch, Bingo! And also, don’t put the lights in the center of the infield, FACING the fans.
If Seekonk has dropped NASCAR, one has to wonder if the postponed WMT race there this year will soon be cancelled.
Nothing worse than trying to watch a race you can’t see because the bleachers are too low, and the lights too bright.
Sorry Rob P, I know what you’re talking about but I gotta say it. There is something worse than that; no racing at all!
Was there actually a practice at the Bowl last Saturday? What did it draw for cars? I’d like to check out the weekly racing when it reopens. But not if it is going to have low car counts and too many divisions.. 10 cars in a feature is not all that exciting.and not worth risking health over in my POV. Appreciate any info anyone can share. I’m sure it will take some time to build up the car counts.
Ok Fast Eddie, I’ll give you that one.