Messy Situation: Return Of Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series To Speedbowl In August In Doubt



It seemed a wonderful feel good story last November when management of the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series announced the series would return to the New London-Waterford Speedbowl for an Aug. 6 race in 2022.

And then it all got weird for about six months. The culmination of that weirdness came Saturday.

It seems what was supposed to be a Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event on Aug. 6 at the Speedbowl will now be an event promoted by the Tri-Track’s founder and former operator Dick Williams.

Multiple sources at the Speedbowl confirmed that Williams told numerous competitors at the track Saturday that the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series is off the Speedbowl schedule and that he will be promoting a Tour Type Open Modified show at the track on Aug. 6.

Reached by phone Saturday evening and asked if he would be promoting a Tour Type Modified event on Aug. 6 at the Speedbowl Williams said: “When the Speedbowl announces it then you’ll know it.”

Williams has been working to promote selected events at the Speedbowl for the last two seasons.

Asked if he was at the track Saturday inviting competitors to compete at an Aug. 6 event he would be putting on Williams said: “I have no comment. Why should I talk to you? … You have done nothing … positive for us. Put all kinds of crap out. Why should I give you any answers? You’re going to twist it whatever way you want. You know what, you can shove it up your fucking ass.”

Attempts to reach New London-Waterford Speedbowl general manager Mike Marfeo Saturday were unsuccessful.

Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series managing partner Ed Bennett said series officials have not been told by Speedbowl management that a Williams promoted event would be replacing their scheduled race at the track for Aug. 6.

“Last I knew we were still negotiating with track ownership,” Bennett said. “As of 5 pm. Friday night we were still going there on Aug. 6.”

When Speedbowl management announced their 2022 schedule on March 10 the Aug. 6 Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series event was not included on the schedule.

Since then there’s been no information from either side on where the event stood. It remained listed on the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series schedule online, but was never added to the Speedbowl’s schedule.

Recently rumors began to swirl that Williams, a longtime Northeast promoter, was telling people he would be promoting a Tour Type Open Modified show on Aug. 6 at the Speedbowl.

Williams co-founded the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series in 2014 with Jim Schaefer. In 2017 former Modified team owners Wayne Darling and Mark Pennink took over ownership of the series, with Williams and Schaefer remaining on staff.

Prior to the 2019 season Pennink left the series, selling his share of the series ownership to Bennett, also a former Modified team owner. Following the 2019 season Williams and Schaefer parted ways with the Tri-Track Series. Since leaving the series, Williams and Schaefer have continued to promote Modified events at Northeast short tracks under the banner of The Racing Guys.

Comments

  1. Geez shawn, nothing like getting a profession curtesy eh? Could have just declined to not comment and left it at that. Thats business these days.

  2. wmass01013 says

    Who peed in Dick Willam’s corn flakes????

  3. All I can say is WTF? Will someone please make up their mind here. These are supposed to be grown individuals and we still don’t know what’s going to happen on August 6th if anything.

  4. Great reporting.

    Truth is stranger than fiction.

    The 🚽 is a gift that keeps on giving.

    🤣😝🤣😝🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😝

  5. chicken coop says

    WOW!! well that escalated quickly…. I don’t always agree with some of Shawn’s opinions, but to get that kind of reaction is crazy… Playing devil’s advocate, even if Shawn was looking for info, to stir the pot (which i don’t think is the case) Mr. Williams provided the drama all by himself.. But regardless Shawn would have posted an article, which regardless of opinions, STILL would have given us fans much needed answers….. I have alot of respect for Mr. Williams, and all that he does for modified racing, i will continue to support his shows. And again, while sometimes i don’t agree with Shawn, I appreciate, and respect him, as he is pretty much the ONLY one reporting about racing in Ct, and he’s been so for close to 30 years. Perhaps it was a bad day today?? maybe a full moon?? Either way i’m hoping for a large field of heavy hitters on aug. 6th. And let’s not overlook the Incredible racing at waterford tonight, some first time winners, side by side battles, just Great racing!

  6. Viva race fan says

    Dick Shoots from the Hip. He has spoken not just about the tri track but also about Speedbowl media from the past to present. I have wonderful conversations with Mr. Williams and his heart is a true Racer / Promoter . Shawn has had help fueling some of this fire in eyes of some by what he has chosen to put on the site. Alot of us enjoy Racedayct and want equal reporting fairly on all tracks no matter who owns or runs the tracks. Most fans don’t care much about those facts they just want to Watch good racing and some media if they don’t live on Facebook for there everyday life’s guidance. See ya all next Sat . Happy Race Day

  7. Big Mike says

    Dick Williams is a selfless, relentless, well connected and widely respected long time Northeast modified promoter. This feud has history, perhaps dating to the Seekonk Speedway early Tri-Track series incident when Shawn was denied press access? It takes a lot to piss off Dick Williams, but pissed he is. It is a shame that two guys that love modified racing don’t work together.

  8. Sean Monahan, Tommy Baldwin, Mike Moeller, Max Zachem and a lot more I’m sure. All have had beefs with RaceDayCt, some get over it like Moeller and Baldwin some don’t I suppose.
    Now it’s Dick Williams with the beef. Circling the wagons as the Speedbowl faithful fall in lock step with the owner that will never get over his beef. It was the ultimate sin reporting the sordid events as they happened and there is no coming back from that. You shouldn’t have done any of that suggest a previous comment you should have stuck to just racing. What is this cable news?
    No one cares about small time Joe racer racing his home track or lifelong fans doing what they have always done. Notables like Flemke and Williams wrapping up their careers in close association with a disreputable character is hard to watch.

    “he (Shawn Courchesne) is pretty much the ONLY one reporting about racing in Ct”

    Bingo! That’s the point for any clear headed, ingenuous individual connected with racing from car owners to track owners. Promote the freakin sport and support the only media guy crazy enough to doggedly promote all things local short track racing year round.
    So now we may know what will and what will not happen. What we don’t know is why. Why is the MMTTS ostensibly out at the Speedbowl? They with the sterling reputation that every track owner appears to enjoy working with. What sin did they commit?
    In the end it won’t make much difference to the fans will it? The teams including Hirschman were excited to return to the Speedbowl and most will be there no matter who promotes it if the money is right. Track configuration is perfect, track location ideal. With good weather it will be the biggest crowd the facility has seen post renovation and by a lot.
    Maybe it does matter. The track was joining Seekonk, Star, Monadnock, Stafford and Thunder Road some of the best in Northeast racing under the banner of highly respected promoter. They’ve rejected that association and remain an island it would appear. Circling the wagons, holding a one off event and leaving hard feelings in their wake.
    All very predictable for a petty, disingenuous management with their island mentality with no interest in rejoining the greater racing community any time soon and all for the wrong reasons.
    What should happen is for the track to stop this nonsense and honor the original commitment. Then invite Courchesne down to the track, tell him to bend over and kiss his ass just before they lead him to his special seat in that ridiculous bus. Ply him with complimentary food and beverages all night and let him do his job. Guess that won’t be happening will it?

  9. Big Mike,
    I have respect for Dick Williams and his history in promotion of Modified racing. For the record, there was never any feud between myself and Tri-Track over any Seekonk races. Jim Schaefer got upset in 2014 after I wrote a column critical of sandbag type races at Lee USA Speedway. Incidentally, the column in no way was critical of anything Tri-Track was doing to put on events, it was basically calling out for a restructring of how events were run back then to avoid having 100-lap races where nobody even tried to race for the first 75 laps. Unfortunately, Schaefer took the whole thing as a swipe at Tri-Track and created an ugly feud. To this day Jim Schaefer won’t speak to me, and I’m alright with that. I never regretted writing that column. But I have never had an issue with Dick Williams or had him speak even a word in anger toward me. Look back on this story from 2019 when Dick and Jim left the Tri-Track Series. Clearly Dick was more than gracious and speaking to me about the split. I’ve never written a negative word about Dick Williams or anything he’s done for this sport. I was stunned by his words yesterday.

  10. Doug,
    I understand the last pararagraph of your comment is somehwat tongue in cheek, but I can assure you I would never want any such treatment at any short track where I cover an event.

  11. Former Bowl Racer says

    Every time it seems like something good is happening at the bowl they screw it up. This should have been a good story. Return of one of the most respected Modified divisions to a track not many series operators want to go to. Tri track race would have probably brought in the biggest crowd in years and lots of good cars. Dick Williams is a nice guy and does a lot to help racers with good purses, but the races he puts on don’t bring in fans. Tri track would have probably had 40 cars with 15 cars that could win and bring in 3,000 fans. Racing Guys show will have 25 cars with 4 cars that can win and 300 fans.
    Sad watching the Speedbowl get worse and worse every year. People who have supported the place for years are walking away. They’re averaging about 12 cars in each division and about 150 fans in the grandstands for races this year. Sad to see.

  12. Glad there will be a tour type race at the bowl. great race facility and great racers have been made there. looking forward to whatever happens as long as something happens.

  13. Well, all I can say is I told you so!!!!!

    Way back when the track owner debacle was exposed, I said the only way out for the track is to be sold. It is in a slow, torturous decline. The public has spoken with their wallets and they do not want to support the current owner.

    Many of you blamed the EXPOSURE and DISCUSSION of the Winnebago dalliances as the problem as what would be the cause of problems going forward operating the track. WRONG!!!! It was the actions of the track owner that put the track in this precarious position, not the discussion and coverage, and still, after all these years, the only way for the track to get out of this mess is to be sold to a decent, respectable human being. That’s the only way to bring back the cars, series, sponsors, sanctioning bodies, racers and fans.

  14. Hillary 2024 says

    Oh good. Now dafella can finally finish his 2022 race schedule from the basement. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡

  15. Sad to see the track I grew up at get closer and closer to closing down every year. 10 years ago this place had the best weekly car counts in the state and the grandstands were packed every Saturday and there was great racing for every show and every week people were complaining that the track owner was terrible. I bet a lot of those people who were complaining every week back then are now wishing the Bowl could go back to even being close to that terrible again.

  16. warren lally says

    anyone bashing Dick Williams is incompetent or has no knowledge or understanding of the purpose of his promotions or the racing guys mantra. ask any legit RACER about Dick Williams . he trying to save auto racing in new england ! covid, tire shortages, gas pricing are the three worst things to happen to auto racing. waterford regardless of how you feel about ownership has undergone several upgrades. the on track product is excellent. the only consistent issue is poor promotion an management .a majority of people aren’t attending racing or participating cause their broke! admittedly new london county is suffering from the economy. Thompson doesn’t even run weekly anymore ! keep bashing. Da Real or Terry whoever you are, Eames did as much damage as Bemer and didn’t spend one cent on the place . bounced checks to drivers and vendors, defaulted on the mortgage . uncertainty from year to year on what was happening and he was coddled by the media .Shawn sorry but you are part of the “media” you have to take your lumps or criticism just like the rest .. remember if your going to dish it out or you are allowing others to vent as the webmaster/owner/rep of the site your going to get the poop from disgruntled people including Dick Williams . you need to get a thicker skin sorry. I will say your website is greatly appreciated

  17. Warren,
    Who is bashing Dick Williams here? I haven’t seen any comments bashing Dick Williams or bashing anything Dick Williams has done. Secondly, how am I not taking my criticism? Plenty of comments get posted here critical of what I do. And as far as Dick Williams saying what he said, it got published here so obviously I freely gave him the stage to say exactly what he wanted to say even though it was critical of what I do. Not sure why you would say I need to get a thicker skin when I’m literally publishing the quote of race promoter bashing me personally.

  18. Viva race fan says

    150 people in the Stands ?
    I must be at another track than you.
    People don’t care what happened to the owner . Most people move on. I believe it was 7-0 in favor by this thing called the Supreme Court that had that ruling .
    So I’ll be in trun 1 with my other 149 other patrons and watch the 12 cars in classes.
    Come done and support CT Short Track Racing .
    The Bottom line up its up to us to keep it as long as we can.

  19. Lots of people still care what happened and won’t go there because of what happened. Thats why there used to be thousands of people there on Saturday nights and now there’s a few hundred. He was cleared on a technicality because a prosecutor made mistakes during a trial. It doesn’t change that he’s a predator. OJ Simpson was found not guilty but it doesn’t mean he didn’t murder someone, just means he beat the case in court. Why did Bruce agree to pay millions to victims in settlements without even going to a civil trial if he was innocent? Don’t know a lot of people willing to pay someone millions for not doing anything wrong. There are a lot of people that still love the track who won’t go there because they don’t want to support the owner. And lots of people who won’t go there with families because they worry about bringing kids there. Should we talk about the adult male flagger there a few years ago who everyone knew was preying on children during events but was allowed to continue working there until he was arrested in Vermont for sending kids porn? Culture of acceptance of predators there. If you don’t mind that stuff, or are part of doing that stuff, then it makes sense that you would say he didn’t do anything wrong or that people forget about it.

  20. Briefly
    -citizens world wide are taxed by the current inflationary trends but to say New London county is experiencing hard economic times is a stretch. The unemployment rate for Connecticut as of April was 4.4% and New London county is under 5% as well. Getting workers is more of a problem at this point for Connecticut businesses.
    -The Connecticut Supreme Court certainly did not exonerate the owner of the Speedbowl far from it. In fact they said the evidence against him was compelling. What the state Supreme court unanimously agreed was that prosecutors did not prove that Bruce Bemer knew the young men he paid for sex acts with were victims of human trafficking.

  21. warrenlally says

    doug unable to see 5.00 gas. tire rationing at the tracks, price for everything up 30+ percent.. members of the present administration confirming crippling inflation.. you must be rich ??? look at the car counts for touring divisions or other tracks all down !!!.. I watch several tracks on flo.. the only people who seem to be immune are those that run dirt.but their crowds are down also as for Bemer again said it many times ..I don`t care what his personal business is. You and the fella go to Thompson ..have a blast, bring your wallet and enjoy single digit car counts in some divisions for regular shows..LOL

  22. Unbiased says

    Of course things go off the rails and it becomes a bash Waterford situation. Looking back Williams has been fairly represented by this web site. He has been quoted fairly and accurately and his his events have been given press. Even in this article he wasn’t bashed he was simply quoted. The tri track is a viable respected modified series,for it to be that legitimate businessmen with an eye on more than just promotion needed to take it over. Promotion and caring about racers is only one part of keeping a series going. It seems like a strange personal vendetta aimed at tri track. The biggest looser seems like the speed bowl and it’s fans. Look at the Claremont entry list and that is what you would get. Four or five big names, some potential dark horse locals and mostly field fillers.

  23. Suitcase Jake says

    I will say this …. Shawn is not at fault here…He is a reporter with opinions and writes articles as a reporter… you may AGREE or DISAGREE with those Opinions…He wrote
    articles covering the trial and verdict… Articles that shared the FACTS of what was
    happening at a Local Track .. Don’t blame the messenger .. blame those who have
    hurt the Track you Love.. The Man that reports racing would like nothing better than to
    write glowing reports of the great racing and improvements taking place..It’s turned UGLY
    at the Bowl, Blame the Owner.. Not the Reporter..

  24. Don’t shoot the messenger.

  25. The Speedbowl is a cult. The people down there still defending the owner are insane. Just watched a video with Shawn Monahan saying this story took a crap on Dick Williams. There’s nothing negative at all about Dick Williams in this story. The story reported news and didn’t say anything bad about Dick Williams. It sounds like Dick Williams wanted this to come out if he was walking around the pits telling everyone he was putting on the race there. What substances is Shawn Monahan under the influence of? It’s like Waco down there and the track owner is David Koresh and he’s got a bunch of brainwashed fools falling all over themselves to show their unbreakable devotion to him. It’s disturbing.

  26. wmass01013 says

    Shawn does tension still exist between Bennett/Darling vs Williams/Schaefer??????

  27. wmass01013,
    I don’t know that tension is the right word. I don’t think they’re exchanging Christmas cards or going to dinner.

  28. So Voodoo you knew the flagger was preying in kids and you didn’t go to the authorities? Way to enable a predator.

  29. Longtimefan says

    wait, wait, hold on… 150 fans??? a few hundred fans??? At a sheep race in the hills of Waterford Ireland maybe…. WOW!! clearly most of you havent been to the Waterford Speedbowl this year, as the place is PACKED, 2 nights a week!! between the stands, and fans in the pits, there are several thousand fans arrending the bowl every week…. alot of keyboard warriors here, who never go to the races…

  30. 150>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TRUTH<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<PACKED

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHPtS_1SBEE

    Judge for yourself and see a good race as a bonus. You may enjoy seeing Owen have a very tidy time of it getting to the front and looking snappy in his newer racing togs.

  31. Rafter fan says

    I think it’s fair to say attendance at the Bowl has been somewhere between 150 and “packed”.

    I’m surprised we’re still waiting for MCJr to record his first SK win at Waterford.

  32. CHRISTOPHER W HAWKINS says

    Sounds like Mr Williams recognizes bush league journalism for what it is. Courchesne turned Mr Williams words into the sword. Now just fall on it please.

  33. Christopher,
    Thanks for reading, have a splendid day.

  34. Hillary 2024 says

    The cultists came out in bigger numbers Saturday and were entertained with a good show. Kinda funny I thought to see all 3 Chapman brothers racing the enduro. You don’t see modified drivers in them often.

  35. What were you dong in 1978? Dick Williams was promoting at a number of tracks including Waterford and then again in the early 80’s. Williams is no savior of racing like one person here observed he’s a promoter. It’s in his blood and he has a strong attachment to the Speedbowl. He’s really old, the clock is running out, he wants to promote as long as he can and Waterford is convenient to his home. I say good for him but lets not pretend this isn’t typical in any way.
    So how’s this work will this be a Dick Williams deal as opposed to the Racing Guys? The Claremont postponement puts that race and this one on succeeding weekends is that the best idea for any promoter let alone a senor citizen?
    So you’re a Waterford regular, you race there or you’re a fan there I’d do the exact same thing were I you. But Joe Schmo racer or fan isn’t Dick William, Shawn Monahan or Ed Flemke. Joe Schmo doesn’t have to work intimately with the owner nor when asked pretend that the no foul no harm rule is in affect and the past never happened.
    I’ve read the Supreme Court ruling over turning the conviction it’s surprisingly easy to read even for a Joe Schmo like me. They laid it all out in detail and it’s hard to disagree with their findings. They also laid out the sequence of events and behavior that they did not question.
    Those scamps at Making Laps a Vault Productions enterprise actually read some of the victims testimony a few episode back and it was graphic. At the least it was a wealthy, adult male using undereducated, disadvantaged young men on a serial basis over many years committing illegal acts if not felonies.
    I don’t know if Monahan took down his rant about what was published here but I couldn’t find it. He does have an entry with his son from late May that has him ruminating on the problems the Speedbowl faces and it was a pretty good critical, off the cuff analysis as far as I could tell. Where he lost me is to blow off the ownership deal post Supreme Court verdict like it never happened. Made all the worse by the optics. Sitting with his son who were it not for a fortunate accident of birth could have ended up a victim instead of the son of a great dad fulfilling every wish a young racer could have. Dude where’s the empathy?
    So Courchesne calls Williams looking for information, Williams gets all combative and snarky, it’s reported and once again we break up into shirts and skins to have at it. For me it misses the point which is.
    Shawn Courchesne here and on Unmuffled has to be deferential to Williams because Williams is who he is with that long resume but here’s the thing. Willams is laying a world of hurt on Courchesne intentionally or not, a guy that is just doing his job that I’m pretty sure does not have the history of the Speedbowl owner. At the same time Williams is working intimately with the guy that does have the sordid history and is in fact working hand in hand with him.
    To all my fellow Schmo’s by all means go to the Speedbowl, compete or enjoy watching the races I’d do the same were it my track. But just don’t try to convince all of RaceDayCt nation that notables like Williams, Flemke and Monahan aren’t diminished to some degree when they pretend that the Supreme Court verdict erased the behavior of the track owner and in fact seek to work with him.

  36. Viva race fan says

    Let it go . Time to move on. Keep up Bashing the guy and you will be driving by a new warehouse or truck stop ect. This isn’t the only old news you keep dragging up. Time to move on and hope that we have a track to attend and race at. I’m not ever going to haul to the other 2 tracks. We’re locals and we love the Speedbowl and how well the Owner has made it a better track for all. He has never had any issues at the track other than improvements and safety upgrades.

  37. Dear Shawn … wait I mean Viva,
    Stop, just stop. Really, stop being that guy. Nothing, not one damn thing reported here in this story was “old news”. You sound absolutely delusional making that claim about every story written here about the Speedbowl. Really, just stop being that gaslighting fool who thinks if they scream “Old News” to every story that isn’t positive you’ll somehow brainwash people like you’re brainwashed. It gets so old. Someday you’ll realize people like you are a huge part of why the track struggles, because you keep trying to push this tweaked narrative that somehow the track and its management are the poor victims of some global effort to ruin them. This is not old news, and the issues being reported on are self induced by track management and not created by anyone else. Just stop and get a grip and stick to your Facebook videos.

  38. Hey Viva…

    Old news????

    August 6, 2022 is in the future. That’s not old.

    If the track keeps on the path it is, and it is doing what it is doing to itself, its future is not looking good. Can’t blame anyone else other than the track ownership and management.

  39. Viva race fan says

    Just saying. This is banter not a competition.

  40. Shawn, I mean Viva,
    Just saying what? You do this every single time something like this happens at this track. The reporting of this story has nothing to do with the owner or any past issues and there was zero reference to any of that in the reporting of the story. But, like always, you come on here and infer that somehow the story has to do with that. You sound like a brainwashed lemming who has been trained to robotically say the same thing over and over and over again to make the place sound like the victim. Again, just stop and come back to reality and stop saying every news story involving the track somehow goes back to 2017. If the place turns into a new warehouse or a truck stop it then that will be the choice the owner makes. But don’t try to blame that on people choosing not to go there and having opinions based on the recent history of issues.

  41. Are we talking some sort of “Back to the Future” episode ???? I thought August 6, 2022 is in the future and not old news? Does someone have a newspaper from the future????

    What’s going on????

    Diversions and distractions are old tricks, that still don’t work against the facts.

    😝😝😂🤣🤣😝😝😂😝🤣😝😝😂😂😝😝🤣🥱🥱🥱

    🚮

  42. Viva, let it go.

    Let it gooooooo…. 🎵

    Let it gooooooo…. 🎵

    Let it goooooooooo…. 🎵

    The more you try to create an alternative reality, the more reality beats the crap out of you and your ilk. You need to keep yourself and all other cretins out of sight, out of mind. To do that, you and your ilk needs to STFU. 🤬 🤫 When you do this, you are dredging up everything you want and need to keep hidden. You do it to yourself, and the track. You need to stop giving the track this type of attention, you are bringing it down.

  43. Longtimefan says

    By the way, Yesterday’s Wacky Wednesday race night was PACKED again… Yeah there were only 150 people, in line for food…. i saw Thousands…

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