By Shawn Courchesne and Denise DuPont
WATERFORD – It was a night of celebration on multiple facets Saturday in Waterford.
There was celebration for the New London-Waterford Speedbowl in hosting a packed crowd for a dazzling Tour Type Modified event for the first time since 2016.
There was celebration for the Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series in being the vehicle to help bring a major stage type Tour Type Modified event back to the historic shoreline oval.
And there was celebration for Dana DiMatteo, the lucky one who stood in victory lane after all the buildup and competition of the triumphant event.
DiMatteo held off Mike Christopher Jr. and Kyle Bonsignore on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Belltown Motors/Fowler’s Auto Wrecking 100 presented by CBYD 811.
It was the first career Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series victory for DiMatteo, of Farmington.
“We had a really good weekend,” DiMatteo said. “[In the SK Modified feature] we finished third. The Open car was top-five all day long on speed. We knew we had a really good car. Won the heat race. Just rode around behind Matt [Hirschman] for a while and we started losing forward drive about lap 40. Waited for the yellow, finally got the yellow. Came out and put the tire on tire. Saved a little more once we went back green. I think that made the difference between [Christopher] and [Bonsignore]. I just had a little more tire than everybody else at the end. That was the name of the game.”
Christopher, of Wolcott, was second and Bonsignore, of Bay Shore, N.Y., was third.
The race played in front of a packed house at the Speedbowl. Forty-four cars were on hand attempting to make the 30-car starting field for the feature. It marked the largest car count for a Tour Type Modified event in the Northeast in 2022.
“I think [the Monaco Monaco Modified Tri-Track Series] did an amazing job putting this show on,” Christopher said. “This is something that I haven’t seen at the Bowl in many years. To see the crowd and all the people and all the hustle and bustle and race day. It was just incredible. Reminded me of the last time the [NASCAR Whelen Modified] Tour was here in years past. Shout out to them.”
The drama of the entire day came to a crescendo on the track when caution flew with DiMatteo leading on lap 99 of the event, setting up the green-white-checkered finish.
“Immediately I was upset,” DiMatteo said. “I was mad. I was. What are you going to do? We had to capitalize on the opportunity that was still in front of us and we ended up taking it home.”
Said Bonsignore: “I thought it was a really good race for this team. First time I’ve ever been here, first time they’ve been here with this car. We got faster and improved all day. We had a really solid car for the beginning of the race. We were in the top-three basically the whole race. Great pit stop. I thought we had the perfect car after the green flag came back out. We were able to get to the lead and start stretching it out. But we started to get a little bit loose and loose some drive off the [corners] and it was enough for [DiMatteo] to get us.”
Ryan Preece of Berlin was fourth and Woody Pitkat fifth.
Anyone know what happened to silk and the 50 from the entry list?
Bobf,
Eric Berndt stepped in for Silk who had to sit out due to a health issue.
gee where are da real and Terry Eames ??..”the speed bowl has a black cloud hanging over it due to ownership , oh the beer was warm, the food was cold, the stands are not properly designed for viewing the track ” . the on track product remains one of the best ! this race is an example and proof of that ! second if someone can get control of the midway and do some additional work on the restrooms the speed bowl could return to a viable business (the Korteweg years) . PS where are the Bemer haters??? did they all forget about his troubled past. ? Were or are they willing to look the other way when there’s money on the line? SERIOUSLY I want some feedback ! … had some pretty big names present who overlooked Mr Bemer ? . what made THIS specific promotion successful and will Scott Foster be able to move forward and correct what is wrong with the bowl? P.S the upcoming race at Thompson wont even compare to this event.. clearly so far the best this season at any CT track with the exception of the SRX race at Stafford…
Great event; hope it is the first of many more to come for the Bowl.
Anyone know why Hirschman had to pit twice?
Great to see the big crowd, the track crew put on a smooth welcoming show. Racing was really good – Dimatteo earned that win… just wondering what happened to Money during the pit stops?
MMTTS @ the Speedbowl Forum Pick 6 Update
AlJ…. 7ny 25W 60 88 81o (57)…..2+14+8+5+20+=49
Eddie…7ny, (50), 60, 5, 81o, 21…2+8+13+20+28=71
Wanna..7ny. 60 , (50) , 40 , 00 , 81o..2+8+4+31+20=65
Big City..60, 40, 88, 66, (50), 57…8+4+5+31+26=74
Earl…57, 88, 60, 7ny, (50), 40…26+5+8+2+4=45
Rich…28, 7NY, 57, 60, 81o, (50)….21+2+26+8+20=77
csg 60 57 88 (50) 7ny 9ct……8+26+5+2+11=52
Ken L..49-60-7ny-25w-(50)-9ct…31+8+2+14+11=66
Jake..60-7ny-(50)-40-25W-9ct….8+2+4+14+11=39
Bobf…60, (50), 25w, 06 h, 40, 00..8+14+22+4+31=79
Get Ser..9ct, 7ny,88,60,40,(50) …11+2+5+8+4=30
Disallowed late entry
Liz C…40, 60, 07, (9ct), 88, 89….4+8+3+5+9=29
RaceDayCt poll choices…60-57-7ny-40-50-(other)…8+26+2+4+31=71
Aggregate Forum Poll results…60-50-7ny-40-88-(57/9ct)..8+31+2+4+5=50
PODIUM
Get serious 30
Suitcase Jake 39
Earl 45
Remainder of the Field
AIJ 49
Csg 52
I wanna play 65
Ken L 66
Fast Eddie 71
Big City 74
Rich 77
Bobf 79
WINS
Fast Eddie……2
Doug…………2
csg…………….2
Suitcase Jake……2
Get serious……2
Viva race fan…1
Rafter fan……1
Big city………..1
AIJ……………..1
Bobf……………1
I wanna play….1
Lapped Traffic….1
PODIUMS
Suitcase Jake…8
AIJ…………….…6
Fast Eddie………5
Doug……………..5
Csg……………..4
Bigcity ……..…..3
Earl………………3
Lapped traffic ….2
Rafter fan……….2
wmass01013……2
Liz Cherokee…..2
Bobf…………..2
Ken L………….2
Viva race fan…….1
Get serious……1
Carl…………..1
Mike H………..1
I wanna play…1
The speed bowl conundrum aka standing room only,
I’m not sure why you mention Terry Eames. I don’t believe Terry Eames has been critical of anything happening at the Speedbowl. And I’m not sure what former racer Scott Foster has to do with anything going on the Speedbowl. For someone who seems to be so deeply embedded in all things Speedbowl it’s kind of surprising you don’t actually know the name of the new general manager.
Congrats to Dana Dimatteo, he def earned it. Scott Foster earned it as well and it looks like he and his crew pulled it together! Great job.
Stuart A Fearn,
Well played sir.
Congrats to Dana Dimatteo, he def earned it. Sean Foster earned it as well and it looks like he and his crew pulled it together! Great job.
haha
Hirschman had a stripped lug on the right rear and they couldn’t get the wheel off on the first stop.
Great clean race, anyone know a out the call made on the Gallup car? Feel like they were dealt a bad hand maybe? They were lucky dog and got parked? Or was there a mechanical issue? I used to watch his father at the Park, Jeffrey looked good early on in the event.
Great day at the Bowl. For fans,drivers,teams and management. I don’t know if the amenities will ever get to the level of the actual racing. But I’m ok with that!
Just a bit bummed that the 3 got stuck behind slower two wide cars for that 5 or so laps after pitting. Again ole blue the best car that just didn’t get to victory lane.
That’s interesting. Why pit twice though if caution laps don’t count?
I heard Ben Dodge mention all of the ownership players including Bruce Bemer
Congrats to the DiMatteo team! I’ve watched them improve bit by bit, but i don’t think anyone saw that coming, except for them of course! Shawn, 2 possible pole ideas for you: How many surprise winners will we see for tour type mods, and which winner was the biggest surprise. I think DiMatteo just went ahead of Jake Johnson on that one!
Fat fingers and no double checking on my picks. I wanted 40 not 49! Oh well
It was great to see all of the families in the stands! We need more kid-friendly events to bring the next generation of racing fans to.
Sorry Ken L, I tried to let you know along with the other picks that needed cleaning up.
MMTTS @ the Speedbowl Forum Pick 6 Update
AlJ…. 7ny 25 60 88 81o 57 Which 25?????
Eddie…7ny, 50, 60, 5/75, 81o, 21
Wanna..7ny. 60 , 50 , 40 , 00 , 81o
Big City..60, 40, 88, 66, 50, 57
Earl…57, 88, 60, 7ny, 50, 40
Rich…28, 7NY, 57, 60, 81Owen, 50
csg 60 57 88 50 7ny 9ct
Ken L..49-60-7ny-25 (Williams)-50-9ct There is no 49?????
You would have been on the podium and Liz would have won if she got her picks in earlier.
I just don’t want to have to make assumptions when something doesn’t jive so I tend score what’s there not what it seems was intended.
Mod fan 4 life,
It sounded like Gallup may have been parked for not paying attention to the passing flag. But I always thought the passing flag was telling lapped cars the leaders were coming and you may want to get out of the way, but never thought you actually had to absolutely do it each time.
How awesome was it to hear Ben Dodge and Gary Danko back together again? Just wish that Buckler could have been there. I haven’t heard Danko on the mike in years since he retired. I saw a funny interview with DiMatteo and he called the lighthouse trophy the Old Saybrook light when it’s clearly the New London harbor light. Yeah Bemer is still the owner mudbus. He was even hard at work moving things around to fit more cars in the lot. Heard some people still had to park elsewhere. Cool to see Monaco’s old modified on display. I never knew he raced back in the day. I think a lot of people in the crowd were happy to see the home track kid win. I don’t hate Hirshman but was happy that he wasn’t a contender for the win.
Congrats to the 176 on the home track win. Molleur in the 3 car was class of field. MC JR
always good in the 7NY. Bernt filling in for Silk. Glad to see the SK guys run well. Great show.
Jmb at the drivers meeting officials made it known if you get the passing flag you are to get to the bottom of the track and stay there if not you would be black flagged. The officials did not want this to turn in to a bs WMT event decided by lapped cars
JMB, thanks for the response and information, that’s my general understanding of the passing flag as well, lead lap cars are coming respect them, don’t “race” them, and give them a bigger lane. I personally didn’t see a rule being broken there. 🤷♂️
Outstanding Day at Waterford, couldn’t change anything to make it better. All I heard all day was comments of GREAT food and RACING.
Sean deserves lots of praise, right down to the beach balls idea for fun. And still over at 9:45 WOW !!!
Yea it was a good night just made it in before they weren’t gonna let any more cars in .liked that we saw a caution for a great ending restart
You have to give credit to everyone involved that made this a resounding success but especially Foster. The guys been the gm for a few weeks and look what he accomplished. Don’t forget that not very long ago we didn’t even know if tri track was actually coming.