Exclusive: Brad Lafontaine On Current Situation At New London-Waterford Speedbowl

Rumors swirled Saturday that first-year New London-Waterford Speedbowl race director Brad Lafontaine had resigned from his position at the track.

Lafontaine, a former championship winning NASCAR Modified Tour crew chief who also was a longtime car builder and previous owner of Northeast Race Cars, took over as race director at the Speedbowl in early April.

On Tuesday Lafontaine offered some clarity about his current standing at the Speedbowl. Despite rumors swirling that he quit his position at the track on Saturday, Lafontaine confirmed to RaceDayCT that he remains in the position as race director at the Speedbowl.

Lafontaine said a personal issue that had nothing to do with his responsibilities with track forced him to miss Saturday’s event.

“I did not leave the Speedbowl,” Lafontaine said. “Rumors running wild.”

Lafontaine told RaceDayCT last week that track management had decided to part ways with longtime tech inspector Mark St. Hilaire.

Saturday St. Hilaire was back working with the tech staff at the Speedbowl early in the afternoon, but he ended up leaving the track well before feature races began.

St. Hilaire has had an integral role with the tech inspection team at the Speedbowl since 2015, which was the first season the track was operated by current owner Bruce Bemer.

“Mark has been here for a long time, he’s a good guy,” Lafontaine told RaceDayCT on July 23. “It’s just, I think where we’re going is going in kind of a different direction a little bit as far as the rules and the tech and all the rest of the stuff. We kind of parted company with Mark. Nothing personal, it’s just the way we’re going.”