Sid's Post-Production Notes

The Beginning
March 15, 2011

    Well, after years of talking about some sort of Speedbowl documentary I have in the works, I finally have a new webisode to show what we've come up with so far.  This new series, effectionately titled Documentary Nuggets, will provide snippets from our documentary interviews with many people from the Speedbowl community both past & present.  Our first episode "The Beginning" focuses on the early years of the track during the 1950's.  It's been almost 6 years since I started my track history research during the 2005 season and we're entering our 4th season at the track collaborating with Waterford native Gayle Saunders of Steady Rock Films and racer/videographer Jesse Gleason of Adie Wun Films on several video projects.  However, it's been over the past year that we were able to interview 3 Speedbowl heavywieghts when it comes to the track's history and that really give our ultimate goal of a documentary film about the track some legs.

    The first interview dedicated to pre-1980's history was with Don Benvenuti (interviewed in March 2010).  Don was 22 years old and just out of college when his father Frank and uncle Fred were 2 of the 6 original members of the track's initial ownership group in 1951.  By the 1970's, he took over for his father on Board of Directors.  In 1974, Don was part of the ownership group who sold the track to Harvey Tattersall Jr.  Now in his early 80's, Don still keeps up with the Speedbowl through the local papers and shared many fond memories he had of the place when we interviewed him.

    Earlier this year, we visited with John Brouwer.  The Brouwer family has a long history at the Waterford Speedbowl.  John's father Jack was part of the ownership group with Benvenuti and his son, John Jr, was a popular competitor who won the 1996 Late Model Championship.  John himself worked at he track for over 15 years primarily as a scorer/handicapper and later wrote (with Dave Shippee) the first publication of the Speedbowl's history - A Racing History of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl covering the 1951-1973 seasons.  John shared a vivid, detailed account of the track's early years.  We are, without a doubt, fortunate and privelidged to have him embrace our project.  As we learn more about the track, we hope to interview John again.

    Lastly, we talked just a few weeks ago with long-time racing journalist Pete Zanardi.  Pete first got into racing in the 1950's as a kid watching his hero Benny Desrosier drive the #230 Hudson Hornet at the Speedbowl.  After a long career in journalism covering baseball, auto racing and many other sports throughout the northeast, Pete returned to Waterford in the mid-1990's as the Speedbowl Public Relations Director - a position he held for over a decade.  A member of the New England Antique Racers (NEAR) Hall of Fame, Pete told tremendous stories from the early days with a great sense for what the place was about both on and off the track.  

    With these 3 interviews, I was able to edit a 13:37 piece that shares some of the what we've captured on video so far - including the track's construction as a dirt track, the change to asphalt, the season schedules, race Director John Whitehouse and drivers such as Don Collins, Moe Gherzi, Dick Beauregard and Bill Slater.  We were also fortunate to have some great photos submitted by Zanardi, Dave Dykes, Greg & Tracy Moran as well as some from my our own Vault collection.   

    There's still plenty more to reveal about the 1950's, nevermind the 1960's, 70's and all the way up to 2011. Ultimately, our finished product would be a full-length documentary film - potentially several installments collectively 8-10 hours in length to cover the track's entire 60+ year history.  But where a long way from that just yet, so as we conduct more interviews, collect more photos and old 8mm films, we'll share some of what we're putting together.

    If you're interested in contributing to this project in any way, have factual historical information or any other questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to email me anytime at sid@jeff-pearl.com.  We've been fortunate to recieve many contributions from the Speedbowl community both past & present so far, and we hope that generousity continues as we push forward.  Check back to www.vault-productions.com throughout the 2011 season for updates on our project.

Thanks to everyone who's helped along the way... couldn't do it without ya!

Sid

Reviews from the racing community

"An incredible piece on the Speedbowl's history.  A credit to the whole crew involved"
Terry Eames - Waterford Speedbowl Owner & Operator

"I learned more in that one video than I have in the 6 years I've lived down here"
Scott Tapley - Waterford Speedbowl Race Director

"Doesn't get much better than that.   Awesome!  Could watch it all day"
Kyle Rickey - announcer for Motor Racing Network

"I'm enjoying the old stories all the time.  Thanks for keeping the history alive"
Howie Hodge - auto racing photographer