G2 Radios presents The Waterford Speedbowl Message Board

ftc....bingo...from someone that has had very good seasons and bad seasons at the bowl (starting as a teen 40 years ago) I must add that I am happy that it is still open and providing racing for the community, but it would be awesome if the place was passed on to someone else that had the resources and love for racing to turn the place around and spend some money to make the place clean and nice looking so it would be easier to bring new race fans to. Yes, I know it is what is on the track that counts but appearance to someone new while they are waiting for the actual racing to grab them by the throat and say you need to be here (like the rest of us) is very important. You have to get & keep their attention before they get hooked.

Steve S. and maybe the action on the track and competitor morale would be brought up significantly if some higher management positions were changed because i have heard from several competitors (past & present) who have said they will not step foot on that property while its under the ownership / management its currently under. (and i am pretty sure you know atleast 1 competitor who feels this way!) Yes i will say some of the car counts have gotten slightly better however i still think they need to be better people dont find it worth going to the bowl for $14.00 admission to watch 14 car fields drive around when they can go to Stafford and pay $15.00 and watch 24-28 car fields.

And to touch on my "homework assignment" yes i realize its tough to lower admission prices when the bills aren't being paid but there are several things /ways to look at here:
- Is the bills not being paid because the money isn't there or because the owner has never really liked paying the bills of the place.
- Is the rent not being paid because the money just simply isn't there after paying competitors, staff etc...

However if the second one is TRUE then if you lower the admission price to say $10.00 for adults you won't get as much profit per ticket but i feel that the quantity would make up for and be more of a money maker. Also really think that would make it more appealing to get people in the front gate then they will say "wow where else can a family of 4 get Saturday entertainment for $30.00 admission and see such a great show and action" and then they would be more willing to buy some food or souvenirs at the bowl instead of running down Rt. 85 to wendy's or stopping at subway on their way to the bowl. Seems it would be a win win for the ol' Bowl.

be careful where you are treading with the responses. (this is not pointed at any poster, I didnt quote for a reason)


neither is replacing the owner if that wasn't clear. Terry owns the Speedbowl. Love him or Hate him, it's his property. constructive criticism is fine. like I said before bring me solutions. how about finding weekly event sponsors? everybody has a favorite pizza joint? go talk to the owner.



unless you have proof, those kind of comments are not going to fly here. and by proof, something that is public knowledge that can be found by the average Joe. as a vendor, I have NEVER been stiffed by the Waterford Speedbowl. in most cases I received a check the following week.

Im going to stick with lowering the admission price. As i stated before i think the quantity of people will make up for it. When running a business like the speedbowl to try new things such as lowering ticket prices is hard and risky but i would like to see the BOD either do some sort of a survey or try it for a month and see if it makes a difference and if it doesn't make a difference then i think the issue would lie within. Lets face it in order to run a successful business you HAVE to take risks!

And in order to do the survey you wouldn't be able to survey bowl regulars because they are going to be there no matter what...

I really think the $14.00 Admission scares people away!

Things that take money: Bathrooms have always been a Speedbowl problem since I can remember.

Track lighting. I had some friends come for WnW last year that normally go to Stafford and Thompson tour shows and the first thing they commented on was the lighting being very poor and some of it not working on that night.

Things that don't take money:

This one is probably so far out of control it doesn't matter anymore. The family section. In the 80's and 90's this was the most filled place in the stands. No beer, no swearing and in a PC world now it should be no smoking. This small area of the grandstands got over run, over looked and forgotten what it was really about. A mom and her kids don't want to be dodging 15-50 rowdy drunks running for beer or the porta pot every 10 minutes. With the crowds as they are now it doesn't matter, when the place was on the decline, it mattered alot to keep everyone happy. The family section quickly became the party section.

I'm with FTC. Saturday admission is too high for the most part. Some kindof monthly special, or food coupon with the admission should be included if you want to keep the prices up and tax the people that do come.

I often wondered why, if the stands are less then half full every week why isn't someone dumping free tickets onto Q-105, WCTY, the Day/Bulletin/Courant, local business and such? I don't mean 5 pair, I mean by the hundred. WCCC in hartford does alot of free promos where you simply stop by the station and pick up free tickets. I understand that some of this will end up in paying customers hands, oh well. Make the tickets good for that week only, get some casual fans back and maybe some more people that would have never thought of going. Those free people are going to eat, drink and better yet bring someone that isn't free/come back/tell more people. It also includes somewhat free advertising by way of announcement of the tickets. It always seems the bowl looks at what it's losing rather then what it's gaining. That attitude has backed them into this corner.



I like your attitude about things at times but at other times you're just a bit too rah! Rah! cheerleader for me.

Let's be honest here. The Speedbowl is a privately owned and run company. While it may be nice to try and help it is a business not a non-profit. It's not in the customers hands to do leg work or any work for that matter on promoting or what should be everyday tasks of running a business. The business' customers pay a fee to the business to enjoy/use the facility and product they offer. The end.

Now on the racing front. Something the track can't help....

The track lacks the drivers it once had when it thrived. I'm not just talking car count, I'm talking the good old soap opera in each division.

When the bowl had some of it's best times, it's had it's best drivers. No one has replaced Rondeau, Stuart, Fox, Frye, McCarthy, Steiner, Moran, you name it through the years. When the bowl was the best for me you had the guy that won too much but hardly had anyone boo him, the villan, the new guy challenger that was stepping up his game. It was a show within itself. Nothing against all the guys now but they just don't fill those shoes yet.

It's the same in all divisions, Potter, Christopher, Donnelly, David Gada, Mark L. Guys that win too much, guys people love to hate, the homebuilt low buck guys that beat them.

I think racing has changed as a whole, I'm not sure other tracks still have that quality of good guys, villans, guys everyone loves either. Now everyone wants to be the white hat guy that does everything right. I guess i'm just saying racing itself has changed so much what kept me interested as a child and even now is gone.

I agree with Warren on this one because the bowl wouldnt really be losing money on such a deal because if they dont give the tickets away to radio stations or other media venues then the tickets are unused if you allow people in for free 90% of the people you get in the gate from this are going to be first timers and they WILL spend money at the track on concessions and bring a friend or 2.
But like anything else the first part to fixing a problem is admitting you have a problem which i think is the bowls biggest problem they dont ever wanna admit they have a problem.
People may say i like to bash the bowl or im a bowl hater but in all reality im far from that i love the place its just frustrating to see such a good racing venue fail because the leaders feel "we had a successful season".
I ask this question: What was so successful about the 2009 season?

every year i hear the same ideas being given to the bowl management and yet they still do nothing with the ideas how is giving away 500 free tickets to local radio stations going to hurt the bowl?

I leave everyone with this simple quote "you can lead a horse to water but you can not force it to drink!"

thank you both for keeping it on track and offering solid ideas.

..and Warren, I do not carry pom poms.

Geez... feels like I'm in a time warp with all this "how the bowl should be better" banter...

I agree with some stuff....

Giving tickets away is obvious - are you guys sure the track doesn't already do that??? I think they actively work with media outlets on such giveaways. I'd check your facts before you criticize...

Warren made great point about drivers these days - they're just aren't the rivalries there once was. Don't get me wrong, I think dudes like Dennis, JP, Ronnie U, etc are all class acts and quality shoes and I love watching them race.... but I was more intrigued by the two weeks when Rocco and Chadwick went at it last year on the track and verbally to each other. Anyone who's read my ramblings should knows I think Bruce & Timmy have the best rivalry at the track right now, and hope that it gets more intense this year. But outside of that, it's not like 15-20 years ago like Warren stated, there just isn't that vibe. Not 7-8 years ago when Dupre and the Monahan Bros used to duke it out in the strictlies.... or when my man 'chard and Danny Boy had a heated rivalry in the Minis... I don't see that kinda stuff any more.... I agree the track needs that kinda stuff to draw interest. Rocco will be at opener, but there's no weekly commitment yet that we'll see him every week in the #57 at the 'bowl, and if he's not there weekly, that'll suck. Rocco brings that element to the show that no one else there currently does. Strictly a "show for the fans" opinion, but the Speedbowl can't afford to lose someone like Keith to the weekly show - IMO. He's good for the show, and that in turn should be good for business. If you can't stand Keith - that just makes my point even stronger! Nobody wants to watch a bunch of best-buddies race against each other... at least I don't!

Family Section?? I know I'll be bashed cuz that's where I sit - and yes, I'm probably the reason it's become more of a party in that area then a non-beer, non-profanity area, but I hardly think the lack of a strictly defined FS is high on the list of reasons why the stands aren't as full as they could be...

What was so successful about 2009 season??? Were you there under the J-Rob regime?? I'll take 2009 over any of the last 3-4 seasons.

Lastly - totally agree with Warren (just shoot me now!) that it's not the customer's obligation to provide solutions to help the track. Yes, I'm involved more and more with each passing year and provided solutions for an statistical history and weekly program, but those were my choices. I don't expect anyone else to feel as compelled to contribute, nor should they feel obligated to do so in order to express they're opinion. People who pay to come to the races shouldn't have to "pitch in" more than the $$ they spend when they're there to make the place better. Improving the facility and race program is the sole responsibility of the property owner and his operating team. I think Terry's fortunate enough to have passionate Speedbowl community who will help in anyway they can, but to say you can't have an opinion without offering a solution or volunteering time to the track.... totally disagree with that!

Cents - duece - out!

No need to bash, at this point there isn't enough people there to have any type of "sections" and if you don't like the crowd you're sitting with there is plenty of other seats to plant yourself in and enjoy the show.

My point wasn't to bash or point out anyone, when the track was going good the family section was a busy place. Complete with security removing people from it. It slowly went away. It's not a fix now it's just another one of those good things the bowl had that slowly went away to nothing.