Repeat Speedbowl winners could be more difficult to come by

Press release from the New London Waterford Speedbowl
WATERFORD — During the 2017 season, SK Modified driver Keith Rocco and Sportsman driver Chris Meyer each won back-to-back features at the New London Waterford Speedbowl on two occasions. And each driver also enjoyed three race winning streaks.
In 2018, however, back-to-back victories may be more difficult to come by. A new Speedbowl handicapping rule going into effect in 2018 stipulates that the winner of a feature must start the next week’s race behind all the handicapped cars. In most cases, that means starting 10th, or farther back. “I love it,” Meyer said. “It’s a long awaited rule. If you want to bring more teams back into weekly racing, that’s what you have to do. I love coming from the back myself. It makes for better racing.”
“No one wants to see myself, Al Stone or Ryan Waterman start fifth or sixth. Imagine if Ryan Waterman and me were starting 13th and 14th. Not a single person would want to miss that.”
Speedbowl racing director Chris Forster said that new procedure was implemented with both the drivers and the fans in mind. “This will increase the competition level,” Forster said. “If a driver wants to win two in a row, he will have to earn it. This raises the bar for everyone.
“And the fans will be see great side-by-side racing because they’ll see the previous week’s winner doing everything he can to get to the front.”
Rocco, who won nine of 15 SK races last year, said the new rule doesn’t affect him that much. “Ninety percent of the time, we start in the back after we win a race anyway,” Rocco said. “The only time we wouldn’t would be if we had two DNFs and then win a race. Our handicap could put us near the front the following week. But that’s not going to happen anymore. That’s a rule that will affect everybody.”
The handicap system will also go back to using money won over the last three races to determine starting position, not the point system that’s been used the past few years.
“This makes it a lot easier for drivers and fans to understand.” Forester said. Forster also announced an increase in purses. SK Modified winners will receive $1,300. The Sportsman winning purse will double to $400. The
MiniStock winner will earn $250. SK Lights will race for $350 to win – along with a purse increase to the LM and truck divisions. It’s been a long time coming said Forster.
“That’s great,” Rocco said. “The price of tires goes up. Fuel
goes up. It’s nice the purse is going up.”
“Now if we can get a win, we can cover our expenses,” Meyer said. “Before, we couldn’t even pay for a tire and the fuel bill.”
Of course, in order to get that extra money, he’s going to have to work extra hard to go back-to-back.