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When Harvey Tattersall Jr's United Racing took over the sanctioning operations at the Waterford Speedbowl in 1975, there were many changes at the shoreline oval - one of which was the track's inclusion in a 6 event Modified open competition series to be run along with the Thompson International Speedway and Star Speedway. Each track would host (2) 50-lap feature events with competitors receiving purse money and points for each race, and an eventual Yankee All Star League Champion crowned at series' end. 

This format remained unchanged through the first three years, although four straight rainouts in 1977 shortened the series to only 4 races. The series' final season in 1978 saw major changes to the format as four more tracks joined the circuit - Stafford Motor Speedway, Westboro Speedway, Seekonk Speedway and Monadnock Speedway. Although the series expanded to 7 races total and the race distances doubled to 100 laps, each track would now host only 1 event.


The special Wednesday night shows brought some of the biggest names in modified racing history to the Speedbowl. Waterford winners included future NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookies of the Year Ron Bouchard and his younger brother Ken Bouchard (1975 - in the first ever Yankee All Star event), NASCAR Modified National Champions Carl "Bugsy" Stevens and Fred DeSarro (1976), Long Island modified legend Chargin' Charlie Jarzombek (1977) and the eventual 1986 NASCAR Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine (1978). Bodine dominated the series' 4 year existence, winning 11 features overall, including a clean sweep of all seven 100-lap events during his dominate 1978 season.


4-time Modified Track Champion Dick Dunn's back-to-back runner up finishes in the last 2 Yankee All Star events held at Waterford in 1977 and 1978 were the highest finishes by any regular weekly Speedbowl competitor. 

Yankee All-Star League events are also notable as some of only a handful of events in Speedbowl history in which 9-time NASCAR Modified Champion Richie Evans competed. His runner-up finish to Ken Bouchard during the inaugural Yankee All-Star event at Waterford in July of 1975 was the Rapid Roman's best career finish at the shoreline oval - making the Waterford Speedbowl one of very few tracks in the country that the Modified Legend competed on without ever winning a feature event - a truly rare distinction for the shoreline oval.

1978 pre-race introductions - Steve Kennedy photo


During this same time in the 1970's, many of the now-traditional modified events were born, including Stafford's Spring Sizzler and Wall Stadium's Turkey Derby, which continue to attract the biggest stars in Modified racing.  Our research suggests, at the time, the Yankee All Star League was one of those type of high-profile events... at least the drawing power it had to attract the Northeast's finest drivers in itself proves the series' short existence shouldn't diminish it's importance to the Speedbowl's history as one of the track's most star-studded series of modified events during the pre-touring series era.

 
Ken Bouchard won the 1st YAS race in '75
Rene Dugas photo
Geoff Bodine won the last YAS race in 1978
Steve Kennedy photo