New London-Waterford Speedbowl will not open on planned first weekend
Waterford — The New London-Waterford Speedbowl will not open as planned for the first racing weekend of the season May 6, amid ongoing repercussions stemming from the arrest of its owner on sex-trafficking charges last month.
An employee of the Speedbowl published a post on the racetrack’s website that blamed the delay on “additional work needed on the grandstands and the (unforeseen) weather conditions.”
Bruce Bemer, the Glastonbury businessman who bought the track at auction in 2014, was arrested in late March on charges that he was the main client of an arrangement luring young men, many of whom had mental illnesses, to other men who wanted to have sex with them.
Bemer appeared in Superior Court in Danbury on Wednesday afternoon, where his case was continued to May 16. He free on $500,000 bail.
Since Bemer's arraignment, the track’s racing director, a longtime race official and two other staff members all have resigned from the track.
On April 6, NASCAR announced it would terminate its sanction of the Whelen All-American racing series that was set to begin May 6, effectively ending the track’s major racing event.
The Speedbowl statement, posted Wednesday afternoon, did not mention Bemer or the ongoing criminal and civil cases against him. The Speedbowl’s manager, Scott Gregory, could not be reached to comment, and neither could a lawyer representing Bemer’s business interests.
“All efforts are being made to reschedule the event in its entirety,” the statement reads. “We apologize for the (unforeseen) delay and thank all who have been patient.”