Bob Vitari & Vic Bombaci

Car Owners
CLASS OF 2006

The duo of Bob VItari and Vic Bombaci were co-owners of the iconic V-8 coupe known as “The Connecticut Valley Rocket”. The two lived down the street from each other in Essex, CT and built their cars out of a little garage. Yet at the track, the team carried themselves very professionally, especially for their time. Everybody on the team was to wear white shirts and black pants.

The duo teamed up with Bill Slater late in 1958 at the Waterford Speedbowl. Slater replaced Gene White as the driver and the V-8 instantly became the car to beat. They won a 50 lap Modified race in only their 2nd race together, then 4 more times that season. In 1959, Slater won 15 races and the team won the Modified Championship. In 1960, Slater won 3 of the first 4 races of the season before leaving for Norwood Arena to drive a brand new V-8 at the Massachusetts track. Don Collins took over the V-8 at the Speedbowl, won 17 features and the 2nd straight championship for Vitari & Bombaci.

Slater continued his dominant ways at Norwood, winning the 1960 Modified Championship, then 5 straight Sportsman Championships (1962-1966). They were the premiere team at the premiere track in New England at the time. All told, it was 8 championships over 8 seasons between two tracks for the V-8 team.

The team also scored wins at Utica-Rome Speedway & Albany-Saratoga Speedway in NY, Trenton Speedway in NJ and Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine.

The 1965 Langhorne Classic (later known as the Race of Champions) at Langhorne Speedway with Slater as their driver was arguably the biggest victory of their careers.

Vic Bombaci passed away on February 2, 2008.