Cornwall, Ontario
Cornwall Motor Speedway Track Facts:
Cornwall Speedway first opened its doors on May 31, 1970 under the ownership of Ralph and Iris Hurley. Power Dam Speedway was its original name, as the pit entrance is located off of Power Dam Drive in Cornwall. Don Billings was the first ever feature winner at Cornwall in an afternoon race driving the #41 with Bill Taggart in the #45 and Denzil Billings in the B22 rouding out the top three.
Pat Hutt took over the ownership in 1973. Hutt owned the speedway for the 1973 season and into 1974. Unfortunatley, Hutt’s sudden passing during the 1974 season left the track in limbo for the remainder of the season. 1974 marked the first and only time that a track champion was not declared.
The Hurley family regained control of the speedway before the end of the decade with another promotional team at the helm. Facing closure before the 1980 season, a former Mini Stock and Street Stock racer Ron Morin leased the track from the Hurley family for the 1980 season. Morin leased continued to lease the track from Hurley into 1982 when he took over the ownership of the speedway. In 1983, Morin followed the same path as the Brockville and Can-Am Speedway, and put Cornwall under the DIRTcar banner with small block modified racing taking center stage ever since.
1994 commemorated its 25th anniversary season by hosting a specials only format that culminated with Danny Obrien winning the tracks first ever Big Block Modified track championship. Dirt Hall of Fame racer Buzzie Reutimann and future Hall of Fame racer Pat Obrien shared the only other Big Block Modified championship the following season.
During the Ron Morin era, Cornwall Speedway has been a home for several Mr. DIRTcar 358 modified champions including Pat Obrien, Laurent Ladouceur, Doug Carlyle, and inaugural Mr. DIRTcar small block modified champion, Tony Corcoran.
At the 16th annual DIRT Motorsports NorthEast Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the Cayuga County Fairgrounds in May of 2007, Ron Morin was honored as a co-recipient of the 2007 Leonard J. Sammons Jr. Memorial Award which recognizes outstanding contributions to auto racing. Ron’s Daughter Carol is also represented in the Hall of Fame under the Women in Racing category. She was recognized for her outstanding achievments as manager of Cornwall Speedway
Morin continues to own the Speedway today, and has put the Speedway on the map as one of the premiere racing facilities that operates under the DIRTcar banner. In 2008, the track hosted its biggest event in the history of the track, the World of Outlaw Late Models. Josh Richards was the inaugural winner.
Donny Schatz stole the show in 2012 when the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars series debuted at Cornwall. The fast winged warriors set unbelievable track records at the track, turning laps just over the 10 second mark.
Just before the start of the 2014 season, the track was sold to the Lavergne family with owners Jacques and Raymond Lavergne leading the way.
In 2015, several big shows were added to the schedule along with a new local series for the Sportsman class, the Bandit Motorsports Sportsman Challenge and the speedway receive the World Racing Group Promoter of the Year, an award that coveted by all tracks under the WRG flagship!
New grandstands were built ready for the 2017 season, a new Series was added as the Race for the Cure Sportsman Series sponsored by TAS Racing team and OlsonFab, with this series, we were able to raise $5,400 in donations that were later given to Mrs. Angela Brown of Maxville, Ontario for cancer treatments.
The Lavergne family are continuing improving the facility with investments throughout the facility while presenting great events such as the Canadian Nationals, O’Canada/Race for the Cure 150, Race for the Cure Sportsman Series, Super DIRTcar Series and other travelling series.
2019 will mark the 50th season of operations, we can expect great things to celebrate this mark!
Cornwall Motor Speedway Racing Divisions:
