• 

Cornwall Speedway will be celebrating 50 years of operation this year and is still going strong. The track is gearing up to celebrate this milestone in a big way in 2019.
Over the last 50 years, Cornwall Motor Speedway has seen just about every top dirt track driver in the Northeast race on its legendary clay.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Constructed in 1969, the track opened its doors for the first time in 1970 by the Hurly family who also, at that time, owned the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
During the early years of operation, the track changed hands several times and eventually faced closure until a young entrepreneur named Ron Morin leased the track for a few years, which led Ron to acquired full ownership of the track in 1982.
Morin, always looking to improve the racing experience for both fans and drivers, successfully transformed this run of the mill racing facility into one of the best dirt car tracks in the Northeast.
Ron Morin passionately ran the track for 32 years, but in early 2014, decided to retire and sold the track to the local Lavergne family. Ron would, however, continue his commitment in an advisory role.
With the track now in the hands of Raymond and Jacques Lavergne, Cornwall Motor Speedway went through some major upgrades in recent years.
Like Ron, Raymond and Jacques are very dedicated to the sport and have worked tirelessly, not only to give fans a better experience in watching the races with brand new grandstands and improved vending outlets but also to the drivers, with pit area upgrades along with some needed track modifications.
This brings us to what this year represents — 50 years of racing on the Cornwall clay – the transformation of technology from the small back yard built racecars to the high tech world of dirt car racing today.

• 

This year's celebrations will recognize the current track and series champions at the annual Cornwall Speedway Banquet, slated for Saturday, January 26.
This year's celebrations include some great sponsors for the weekly division. Loud & Dirty Brand has stepped up for the Modified division, while Next Level Home Improvement will once again sponsor the Sportsman class. Alexandria Home Hardware is back to sponsor the Pro Stock class followed by Tracy Wheeler's Assist2Sell will also be back to sponsor the mini stock class.
The season will have some spectacular events scheduled throughout the racing year and several major events are planned and secured so far, with more announcements to come. Here is just a taste of what's to come this year at the Speedway:

• Sunday May 19: Season Opening weekend

• Sunday, May 26: Lighting Sprint Tour

• Sunday, June 2: ESS Sprint car Tour

• Sunday, June 16: Lighting Sprint Tour

• Sunday, June 30: Super DIRTcar Big-Block Series

• Sunday, July 7: DIRTcar Pro Stock series

• Sunday, July 14: DIRTcar 358 series

• Thursday, August 15 : DIRTcar Sportsman series

• Sunday, August 25: Lighting Sprint Tour

This year will without a doubt will be the most exciting year of racing for this historical track and with more special event announcements to come. Raymond and Jacques Lavergne will celebrate this year's milestone in spectacular fashion. Please keep up-to-date information of what is in store for this 50th anniversary at Cornwall Speedway or on their social media at
Cornwall Speedway Facebook page .
Special thanks to John and Peter Lyng, for supplying the vintage images for this story.
Cornwall Motor Speedway

don simpson
Columnist / Photographer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR