A Decade Of Racing At The Cornwall Motor Speedway…Part One
Story By: MARTIN BÉLANGER / CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY – CORNWALL, ONT – We are about 3 weeks away from turning a new chapter as we will start a new decade, a lot of great action and racing can happen in 10 years, let’s look back at what happened at Cornwall Motor Speedway from 2010 to 2019, we will start with year 2010 to 2013.
In 2010, the decade started with the announcement of the Canadian Nationals as a staple Series at the speedway which at that point replaced the Lucas Oil Canadian Series that toured at all tracks around the area. Brett Hearn stole the show during that first edition winning both events and leaving with more than $10,000 in total. Laurent Ladouceur won his fourth and final Modified track championship over brothers Danny and Tim O’Brien. Joey Ladouceur was the dominant force in the Pro-Stock division at that point with the track championship along with the Mohawk Race Parts Series crown. Chris Raabe won the Sportsman title in front of veteran Chris Herbison while Gaetan Amesse in Semi-Pro and Ronnie Tyo in Mini-Stock, won their respective championship.
Stephane Lafrance had a banner year in 2011 winning both the track championship and the Canadian Nationals Series, he became the first driver to get both championship during the same season, Carey Terrance and Joel Doiron completed the podium. Joey Ladouceur continued his dominant way in the Pro-Stock with 6 wins paving the way to his 6th championship, he also got the Mohawk Race Parts Series. After being runner up in 2010, Chris Herbison won the championship in Sportsman while Kevin Fetterly Jr in Semi-Pro and Ernie Cree in Mini-Stock were named champions.
2012 was another historic year for promoter Ron Morin as he hosted for the first time the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars, Morin pushed the envelope that year in having the World of Outlaws Late Models as well. Donny Schatz won the historic race while Mother Nature had the best for the Late Models. Dale Planck imitated Lafrance by winning his 3rd track championship and the Canadian Nationals, Laurent Ladouceur finished second with Chris Raabe completing the podium. Chris Herbison had a terrific year by securing his second Sportsman championship and winning the new Seaway GM Series. Joey Ladouceur won both track and Mohawk Race Parts Series while Benoit Dubois in Semi-Pro and Martin Bernard in Mini-Stock won their respective championship.
Year 2013 started on the wrong foot with 4 of the first 5 events being cancelled due to inclement weather, the first program ran on June 9th that year. Mario Clair won the Modified track championship with Brian McDonald getting the honors for the Canadian Nationals. Joey Ladouceur made a splash in his first year in Sportsman winning the track championship with Mathieu Desjardins getting the Seaway GM Series. Dave Bissonnette captured the Pro-Stock championship with Stephane Lebrun getting the Mohawk Race Parts Series. Steve Billings in Semi-Pro and Mike Gaucher in Mini-Stock got the titles. This was also the last season for Ron Morin as the owner of Cornwall Motor Speedway.
Next week we will revisit years 2014 to 2016, which marked the debut of the Lavergne family as new owners.
