Ron Morin
Builder - Motor Sports
Inducted: 2008
Ron Morin grew up in Cornwall with a love of motorsports. By his early 20's, he was running regular races and piling up impressive wins over some tough competition at tracks in Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec and Northern New York.
In 1981, Ron bought the Cornwall Motor Speedway from Ralph Hurley and set about changing the way the track was promoted. Operating under the philosophy that fans wanted to be entertained, not only by the racing on the track, but by the entire program presentation, he made massive upgrades and renovations to give the Speedway the look and feel of a big time track. As the fan base grew, so did the number of classes of racing. Cornwall Motor Speedway now boasts 358 Modifieds, Pro Stock, Sprints, Big Block Modifieds, Semi-Pro and Rookie classes. The Speedway is now the single largest sporting attraction in the entire Seaway Valley, with weekly shows attracting 3,000 - 5,000 fans.
Ron was the also the driving force behind one of today's more popular classes - Pro Stock. Believing that fans would fall in love with it, he encouraged other tracks to help it grow - and it did. There are now Pro Stock events at more than 20 tracks, and drivers have their own season-ending championship at Super DIRT Week in Syracuse, New York, which is the Super Bowl of DIRT Racing.
To ensure that the sport of racing continues to grow in Eastern Ontario, he established Tuesday night Karting at the Speedway, which give kids as young as 8 years old a chance to experience the fun and excitement of racing first-hand.
Under his hands-on ownership, Cornwall Motor Speedway has won awards like Most Improved Track, and Business of the Year. Through the years, he has helped drivers and race teams with career advice, and emotional and financial support, and has helped guide some of the area's top drivers at various points in their careers.
For Ron Morin, 2008 marks 27 years of outstanding motorsports promotion.
Kevin Amelotte presenting to Ron Morin.