cormierinterview

              Laurie Cormier - Son of a Legend

   A broken shoulder, and having every bone in his foot broken, doesn't stop Laurie Cormier, son of Maritime racing legend Adelaid Cormier, from driving the #53 Monte Carlo Sportsman car at Centre for Speed near Shediac, NB. Born in Dieppe, a suburb of Moncton, Cormier now resides in Barachois, NB.
   Cormier has spent many years watching his father drive his famed #53 and another ten years trying to convince his father to help him build a car.
   Adelaid Cormier was one of the founding racers on the old MASCAR tour after winning the International 100 at Riverglade and five points championships at the same track. Cormier Sr. retired from racing in 1982 because he no longer felt comfortable racing along with managing the Tour.
   Laurie Cormier himself conquered one of the biggest races, The International 100, in 2001, which gave him a special sense of accomplishment. Cormier said " Dad, Frankie Fraser, and all them boys run it and I'm so proud to accomplish this feat that my Dad did." Cormier admires his father the most which explains the picture of his father and "Thanks Dad" on his trunklid. " My father has always been my hero around here and Mark Martin is my Nextel Cup favourite" Cormier simply stated.
   Cormier won the Super Sportsman series in 2001 winning three of the four races and coming in second in the other.
   Cormier has had two bad accidents, one in 2001 at Antigonish and the other in 2003 at Centre for Speed in the last race of the season. " I was coming into corner one and the throttle stuck wide open. I hit the wall at one hundred miles an hour. What made it worse, I saw what was going to happen, and I braced myself. I put my feet through the firewall and broke every bone in my foot. I was in a cast for six weeks then therapy for four more."
   Cormier is building a new # 53 but due to an accident he and his wife had this spring, it's been slow getting done. " I hope to have it done in time for the first Tour race in Halifax but I plan to use the old car to defend defend my championship from 2003 at Shediac"
   Unfortunately, the new car did not get finished so Cormier has only run one race on the Tour but is racing at Shediac and doing well.