It was 42 years ago that Brockville Speedway was carved out of some flat farm land on Highway 29 North of Brockville. In very many ways it was a crude track. Outhouses served as bathrooms and the overall facilities were as cheaply constructed as could be. Over the next 26 years promoters would come, promoters would go and in some years there were no promoters as for a total of five years between 1981 and 1992 the track sat dormant.

“My husband, Paul, was just a race fan,” one of the 2012 Gater News Women in Racing Recipients, Cheryl Kirkland recalled. “The track had reopened a couple of years before after remaining dormant the prior four years. LaFargeville, NY businessman John Eckert had purchased the track in 1992. By the end of the 1994 season it was becoming too difficult for him to run the race track and to operate his other business in the States so he put the track up for lease, with an option to buy. We really had no idea what we were getting involved in,” Cheryl continued on saying. “I didn’t know anything about the sport but my husband talked me into it by saying that the track was only open one day a week and only through the summer so it wouldn’t take up too much of our time. Some ten years prior to our leasing of the facility then promoter Harold Westendorp had completed a major renovation of the facility, installing new retaining walls and an all new steel grandstand. But sadly not much in terms of maintenance was done during the following decade. Nearly every building on the property needed some kind of repair “and we spent that first season just patching all the planks on the grandstand. Finally, in the second year we had to totally replace all the boards. Over the past 17 years that we have been the promoters we had to rebuild nearly everything on the grounds. Concession stand, towers, bleachers. You name it, we rebuilt it, and we also built new too…It has been a team approach between myself, my husband and our two adult sons, Brad and Rick, who are also involved with the track, primarily helping on race day. To tell the truth the Kirkland’s were really starting from scratch in nearly every facet of track promotion. With the track being dormant for so long and running much less than full seasons in 1992, 1993 and 1994 not only was the track’s infrastructure in a sad state of repair there really was no built in supply of cars and fans to tap into. They had to build a fan base and increase the number of participants from what was already available. Today the track has five divisions: 358 Modified and Sportsman Modified under the DIRTcar banner, Street Stock and Rookie Divisions along with their Vintage Modified Divisions.

Now days the couple split duties with the track surface and racing matters being the focus of Paul’s attention, “and I do everything else,” Cheryl said. “I do the paper work, ordering food for the concessions, picking up the trash and cleaning the rest rooms. “ In other words she is the face of Brockville Speedway making the entire off track decisions. “Paul still gets excited about being involved as a track promoter, “she continued saying. “But the sparkle is not always there for me. There are some things that we, as a family have had to give up. We gave up summer vacations and there is family that we haven’t seen in years and I would like to do some traveling to see them” she went on to say.” Even so during their 17 years of involvement in the promotion of the track Cheryl and Paul have not only grown their own track but have been key partners in the growth of DIRTcar and modified racing. It is because of her hands on involvement and leadership that the DIRTcar Hall of Fame is please to recognize Cheryl Kirkland as a co- recipient of the 2012 Gater News “Outstanding Women in Racing Award.”