Sheldon Robert Legue
Sport: Motorsports
Year Inducted: 2000
Sheldon Robert Legue, born August 6, 1953, went where no other Cornwall-based racer has gone: four Mr. DIRT small block Championships.
The Legue race team also collected and astounding 205 feature victories (14 of them big-block checkers) and 14 track Championships.
He was awarded the 2000 DIRT Motorsports Hall of Fame Outstanding Car Owner Award posthumously in 2000.
Legue made the big jump from avid stock car fan to car owner in 1973, co-owning a car with Cliff Merpaw. It was a one season fling, but in 1977 he returned to the pits, teaming up with the late Carl Murdock.
They remained race partners – Murdock was the driver – until 1993 when Legue and his brother-in-law Norm Campeau formed a team.
In 1986, Legue became the sole owner; and, with Doug Caryle of Kingston behind the wheel, began setting a new standard of excellence for local race teams.
That first year the Legue-Caryle combination won 17 features and Championships at Cornwall and Can-Am International Speedway.
Their 38 top five finishes paved the way to the Mr. DIRT small-block crown.
In May 1987, Legue was honoured by being named winner of the Jacques Richard Memorial Trophy as Cornwall’s Top Sports Personality.
In 1987, the team defended its Cornwall and Can-Am Championships and placed third in the Mr. DIRT small-block Championships.
In 1988, Legue and driver Caryle parted company and an unproven Pat O’Brien of Kingston took over the driving duties.
The Legue-O’Brien team won 18 feature races and won the Cornwall and Can-Am Championships. The Mr. DIRT title, lost the previous year, was regained.
Between 1988 and 1993, the Legue-O’Brien team won a total of 66 features, eight track Championships and three Mr. DIRT small-block titles.
In 1994 and 1995, with an infant son at home, Legue made a commitment to spend more time with his family, attending only special shows. But the winning didn’t stop.
With drivers Doug Hoffman and Frank Cozze, he won three big block titles each year.
In 1996, it was again pedal to the metal for Legue. With Pierre Bissonnette driving, the team won the Cornwall track title.
In 1997, Pat O’Brien returned and the team finished third in the Mr. DIRT small-block standings.
Todd Burley was recruited to drive in the 1998 season, but it was a rebuilding year with just three feature victories.
During the winter of 1999, Legue had brought O’Brien back into the fold. An all-out assault on the Mr. DIRT title was being planned. It all came to an end when Legue was diagnosed with cancer.
As one DIRT official noted, “He did it all… and he did it impressively.”
He died June 1, 1999.