Denver Cornett III, one of the few surviving drivers from the very first race at Watkins Glen in 1948, passed away on Sunday, November 19, 2006. Cornett is perhaps best remembered as the fiery competitor who rolled his MG TC during the inaugural Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1948 (at what became know as Cornett’s Bridge), only to right his MG, gain a quick repair, and go on to race it to a 7th-place finish in the feature race. Cornett retired from racing in 1963, only to return to the sport as a vintage racer in his 70s, with his original Watkins Glen TC.
A very affable and witty gentleman (as evidenced in his VR interview, December 2004), Cornett’s favorite story was about how he was the first sports car driver, after WWII, to roll a racecar in competition. According to Cornett, when the workers ran to his overturned MG TC, in the riverbed by the stone bridge, in that first race, they asked each other if he might be dead! Denver yelled out from under the MG, “Get it off me, and you’ll find out!”
His enthusiasm for the sport and his dedication to the MG marque were inspiring to everyone who met him. He will be missed.
