Interview: Denver Cornett & Otto Linton

Out of all the competitors who raced at that very first 1948 road race at Watkins Glen, there are perhaps only five living: Bill Milliken, Cam Argetsinger, Haig Ksayian, Denver Cornett and Otto Linton. VRJ’s John Wright caught up with Otto Linton and his friend, Denver Cornett, recently at the Zippo Vintage Weekend at the Glen. Denver and Otto were there at the first road race of the long and storied history of Watkins Glen in 1948 and they were among the pioneers of road racing in North America and in the U.S. in particular. They were both keenly interested not in themselves but in getting the record straight about the history of the first race and also of the events and the personalities of the people who were there in the early days.

So, who would like to start first? Denver, tell me about how you became interested in foreign cars and how you got into racing, particularly at the first race at the Glen?