A half-century race to the hall of fame
They have been a team for 50 years, racing across North America. While the driver of this team, Bill Brack, has received most of the press and stood on the podium to collect the accolades, the man behind this success is now to receive his praise.
Doug Crosty will be honoured this weekend with his induction into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame for his work as car builder, chief mechanic and team manager for the team that captured three consecutive Canadian driving championships in the early 1970s in open-wheeled Formula competition.
“This is a real thrill and an honour,” said Crosty recently from his Burlington home. “Usually all the fuss is about the drivers.”
Crosty started working in the back shop of Brack’s Sports Cars Unlimited repairing Jaguars, Austin-Healeys and Minis in the late 1960s.
He also started to build some of the race cars Brack would drive, including a very successful Mini, but their sights were set on Formula race cars, and to learn the trade, Crosty went right to the home of the master in Formula racing.
“Doug went to the Lotus factory in England,” said Brack. “We wanted Doug’s input to build a Lotus Formula Atlantic car.”
So working with Colin Chapman himself, Crosty was involved with the design, building and testing of the first Lotus FA race car.
It was also during this time that Crosty built a car to race in the Atlantic series, and it was a winner right out of the box.
“We took the car to Elkhart Lake for our first race,” said Brack.
“We passed everyone on the first lap and won our first race. It was a winner.”
Crosty concurred. “That car won more races than any other,” he said. “It was the most balanced of all the FA cars. The wheels stayed dead flat on the track.”
With major STP sponsorship, Crosty and Brack toured the road circuits, winning more often that not which led to their three championships.
For his work with the wrenches, Crosty was awarded the series’ mechanic of the year those three years as well.
The rapport between driver Brack and mechanic Crosty developed and was a mainstay in the team’s success.
“Communication between driver and mechanic is most important,” said Crosty.
“Bill and I went through some problems but we worked it out.
“We had a process,” Crosty continued. “Bill would be out on the track and I would sit and watch. Then we would start locking in the set-ups.
“Bill was good at explaining how the car felt and what was needed to set up the car.”
Through the 1970s and ’80s, the team raced other Formula cars, including modified cars from March and Chevron. They competed with a March in the controversial race through the streets of Hamilton in July 1978, a race format Crosty thought at the time would have continued.
“I’ve lived in the area, and I think it’s a big step for us,” he said in a Spectator interview at the time.
“The race is going to catch on. Now that they’re (Hamilton) first, they may have it forever.”
While the 1978 race was not a success, Crosty still thinks it holds merit.
“I still think street racing is a great idea. We tried to kick it off with the Hamilton race, but it didn’t work out.”
After winding down with racing fulltime, Crosty went into partnership with
Brack with a high-end auto dealership, worked in the Bahamas in 1991, and returned to racing in the late ’90s managing a successful Indy Lights Series team.
He returned to the auto dealership world, overseeing the technical and engineering side of two local dealerships.
Now retired for several years, Crosty keeps active with the mechanical aspects of greenhouse and agricultural designs, and with Brack, keeps the original Lotus 59/69 used in Atlantic racing in pristine condition for vintage racing and auto shows.
Although he spent countless hours at race tracks, Crosty said there was no interest in driving.
“I didn’t want to drive,” he explained, “but I knew how to balance a car. I took everything apart and would rebuild it.
“Maintenance is most important, I left nothing to chance. Bill could be cranky
sometimes as we did lots of experiments to take the car to the next level.”
Crosty and Brack did reach the top levels in their sport, and Brack had the last word about a successful team that has endured 50 years. “Doug was a magician or I wouldn’t have won all those trophies.”
Crosty will be recognized for his contribution to Canadian motorsport Saturday at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
Joining him for this 24th CMHF induction will be filmmaker Jim Robinson, Canadian Grand Prix promoter Francois Dumontier, Honda Indy Toronto official Jim Tario, race official John Sambrook, F1 and IndyCar champion Jacques Villeneuve, and NASCAR Canada champions Scott Steckly and DJ Kennington.