Nascar Executive Taking The Sport To The World’s Biggest Stage In Motorsports

Even the most casual NASCAR fan is familiar with names such as drivers Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt (both Senior and Junior), and Jeff Gordon, and even NASCAR executives like Mike Helton or Bill France (both “Big” and “Junior”). These are the names of some of the people who have impacted the sport both on the track and off and made it what it is today.

There’s one person that’s been around the sport for 25 years however, someone who’s made as big an impact on the sport as those legends, yet it’s a name few are familiar with.

Gary Crotty, a lawyer, became the sports secretary and general counsel in 1995, at a time when NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation both still held interests in the sport. He was named to the board of directors in 2006. During that decade the sport saw a tremendous amount of growth and underwent a great deal of change. None of that would have happened without Crotty’s legal expertise and guidance through the minefield that can be corporate law.

Come through it they did, however. And after surviving the global recession in the middle of the first decade of the century, (and a merger with ISC) NASCAR is now stronger that ever. Much of the success be attributed to Gary Crotty, someone not very well known to many outside the boardroom. Turns out, that’s just fine with Crotty whose style has always been to sort of fly under the radar.

“It’s probably why I’m still here,” he joked. “What was the expression, that it’s amazing how much you can get accomplished if no one needs to get any credit for it?

“I try not be in the forefront, I’m sort of a backroom kind of a guy and try to get things accomplished that way and let other people get in front of the cameras.”

Coming to NASCAR was sort of a natural fit for the Daytona Beach native. The law firm started by his father represented Daytona International Speedway and his father became good friends with the son of NASCAR’s founder, Bill France Jr.

After graduating from the University of Florida Gary worked in general and commercial law for several years before joining his father’s firm in the early 1990s. It was there he got a call from Lesa Kennedy, daughter of France Jr., and a NASCAR executive. She told Crotty that NASCAR was looking for a general counsel.

“She didn’t specifically say, ‘are you interested?’ She just sort of floated that up there,” he said with a chuckle.

“I jumped at the chance. I really didn’t like private practice with the billing hours and all that kind of stuff. I really just wanted to focus on growing a business, not have to worry about charging clients. Just diving into a business that was really on sort of the precipice at that time in 95, 96 of, of taking off.

“I jumped at the chance, and I never looked back.”

Indeed, he never looked back, only forward and helped make NASCAR the biggest motorsports property in North America.

Now, Gray Crotty is getting ready to step on perhaps the biggest stage in motorsports. This past week it was announced that he was elected by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) General Assembly as one of 36 judges to serve on the FIA Courts. His term started on January 1 and will go through 2025.

He is the first NASCAR executive ever elected to be a judge in the FIA. For those who are unaware, the FIA oversees the world’s biggest motorsports leagues; the FIA is the licensing and sanctioning body of Formula One, the World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship, World Touring Car Cup, World Rallycross Championship, Formula E just to name a few.

In other words, most motorsports outside of America are overseen by the FIA and NASCAR now has a representative that’s part of it.

Crotty will sit on the FIA International Tribunal or International Court of Appeal. The International Tribunal is the first level of jurisdiction in the FIA and can hear disciplinary matters brought by the FIA President. The FIA International Court of Appeal is the appeal level of jurisdiction of the FIA and hears appeals of decisions taken by various sporting and disciplinary bodies, such as stewards (race officials in NASCAR terms). To remain impartial the FIA International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal act independently from the other FIA bodies and the FIA Members.

While NASCAR doesn’t follow FIA regulations, they are a member of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS), which is the National sporting authority of the FIA and sort of a liaison between them and American motorsports. It was George Silberman, the president of the ACCUS who first approached Crotty.

“I have worked alongside Gary Crotty for more than 20 years and know him to be an honest and steadfast leader,” Silbermann said. “Gary will use his decades of experience and vast breadth of knowledge in this role. He is fair, thoughtful and possesses a strong passion and knowledge for motorsports.”

Crotty will now have the best of both of his worlds. As a lawyer he moves to the next phase of his long career, one that many lawyers aspire to: the chance to become a magistrate, someone who can make the rulings that can affect many. For him it will be a chance to be an authority in the world he knows best, motorsports.

“As you approach that 18th green and you’re looking at the next chapter of your life,” he said. “Hopefully with all I’ve learned and all I’ve experienced through the 25 plus years here at NASCAR and that includes IMSA ARCA, flat track racing, and AMA all the above, I, hopefully, can bring that to this bench to this tribunal.”

“It’s really a unique situation because I’ve dealt on the NASCAR side with our rule books, right? Our court procedures, how people file an appeal, the redress of the entire situation from beginning to end. And I’m not that familiar with the way they do it on the other side of the pond there, the FIA system.

“I’ve been reading their rule books; there’s a lot of things that are similar, but there are a lot of things that are different. And I’m fascinated about learning how they do things both in a similar way and a different way. And hopefully I can bring my experience to the table in a way that’s beneficial for all the parties concerned.”

One doesn’t have to look to far to see how much attention the FIA can generate in the mainstream media. At the end of this past F1 season, the Mercedes team filed a protest over the final race of the season. It was case that would have been handled by the FIA court system had it continued. The team would eventually withdraw their case, but the news was carried by many news outlets across Europe, and the world, for weeks after the season was over.

“Well, I’m hoping that’s not my first day on the job where you know I get this massive controversy,” Crotty said laughing. “Easing into this new venue would be much more preferrable.”

“I know there’s going be a learning curve involved,” he added. “Obviously there’s a process where you familiarize yourself with their rule books and their technique; there’s a training course some seminars that I’m going to go to, to learn their process as well. But I’m hopefully, going to ease in; learn the ropes a little bit before I make too big one splash.”

George Crotty will be on the biggest motorsports stage in the world, and he hopes to use that stage not only to help the FIA but learn things that will benefit NASCAR as well.

“NASCAR, although primarily a U.S. sport, we do have some events taking place in Europe, Canada, Mexico,” he said. “We’ve looked at going to Asia as well. All, that’s helpful.

“All that I can go over there and learn would be helpful as we expand beyond our own borders, as well as bringing back the ways that they do things differently over there. It might be something we could improve on this side of the pond. So, I think it’s hopefully a give and take and a mutual learning experience for both sides. And I can bring back some of those different ways of doing things that can benefit the growth of our sport here domestically.”

Gary Crotty may be a name that not many have heard in the world of NASCAR, but for over 25 years he’s worked behind the scenes to help make NASCAR the success it is today. And while he may be approaching that 18^th green, he will be representing NASCAR on the biggest stage in motorsports and his work may be far from over; he may help grow the sport for many more years to come.