Congratulations to Nick Craw, the president of the Automobile Competition Committee for the U.S. (ACCUS), who turns 76 today – a few days before his efforts to bring Formula 1 back to the U.S. are realized at Austin's Circuit of The Americas.
Nick Craw had a rich and varied career as a driver before moving on to management. He began in Formula Atlantic, and competed for Fred Opert Racing in the L&M Continental Series in the U.S. He also raced in the Daytona 24 and Sebring 12 Hours. He drove Miller & Norburn BMWs in IMSA, winning two national championships and more races than any other driver in the history of the series. Craw also introduced the BMW 3-series on track with a victory at Daytona.
Following a two-year stint as Director of the U.S. Peace Corps in the early 1970s, he joined the Sports Car Club of America, the largest amateur motorsports club in the U.S. Craw, who holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, was President and CEO of SCCA for 17 years and was pivotal in organizing Formula 1 races and sanctioning motor racing events throughout the U.S. He was awarded the prestigious Phil Hill Award by the Road Racing Drivers Club in 2010, for outstanding contributions to road racing.
Through his role at the SCCA, Craw became a board member of ACCUS, which serves as the interface between the national racing bodies in the U.S. and the FIA. He left the SCCA in 2001 to become Executive Director of U.S. Sailing, the national governing body for sailing. But he always retained his strong links with motor sport and was elected as ACCUS President in 2005.
Craw was elected in 2009 as President of the Senate, the number two position in the FIA. With a seat on the FIA World Motor Sport Council, he has played a pivotal role in bringing F1 back to America at Austin and in working with the organizers of the GP America at Port Imperial, now set to debut in 2014. He is also a member of the management committee for the world governing body's Motor Sport Safety Development Fund.