WESTWOOD 1967 - OVER 50 YEARS AGO

The 1967 Pepsi Pro was second pro race of the year at Westwood.  Again, the race featured the best eastern Canadian racers (Ross de St. Croix and George Eaton in McLarens, Eppie Wietzes’ GT40, Nat Adams’ Chinook) vs. stars from the west (Lew Florence’s Genie, Monte Shelton’s Porsche 906, Bill Amick’s McLaren, Don Jensen and Stan Burnett in Burnetts, Pete Nash’s Lotus 19-Chev)  My Competition Press report called the nasty conditions “almost spooky.” - Vince Howlett

Here is de St. Croix’s account of his win:

"It was an important race for the team as, if we didn't finish and Eppie Wietzes got a first, he would be the 1967 champion.  Saturday was a beautiful sunny "perfect day."  Sunday's forecast was rain as it does at Westwood.  Two things happened before the race that did and didn't affect the feature race of the day.  One was, while playing around in the pits on the "Team Honda monkey" mini motorcycle, I lost control and ended up in a rock pile adjacent to the pit exit road.  I scraped my hip and knee and that gave me two huge bloody skin wounds.  They were surface, painful, but healed nicely, becoming stiff and uncomfortable.  I didn't tell anybody, so now you know.
The other thing that did affect the race were Goodyear tires.  We had run on a short supply of Firestone Indy tires all year.  Remember the problems caused by the factory strike for racing tire supplies for all Indy cars that year?  Goodyear tire was at the track and they had one set of rain tires of our size on the truck.  Mr. Soucy and the team manager, Jean Ouelette and I discussed the forecast for Sunday and made a decision.  Buy the only set of rain tires at the track.  Goodyear tires helped save the day.
Race day, the weather was terrible.  Heavy fog, wet track and in some areas, standing water on the track.  The rain loosened up my wounds and they felt real good.  Let's go !!!  Even with no rain practice, we had a good start.  Running in second, we ran the race to finish and win.  Coming down the front straight early in the race, the first place car stopped or crashed at the starter tower.  I was in first in the first of two heats.
We started the second heat and the rain kept on coming with fog.  The first turn was a spectacular one, fast, banked, decreasing radius, as I remember and challenging.  Once through that section of the track, I had to face the back straight, and if I remember, Deer's Leap.  You couldn't see a thing all down the straight.  I am tall and tended to sit high in the McLaren.  It was one of Bruce McLaren's 1966 Can-Am cars that was raced by Chris Amon in that series and they were both maybe 8" shorter.  There I was, slunk down in the seat trying to see and trying to avoid the rain, going as fast I could down that straight, hoping the deer were not active and trying to cross the track, as I understand they sometimes did.
After a lap or two, I worked out my timing to go from corner to corner to the end of the straight and flag station by counting.  Blind in the rain, counting 1-2-3-4-5 at full throttle and there it was, the flagging station, brake as required around the next few turns, lap after lap until the race was over and we crossed the line in first.  Wow, the championship was ours and the day was done.  It was a remarkable weekend and race.  My last.  I retired in early 1968."

N Ross de St Croix