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8/17/2019 original Carter-Racing-Case.pdf
1/3
Carter
{.acirg.
by
Jack
Brittain'&
Sim
Sitkin
David
Eccles
School
of
Business,
University
of
Utah
John
Carter was
not
sure,
but
his
brotirer
and
partner,
Fred
Carter,
was on
the phone
and
needed
a
decision.
Should
hey
run
in
the
race or
not?
t
had
beena successful eason o ar, but thepoconorace
was
mportant
because
of
the prize
money
and
TV
i
exposure
t promised.
This
first year
was
hard
because he
team
was trying
to
make
a
name
or
itsel{
and
so
had to run
in a
Iot
of
small
aces.
A successful
outing could
mean
more
sponsors,
a chance
o start
'
making
some profits
for
a
change,
and
the
uxury
of
racing only
tlie
major
events.
But if they
suffered
anotherengine
ailure
on
national
elevision
..
These
engine
failures
are
exasperating,
hought
John. The team's
car
had
failed
seven
times
in
twenty-four
outings
this
season
with
various
degrees
of damage o the engineand car. No one could fizure
out
why.
It took
a
lot
of sponsor
money
to
replale
a
$50,000
racing engine,
and
the
wasted
entry
fees
were no
small
matter
either.
John
and
Fred
had
everything they
owned
riding
on
Carter
Racing.
This
season ad to
be a success.
Paul
Edwards,
the
engine
*r.hurri ,
was
guessing
the engine
problem
was related
to arnbient
air
temperature.
He argued
that
when
it
was cold,
the
different expansion
rates
or
the
head
and
block
were
damaging
the head
gasket
and
causing
the
engine
failures.
It was below
freezing
ast
night,
which
meant
a cold morning for starting he race.
Tom
Burns, the chief
mechanic,
did not
agree
with
Paul's gut
feeling
and
had.data
o support
his
position (see
Extribit
1).
He
pointed
out that the
l0
gasket
failures
had
occurred
over
the
entire
temperature
range, which
meant
temperature
was
not
the
issue.
Tom had been
racing
for
twenty
years
and
believed that luck
was
an irnportant
element
in
success.
In racing,
you
are
pushing
the
limjts
of
what
is known,
he argued,
and that
means
some
things
are not
going
to be under
control.
If
you
want
to
win,
you
have to
take
risks,
and
everybody
in
racing
knows it. The drivershave their lives on the line, I
have a career
hat hangs
on
every
ace,
and
you
guys
have every dime
tied up
in the
business.
That's
the
tluill
of
it:
beating he
odds
and
winning.
Last
night
over
dirner
he had added
o
this
argument
orcefully
with
what he
called
Bums'
First
Law
of
Racine;
Nobody
€ver won a race
sitting
n the pits.
@
ack
W.
Brittain,
Sim Sitkin
1986,
evised 2000
John,
Fred and
Tom
had
discussed
Carter
Racing's
situation
the
previous
evening.
This
first
season
was a
success
rom
a
racing
standpoint,
with
the team's car finishing in the top five in 12 of the 15
races
t completed.
As
a result,
the
sponsorship
offers
:
critical
to the
team's
business
success
were
startins
to
come
n.
A big break
had come
two
weeks
ugo
#. .
the
Dunham
race,
where
the
team
scored
its
fourth
first-place
finish. Goodstone
Tire
had
finally
decided
'
Carter
Racing
deserved
ts
3ponsorship
at
pocono
_
worth
a much
needed
$40,000
--
and
was considerine
a
full season
contract
for
next
year
if the
team's
cai
finished
in the top
five
in this
race.
The
Goodstone
sponsorship
was two
million
ayear,
plus
incentives.
Jolm
and
Fred liad gotten
a
favorable
response
rom
Goodstone's
Racing
Program
Director
last
week
when theypresented heir plans for next season,but it
was
clear
that
his
support
depended
on
the
visibiliry
they
generated
n this
race.
John,
we
only have
another
hour
to decide,
Fred
said
over
the
phone. At
the
end
of flre
Dunham
race,
before
we
got
the
$40,000
rom
Goodstone,
we
were
980,000
in the
hole.
If we
withdraw
now, we
can get
back
half
the
$30,000
entry.
We will
lose
Goodstone, hey'll
want
$25,000
of
their money
back
and
we'll
end the
season
$50,000 n the
hole. If
we
run and
finish
in the
top
five, we
have
Goodstone n
our
and
can
add another
car next
season.
ou
know aswell asI do, however, that if we run and ose
another
engine,
we are
back
at
square one next
season.
We will
lose
the
tire
sponsorship,
and a
blown
engine
is
going
to
lose us
the
oil contract for
sure. No
oil
company
wants
a
national
TV audience
to see a
smoker being
dragged
off the track
\vith their
name plastered
all
over
it.
The oil
sponsorship s
$800,000
hat
we cannot
ive
without.
Think
about
t
-
-
call
Paul and
Tom
if
you
want
--
but I
need
a
decision
n an hour.
John
hung up
the
phone
and
looked out
the
window at the crisp
fall
sky. The
cars were
already
on
the grid, spectators admiring
the gaudy paint,
excitement
mounting
n anticipation
of the
start.
This
was what
made racing
at
this
evel special,
he
carson
display
with
crowds
mingling
around
and waiting
or
the engines o
roar
to life.
In
an
hour, they
would
retreat to the stands
and
the cars
would
circle the
track
n
anticipation
of the
start.
The temperature
ign
acrosshe
street lashed
40
DEGR_EES
:23 4.M.
Copyright
ack
W.
Brittain.
photocopied
ryith
permission
8/17/2019 original Carter-Racing-Case.pdf
2/3
Exhibit
1: Note
rom TomBurns
Johr,
I
got
he data
on
the
gasket
ailure
probiem
iom
Paul.We
have
un 24
races his season, ith
temperaturest
race
ime
anging
rom
53 o 82
degrees.aulhad
a
good
dea
n suggesting
e ook nto his,but
as
you
can ee,
this s not
our
roblem.
I tested
he
data or a borrelation etween
emperatur€
nd
gasket
ailures,
and
oundno
relationship.
Table
.
Relationship
etween
emperature
nd
Gasket
ailures
Breaks
n
Head
Gasket
During
Each
Race
85
Ambient Air Temperature
(tn
degrees)
In
comparison
with some
of
the
other
eams,we havq
done
extremely
well
this season.
We have
inished 62'5%
of
the races,
and
when
we finished we were
in the top five
80%
of
the
time. Our
rate of blown
engines
s 29Yo,
but
we
are
running
fast,
so
we have o
expect
some
difiiculties.
I
am not
happy
with
the
engine
problems, but I
will
take
the
four first-piacefinishes and50o/oate of finishing in the money over sevenenginesany day. If we.continueto run like
this,
we
will
have
our
pick
of sponsors.
Torn
&
8/17/2019 original Carter-Racing-Case.pdf
3/3
Carter
Racing
B
by
Jack
Brittain
& Sim
Sitkin
David
Eccles chool
f
Business,
niversity
f Utah
Get PaulEdwards or me. Johnwas calling to
get
his
engine
mechanic's
opinion
on whether
they
should
run
today or
not.:The
data
Tom
put together
indicated
temperature
was
not
the
problem, but
John
wanted
o
get
Paul's
direct
assessment.
Paul
Edwards
was
a
classic
gas
statiott
mechanic,
with fingemails
permanently
blackened
by
greaseand
clean
coveralls
for
the
first
two
miautes
on
Saturday
nomings.
He had
been
knocking
around
the
professional
circuit
for
ten
years after dropping
out of school at sixteen o follow drag racing' He
lacked
the
sophisticated
engineering
raining
that
was
getting
more
cortmon
in racing,
but
he did
know
racing
engines.
John
had
discussed
he
gasket
problem
with
Paul
two
days
ago,
and
as he waited
he
reflected
on the
conversation
hey had.
Paul
was
a man
of few
words
and
not
given to overstatement.
The
way
I see
t,
the
turbo-pressure
during
warm-up
--
in
conjunction
with
the
different
expansion
ates
or
the head
and
block
-
is
doing
a
number
on
us, was
about
the
extent
of his
analysis.
It was
his
opinion
about the
cause
of the
problem, and he would not represent t as anything
else.
It
was
the
same
story John
had
heard
twenly
times,
but
it
just
did
not match
Tom's
data.
Paul,
we
have
chewed
his
over
before,
but how
do
you
know
this
is
the
problern?
When
we
ran
at
Riverside
the
temperature
was 75
degrees
and we
still
lost
the
gasket and
engine.
I
am not
sure
what
happened
at Riverside,
Paul
had
replied.
I
am not
sure
that
temperature
s the
problern, but
it
is the
only
thing
I
can
figure
would
lead to
the
stresseswe are seeing. t is definitelythe
gaskets hat
are
blowing
out
and
causing
he
engine
to
go.
All
of
the
engines
have
failed
in different
ways,
and
all
the
failures
were
due
to loss
of
cooling
or
lubrication
caused
y
a
i;asket
ailure.
Part of Carter Racing's successwas due to a
unique turbo-charging
system
that Tom and John
had
developed.
They
had
come
up with
a
new
headdesign
that allowed
them
to
get
more turbo
pressure o the
engine
wbile maintaining
fuel
consumption
at a fairly
constant
evel.
By
casting
the head
and
turbo bodies
in a high-strength
aircraft
alioy, they
had
also
saved
almost
fiffry
pounds
of
weight.
The
alloy
they were
using was
not
as
temperature
sensitive
as he
material
in the
engine
block,
but
the
head
gasket should
be
able o handle
he'differences.
John
could
hear
the sounds
of
race
day
in
the
background
as
Paul
approached
the
phone.
Hello
John,
he said,
obviously
excited. The
Goodstone
coveralls
just
got
here.
We are
talking
some
fine
threads,
and
no
sew-on
patches from
these
guys. The
logo
on
the
back
and
our
names
are
stitched
right
into
the material.
I
guess this
means
we
get to
keep
em'
Course,
I
got some
grease on
mine
already,
so
they
probably won't
want'em
back
anyway.
That
is
great, John
said'
Look,
I want
to find
out
what
w€
are
doing
about
the
gasket failure
business.
The
car
is set
to
go. We
have
been
using
a
different
seating
procedure
since
Slippery
Rock
and
had
no
problems
for
two
races'
Tom
says
the
Goodstoni
deal
is set
as long
as
we
finish
in
the
money
today.
The
guys in
the
shop
want
this
bad'
Goodstone
is
a
class
act;
they
can
make
us
the
number
one
eam
on'the
circuit
if
we do
well'
Copyright
Jack
W.
Brittain. Photocopied
rvith
permission.