DESIGN, DEVELOP, BUILD, RACE, WIN
FIRST SEASON
2 0 0 4 3-TIME WINNERS
TRIUMPHS AND CHALLENGES IN CADILLAC’S DEBUT SEASON A year ago we were getting ready to begin Team Cadillac’s first racing season. The development program had gone well, and we expected good things, but until the green flag drops, nobody knows for sure. We didn’t need to worry, because we are fortunate enough to have some of the best people in the business working at Pratt & Miller. The Cadillac team’s first season was amazingly successful, thanks to the quality of all the people working on this program … all the way from initial development through every one of the 2004 races. Most new racing teams hope they can at least be competitive in their first season, and maybe, with a bit of luck, chalk up one win. We won the first time out in a one-two finish, which was a huge statement, but it made the rest of the season a challenge to say the least, due to “competition adjustments.” Even so, as usual the challenge brought out the best in us; we added two more wins and were in contention for the championship right down to the wire. That’s a successful debut season in anybody’s book. As we go into 2005, Pratt & Miller is bursting at the seams with energy, growth, and enormous potential. The quality of our work and the capabilities we have to offer our customers are second to none – thanks to you, the people who know how to get the job done right. A lot of people in this organization don’t get into the limelight at races, but you are a vital part of every sucess and every victory. We are winners – all of us. We know it, and our customers know it.
— Jim Miller and Gary Pratt
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Contents Triumphs and Challenges in Our Debut Season . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Impressive Debut in Speed World Challenge GT – Sebring . . . . . . . . . 4 Charging Hard – Lime Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Status Quo at Mid-O – Mid-Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Overcoming Adversity – Infineon Raceway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Groundhog Day – Portland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Fast, Close, Tough – Mosport, Race 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Fellows Out Front – Mosport, Race 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Weight Hurts – Road America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Back in the Game – Road Atlanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Everybody Knows We’re Here – Laguna Seca / Awards . . . . . . . . . . 16 Team Personals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Capabilities + Quality = Growth – Jim Miller & Gary Pratt Q&A . . . . 22 From the Editor / Thanks To Our Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 The Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Photos courtesy of Greg Aleck, Phil Binks, Dan Boyd, Richard Dole, Gregory Johnson, Robert Mochernuk, Robin Pratt, Richard Prince, Steve Robertson. Printed with permission. Copyright © 2004 Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication, Inc. All rights reserved. Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication, Inc. 29600 William K Smith Drive, New Hudson, MI 48165 Phone: 248-446-9800 Fax: 248-446-9020 www.prattmiller.com
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SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #1
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IMPRESSIVE DEBUT ONE-TWO FINISH FOR TEAM CADILLAC Pratt & Miller’s rigorous development program for the new Cadillac CTS-V race cars paid off big in the team’s debut race. Max Angelelli qualified on the pole and went on to win the 20lap sprint on Sebring’s 3.7-mile circuit. Andy Pilgrim finished second after a spectacular charge through the field.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #1 Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida March 19, 2004 QUALIFYING: 1st, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 2m09.076s (103.195 mph) 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 2m10.795s (101.838 mph)
RACE: 1st, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 20 laps 2nd, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 20 laps
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Pilgrim, who qualified fourth, had clutch trouble on the starting grid and his engine stalled just as the race started. “It’s pretty scary when you know all those cars are behind you, accelerating hard, and you’re just sitting there,” Andy said. “I’m thankful nobody hit me.” Once he got going, the clutch caused no problems and Pilgrim put on a show. He carved his way through the field and moved into second on the second-last lap. Angelelli and Pilgrim were some four seconds ahead of the third-place Audi driven by Michael Galati. Angelelli fell back to third just after the start, but he took the lead on lap three and gradually stretched it out to a small margin of two to three seconds. “I knew my knew car was very good,” said Max. “It was slightly faster than the Audi, so I could stay out front fairly comfortably and just drive it to win.”
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SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #2
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CHARGING HARD CADILLACS OVERCOME CHALLENGES Following their impressive one-two showing at Sebring, Pratt & Miller’s Team Cadillac people knew they would have their work cut out for them at the next event. Series officials adjusted the technical specifications for the CTS-V race cars, adding weight and restricting engine power output to slow them down some.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #2 Lime Rock Park Lakeville, Connecticut May 31, 2004 QUALIFYING: 5th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 0m54.589s (100.899 mph) 6th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 0m54.686s (100.720 mph) RACE: 3rd, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 46 laps 5th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 46 laps
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Starting fifth and sixth in the 30-car field, Max Angelelli and Andy Pilgrim went to work early in the 46-lap race. Angelelli fell back to ninth trying to stay out of trouble in heavy traffic after the start, but was up to third when a late-race caution ended his chances. The race finished under yellow with the two-car Audi team holding first and second. Pilgrim had some ground to make up, too. He passed several cars and was ready to make a move for fourth when the final caution put an end to passing. To take third place, Angelelli had to make a daring pass on Pilgrim and on Tommy Archer in a Viper. “I had to take risks where I could,” Angelelli said. “When I passed for third I out-braked both of them into turns one and two, basically driving in the grass to avoid contact.”
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HEINRICY TRIPLE TEAMS IN OHIO For Team Cadillac the challenge at Mid-Ohio was the same as the race before: find something for the Audis. One thing they did was add a third car to the arsenal, piloted by John Heinricy. This GM engineer and long-time racer is on the engineering team of the production Cadillac CTS-V, and also was heavily involved with Pratt & Miller’s development program for the race car last year. Heinricy qualified fourth, behind the two Audis and a Porsche 911. He was able to get ahead of the Porsche at the start and stayed close to the Audis, even putting pressure on them during the green-flag laps. The problem was, green-flag laps were at a premium, since most of the first half of the race was run under caution due to crashes and blown engines. He raced hard in the last dozen laps, but in the end Heinricy had to settle for third, a scant half-second behind the runner-up Audi. Angelelli and Pilgrim qualified farther back, and had a more interesting time avoiding the wreckage and oil spills in the early going. They improved significantly on their starting positions, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #3 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio June 27, 2004
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #3
STATUS QUO AT MID-O
QUALIFYING: 4th, John Heinricy, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m28.361s (91.995 mph) 9th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m29.052s (91.281 mph) 12th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m29.264s (91.064 mph)
RACE: 3rd, John Heinricy, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 24 laps 6th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 24 laps 7th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 24 laps
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SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #4
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OVERCOMING ADVERSITY PILGRIM’S COMEBACK TIGHTENS TITLE RACE Andy Pilgrim overcame a setback at the start and charged to a fourth-place finish at California’s Infineon Raceway. That moved Cadillac up to within one point of Audi for the lead in the series’ championship for manufacturers. Shortly after the standing start, traffic snarls shuffled Pilgrim and Angelelli back to seventh and ninth, respectively. Angelelli started working his way back – to eighth, then seventh … then misfortune struck.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #4 Infineon Raceway Sonoma, California July 18, 2004 QUALIFYING: 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m41.145s (90.049 mph) 6th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m41.783s (89.484 mph) RACE: 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 25 laps 22nd, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 13 laps (accident)
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“I was passing another car but the car ahead of me moved inside and hit the brakes,” Angelelli explained. He spun into a tire barrier, which popped the Cadillac’s hood up and slammed it back into the windshield. He drove back to the pits, but the car was damaged too badly to continue. Pilgrim had his own first-lap difficulties. “A car ahead braked early and I had nowhere to go,” he said. “I had to brake hard and three cars shot past on the inside. That made it a very entertaining race. I had a good race with Tommy Archer for third, and might have got past him if we’d had about five more laps.”
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IT’S INFINEON ALL OVER AGAIN AT PORTLAND In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray kept reliving the same day over and over again. At Portland, Team Cadillac relived the results from Infineon a week earlier: Andy Pilgrim finished fourth and Max Angelelli crashed. For Max, it was more like a recurring nightmare, but Andy once again showed his ability to overcome adversity. After the standing start, both Cadillacs dropped back a bit, then started to move up. Angelleli took third and set off after the second-place Audi of Randy Pobst. Unfortunately, he made contact, went off the track into a barrier, and was not able to continue. “It was fully my mistake and I feel bad for my team,” said Angelelli. “I apologized to Randy, and I’m glad I didn’t take him out with me.” Pilgrim, meantime, was up to fifth, but with 15 laps to go he had a skirmish with two other cars, spun, and dropped back to 16th place. From then on, Andy stole the show. He passed cars almost every lap, and on the second-last lap he passed two cars to take fourth place. He was awarded the Remus Power Move of the Race for his exciting charge.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #5 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon July 25, 2004
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #5
GROUNDHOG DAY
QUALIFYING: 2nd, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m17.988s (89.736 mph) 6th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m18.359s (89.312 mph)
RACE: 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 31 laps 19th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 8 laps (accident)
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SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #6
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FAST, CLOSE, TOUGH POLE AND 4TH IN MOSPORT #1 Max Angelelli started fast. He topped the field in qualifying race one in Mosport’s doubleheader weekend — his second pole of the season. At the start, Angelelli found himself shuffled back to third, then to fourth a few laps later. Light rain part way through helped him fight back to third, only to get snookered by traffic in the last lap and wind up fourth.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #6 Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, Ontario August 7, 2004 QUALIFYING: 1st, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m23.452s (106.077 mph) 3rd, Ron Fellows, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m23.838s (105.589 mph) 8th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m24.203s (105.131 mph)
RACE: 4th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 30 laps 5th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 30 laps 9th, Ron Fellows, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 30 laps
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Pilgrim had an intense battle of his own, working his way up to fifth at the end, only half a second behind his teammate. “That
was the closest, toughest sprint race I’ve ever been in,” he said. “We were racing with a bunch of strong, equally matched cars.” A third CTS-V was driven by Corvette regular Ron Fellows, which delighted his many fans at his home track. He qualified third, but was late for the presentation lap and had to start from pit lane. Fellows picked off one car after another until he reached ninth place, which was as far as he was able to go. During his charge, Ron set the fastest race lap, only half a second slower than his qualifying speed.
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RON WINS; 3 CADILLACS IN TOP 5 In qualifying for the second Mosport race, Ron Fellows drove like he had unfinished business to take care of. He won the pole, eclipsing Max Angelelli’s day-old record by more than a second. From the race’s standing start, Fellows accelerated into turn one leading the field. And from then on, his margin over the secondplace car gradually increased to a comfortable 3.45 seconds at the finish. Series regulars Andy Pilgrim and Max Angelelli, carrying more restrictions in the form of “competition adjustments” than Fellows, battled hard for every inch of track and finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
“The crew guys did a great job with the handling and I was never in any serious danger of losing the lead,” Ron said. “It took a couple of laps to get into the rhythm, but I settled in. It was a lot of fun racing the Cadillac in front of my home crowd. I really wanted to win at least one here for Team Cadillac, and we got it.” At Mosport, Cadillac gained 11 points on Audi, and headed for the next race just two points behind (39 to 37) in the manufacturers’ championship.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #7 Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, Ontario August 8, 2004
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #7
FELLOWS OUT FRONT
QUALIFYING: 1st, Ron Fellows, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m22.409s (107.420 mph) 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m23.286s (106.289 mph) 7th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m23.669s (105.802 mph)
RACE: 1st, Ron Fellows, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 30 laps 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 30 laps 5th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 30 laps
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SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #7
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CATCH-UP TIME, AGAIN After his victory at Mosport, Ron Fellows was racing 175 pounds heavier at Road America. And it hurt, just like it hurt Max Angelelli and Andy Pilgrim after their one-two finish at Sebring. Audi scored a one-two finish in Wisconsin, but there still was time for Team Cadillac to stage another comeback. “It was frustrating, but we still have two races to go,” said Angelelli after qualifying third but then struggling to hold on to a top-five finish. “I tried my hardest but I didn’t have anything left at the end.” After the start, Fellows moved up to ninth within two laps. but was only able to gain one more position. “The extra weight really changes the balance,” he said. “It becomes a bit of a challenge to pass. We were faster than most cars in the high-speed corners, but unfortunately at this track there are only two of them!” Andy Pilgrim had an engine electrical problem early in the race. He fell back to 19th until the last five laps, when he managed to gain five positions before the finish.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #8 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 21, 2004
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #8
WEIGHT HURTS
QUALIFYING: 3rd, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 2m15.949s (107.193 mph) 5th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 2m16.535s (106.733 mph) 11th, Ron Fellows, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 2m17.902s (105.675 mph) RACE: 5th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 18 laps 8th, Ron Fellows, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 18 laps 14th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 18 laps
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SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT – RACE #9
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BACK IN THE GAME ALL EVEN WITH 1 TO GO For the Road Atlanta round, Team Cadillac had their backs to the wall. Nine points behind in the championship for manufacturers, if an Audi finished ahead of them, it was all over. Johnny O’Connell joined the team to drive the third car at his home track, and provided additional feedback in their quest to find the setup that would, in O’Connell’s words, “make your car dance.”
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #9 Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia September 24, 2004 QUALIFYING: 1st, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m27.734s (104.224 mph) 4th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m28.013s (103.893 mph) 8th, Johnny O’Connell, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m28.829s (102.939 mph)
RACE: 1st, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 29 laps 6th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 29 laps 9th, Johnny O’Connell, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 29 laps
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In qualifying, all three cars danced pretty well – especially Angelelli’s. He qualified on the pole with a new track record. That gave the team a reason for optimism, because the best of the Audis qualified 12th. Angelelli led the race from start to finish, but he didn’t have a moment to relax except during the three full-course caution periods. His pursuers were never more a second behind him, and he said he had to drive every lap as if it were qualifying. His margin of victory was only a quarter of a second, but it evened the championship score with one race to go. “Now, we’re back in it,” Angelelli said, “and for us that is everything.” Pilgrim and O’Connell also had to fight hard for their respective sixth- and ninth-place finishes. Johnny’s race included a tangle with another car that caused him to spin. Even so, he finished two spots ahead of the top-placing Audi.
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S P E E D W O R L D C H A L L E N G E G T – R A C E # 10
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EVERYBODY KNOWS WE’RE HERE END OF A SUCCESSFUL FIRST SEASON In the final-race showdown, the top-finishing Cadillac had to finish ahead of the highest-placed Audi for Cadillac to win the title. In the end, though, that was not to be, and Team Cadillac finished its first racing season a strong second in the championship for manufacturers. Three victories showed that the newcomers had built a serious, highly capable effort. During the race, both Andy Pilgrim and Max Angelelli caught up to the fourth and fifth placed Audis, but neither was able to make a serious passing threat.
SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE GT, RACE #10 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California October 17, 2004 QUALIFYING: 8th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m32.336s (87.255 mph) 12th, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m32.482s (87.117 mph) 16th, Olivier Beretta, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 1m32.972s (86.658 mph) RACE: 7th, Max Angelelli, #16 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 28 laps 17th, Olivier Beretta, #12 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 27 laps 22nd, Andy Pilgrim, #8 Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose Cadillac CTS-V, 18 laps (crash)
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Olivier Beretta, making his first appearance in a CTS-V, had to start dead last in the 34-car field because his engine had to be changed after qualifying. Beretta passed 16 cars and finished 17th. He won the Sunoco Hard Charger award for gaining the most positions during the race. Angelelli and Pilgrim finished third and fifth, respectively, in the drivers’ championship, while Team Cadillac was voted Crew of the Year by the series competitors. “We can be proud of our accomplishments in our first season,” Andy said. “The Audis were defending champions and we pushed them right to the end. Everybody knows we’re here, that’s for sure.”
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Drivers ANDY PILGRIM MAX ANGELELLI JOHN HEINRICY OLIVIER BERETTA RON FELLOWS JOHNNY O’CONNELL Team GARY PRATT JIM MILLER DAVE ALBRIGHT NEVILLE AGASS LYNN BISHOP JEFF BATES ANDREW EMRICK DAVE MARIN DAVID MATTE BRAD BUENTING SCOTT RAYMOND CHARLIE DEGENER BRIAN COLANGELO NEAL EVERHART BEN BRADY KEN FLORY ROBIN PRATT Truck Drivers NICK ESTEL MIKE HASS
GM Racing STEVE SHANNON DOUG DUCHARDT HARRY TURNER GARY CLAUDIO DAVE SPITZER RICH PRIESTER REILLY BRENNAN
TEAM AND AWARDS
TEAM CADILLAC CTS-V 2004: WINNERS FIRST TIME OUT
Cadillac MARK LANEVE JIM TAYLOR KAREN RAFFERTY ROB MINTON HPVO TONY ROMA KEVIN LUCHANSKY JIM LAFONTAINE, Katech STEVE MOORE CALEB NEWMAN TODD PETERSON PRS JIM KELLY RON ROCHELEAU Caterer KEITH HILSLINGER
Timing and Scoring MELANIE CORRELL
2004 WINS AND AWARDS 1st Sebring – Max Angelelli 1st Mosport – Ron Fellows 1st Road Atlanta – Max Angelelli Speed GT Crew of the Year – Team Cadillac 17
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P R AT T & M I L L E R Q & A
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CAPABILITIES + QUALITY = GROWTH PRATT & MILLER’S SUCCESS COMES FROM ITS WORLD-CLASS PEOPLE Pratt & Miller’s co-founders, Jim Miller and Gary Pratt, talk about the company’s growth and expanding capabilities. Gary Pratt
Jim Miller
Q: In 2002 you moved into your new building in New Hudson. Now you are building a large addition. Was that rapid growth unexpected? JM: It was a wonderful result of “if we build it they will come.” With the first building, we were out of space within the first 12 months. All of that is a credit to the quality of work that the folks at Pratt & Miller have produced. There has been a dramatic expansion of our capabilities. Over the past two years the growth in our engineering capabilities has produced the foundation for added space requirements. As big or bigger to me was the fact that, three years ago we said we wanted to complement our world-class racing services with world-class engineering capabilities.
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C A PA B I L I T I E S + Q UA L I T Y = G R O W T H
ENGINEERING TEAM
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P R AT T & M I L L E R Q & A
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Pratt & Miller Q&A, continued When we merged with Aletheon there were eight guys at that time, and that has grown to 30 because of the underlying skills and tools we acquired when Aletheon came on board. The tools and capabilities have been expanded in the last couple of years to meet a wider area of racing needs. Our North Carolina operation is growing rapidly, including the work we do for the Department of Defense. It’s been rewarding that the defense department finds those skills valuable and they are continuing to want more and more time from those guys. Now, the services of those 30 engineers also are being used by or will be used by world-class organizations that General Motors has relationships with. That’s very exciting. My hope is, that 24 months or 36 months from now we’ll be complaining again that were out of room! Q: What is the combination you have here that’s contributing to this success and growth? JM: We have a single-minded focus on meeting the expectations of our customers. In the case of General Motors, we have customers who are on the world stage, competing with other players on the world stage. Go through any place in our organization and the worry is whether the work we’re doing is of the quality we need to satisfy our customers … as opposed to other distractions that might come from internal problems or financial issues. As a result, I think people get an opportunity to participate in and feel the satisfaction and rewards of a job well done. I think you can look at specific instances in the past year: After not being as successful as we wanted to be at Le Mans in 2003, we were devastatingly successful against our competition in 2004. That is a credit to everyone’s focus. We knew what we had to do and we had a whole lot of people engaged in the process. GP: One of our advantages is that we are able to go to a test or to a racetrack and function pretty much flawlessly … allowing ourselves to get the maximum
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out of development time whenever we go to a test or a race. If I go to a test and I have to spend 3 hours out of an 8 hour day changing something because it broke, or it wasn’t put on right, or we didn’t know what to do, …we would never be as far ahead as we are. So that whole capability allows us to do the performance enhancements necessary to keep us at the top of a worldwide competitive environment. Q: The company and its culture is based on auto racing. Can you talk about why that’s a good foundation for growth in other areas? GP: To start with, auto racing is a pressure cooker.There are no excuses when the green flag drops. There is never the ability to postpone completion of the project based on road blocks. If it doesn’t work now, it’s gotta work tomorrow because that’s when we’re racing. While there are sometimes compromises, the fact of the matter is you have to beat that deadline. The fact that you have world-class competitors putting a lot of resources against that same deadline creates an environment in which you learn to respond quickly and effectively without excuses or the ability to postpone until the next day.
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P R AT T & M I L L E R Q & A
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Pratt & Miller Q&A, continued Q: For the future, what do you see as areas of opportunity for this business? JM: I think that as a result of our relationship with General Motors, we are going to make a much more substantial entré into the NASCAR world with our engineering services. And we expect that will create other opportunities internally for the company, whether it be in design or manufacture of parts, in testing, or other areas. We continue to have a relationship with GM that puts us at the forefront of anything they’re doing, and as a result, we have already started to have projects brought to us by the production side. Knowing our capabilities, and our ability to meet schedules, people who are having trouble with that in their production world, whether it be internal or vendors are already coming to us and we see that as a very big opportunity. And then there are other ancillary, non-motorsport things like our defense department work, utilizing our engineering services there, which we see as a very big opportunity. We expect that there will be other auto-industry related companies that will be looking at our services for testing and development, prototyping, and so on. I can’t help but be unbelievably proud of the fact that all our people are executing the way they are. I can just walk around the place and say, “I work with them!” They help us deliver world-class results on a world stage. It’s a lot of fun!
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C A PA B I L I T I E S + Q UA L I T Y = G R O W T H
PONTIAC GTO PROJECT
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THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Cadillac
We’re heading into 2005 and this is the fifth edition of the Pratt & Miller Yearbook. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were working on the first one – trying to make an idea into reality. Now it’s an established annual event, and all of us look forward to seeing the racing season we’ve just been through translated into words and photos … the good times, the tough times, and the fun times.
General Motors Mobil 1 Motorola Bose On Star XM Satellite Radio with thanks also to
Katech Tremec Getrag OZ Wheels Borla Competition Graphics SCCA Pro Racing
It gives me great satisfaction to see this book in print, because I know what it means in terms of keeping memories alive for all of us who participated. It’s a record of tremendous hard work and accomplishment … especially so this year because, for the first time we had to make two books in one! We felt that the first season for our Cadillac CTS-V team deserved equal recognition, and this book with two covers is the result. The Cadillac team proved itself and then some, with three wins and a run for the championship that kept the Audi guys looking over their shoulders if they weren’t watching our rear bumpers. We used Andy Pilgrim’s words as the headline for the last race: “Everybody knows we’re here.” Do they ever! And now Pratt & Miller is working on the development of yet another racing program – the Pontiac GTO project that GM will race in the Grand American Rolex Series. That’s an indication of how Pratt & Miller is growing and expanding. You’ll get an idea of what’s going on, and why, in the question-and-answer story with Jim and Gary in these pages. When all is said and done, it’s the quality of our people, their capabilities and hard work behind the scenes that make all the trophies and spraying champagne possible.
and always
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This is a tribute to all of you. Thanks for a great job!
THE PRODUCTION TEAM Chuck McLaren, writing, editing, direction Ray McAllister, design Kate McLaren, production coordination Dan Kelly, Colortech Graphics, Inc., printing Alleyne Kelly, proofreading
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS Greg Aleck Phil Binks Dan Boyd Richard Dole Gregory Johnson Robert Mochernuk Robin Pratt Richard Prince Steve Robertson
Robin Pratt
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS Greg Johnson 29
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