On the Throttle: CE Editor Visits Cat and Doosan at the Charlotte Bank of America 500 Race

Both construction and NASCAR are billion dollar businesses. They both are built on the backbone of hard-working blue collar craftsmen. And both rely on powerful and maneuverable machines that fascinate business owners and gear heads alike.

The construction sector and stock car racing are good matches. Just look at the endorsements: Bandit Industries and Parker Kligerman’s Team 42 Dodger Charger, Doosan Infracore Portable Power sponsoring Joe Gibbs racers like Kyle Busch and the cool Caterpillar No. 31 car driven by big Jeff Burton. Equipment manufacturers seem to love the high-speed mechanics of motorsports.

I experienced this first-hand when I visited North Carolina this weekend for the Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, visiting two impressive equipment makers – Doosan Infracore Portable Power (the former Ingersoll Rand brand) and Caterpillar (the world’s biggest manufacturer of earth moving equipment). Both had their NASCAR drivers mentioned above racing, battling 500 miles on a 1.5-mile oval track with 115,000 fans watching (Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, finished an impressive second after conquering a stuck throttle). 

Equipment manufacturers had a sizable presence at the international televised race. At Turn 2, on the backside of the speedway, Caterpillar had set up a huge lot full of yellow and black construction equipment for race fans, dealers and customers. It was a promotion for CatUsed.com, endoring previously-owned skid steers, track loaders, excavators, dozers and a mining truck, all being sold onsite; Burton’s No. 31 car was even repainted with the CatUsed.com logo to promote the website (he’d end up finishing 20th at the race).

“The Cat brand is the gold standard for used equipment,” explained Jim Johnson, president of Caterpillar Used Equipment Services (a corporate division that helps dealers distribute used machinery). Among many cool attractions, Caterpillar Used Equipment Services had retrofitted a 1985 140G motor grader for sale, rebuilt with new parts, systems, comforts and even a Tier III electronic engine, promoting its long lasting machinery to race fans and a hospitality tent full of buyers. “We can rebuild a customer’s confidence in a 25-year-old machine,” assured Johnson. He hoped to have 5,000-10,000 NASCAR fans tour the equipment lot before the weekend was finished.

Doosan Infracore Portable Power also invited the press down to its nearby manufacturing and corporate facility in Statesville, N.C. We toured the plant, sat down for press conferences, talked to product and plant managers and then visited the race Saturday night (where Doosan sponsored cars would race). There was plenty of talk about new equipment (like Doosan’s cool and compact LSC light tower) and its next generation gen sets and compressors (with Tier 4 Interim technology), but the big message seemed to be about branding – how could the company transition from its Ingersoll Rand heritage to its new Doosan name. In July of 2007, IR sold its utility and attachment businesses (including Bobcat) to Doosan Infracore for 4.9 billion. Now the company needs to change its name. 

“We have 138 years of experience in portable power compressors,” said David Stahlman, vice president of global marketing. “How do we transition that Ingersoll Rand history into a historic brand like Doosan?”

One way is by capitalizing on the scope and size of multimedia sports like NASCAR. Another way is by continuing to create great machinery that surpasses old standards. I think Cat and Doosan are doing both. It reminds me of an old saying: Great leaders must be close enough to relate to, but far enough ahead to inspire us. It’s a tough balancing act, but I’m excited to see these top competitors racing to win over today’s economic hurdles, promoting the durability and sophistication of the evolving construction business. I’ll cover more of these themes and more of this trip throughout the week at CE Unbound. — Keith Gribbins, Managing Editor, Compact Equipment