The Stainless Steel Carrot: An Auto Racing Odyssey

In '71 Wilkinson, already a successful author, decided to write a book about an aspiring race car driver. John Morton, having just won the 1970 National SCCA C Production Championship in a BRE 240Z, became her subject. Peter Brock, BRE team owner and manager, allowed Sylvia full access to the team. The Stainless Steel Carrot shares, without prejudice, the trials and tribulations of the era's top race team reaching for the Trans-Am 2.5 Championship and their hopes to rise to even greater heights with the "Stainless Steel Carrot", BRE's Lotus Formula 5000. The magic Sylvia pulls off is to neutralize any voice of the author. The book grabs the reader from their own perspective. If the reader has some experience in management, they are apt to empathize with Brock's struggles to guide a team of talented, opinionated individuals. If the reader is an engineer, the plight of the mechanics may gain their focus. The main subject of the book, of course, is championship driver John Morton. His insight has all drivers and wanna-be drivers on the edge of their seats waiting to see what he will do and how he'll deal with adversity next.