Belt maker's image buckles after wreck.

• Position: Brief Article

The nice thing about merchant banking is that you can get involved in just about any business without really getting your hands dirty. You put up a stake in a company, hang around until the value rises and get out with your profits. But it doesn't always work out that way.

Exhibit 1: Carousel Capital Co. LLC of Charlotte and Simpson Performance Products Inc. of Mooresvile, one of the companies in the Carousel portfolio. Simpson Performance makes safety equipment for NASCAR race crews and amateur racers. One of its customers was Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR's biggest star, who was killed in a crash at this year's Daytona 500.

Three days later, Nelson Schwab III, managing partner of Carousel, got a call from NASCAR Chairman Bill France Jr. telling him the initial investigation discovered a problem with Earnhardt's seat belt, made by Simpson Performance. Schwab turned the matter over to Simpson and watched as reports leaked out that the belt might have separated.

Simpson, who no longer talks to the media, has complained that he has been painted unfairly as the man who killed Earnhardt. That's not the publicity you want for a company that makes...