Lafar Away

Quick—what do you think of when you read the word Minnesota? The Vikings? 10,000 Lakes? Freezing cold eight months of the year? Stock car racing likely doesn’t come to mind, but at least one team is out to change that.

LaFavre Racing resides in the tiny town of Lakeville, Minnesota, amidst a slowly rolling landscape reminiscent of Little House on the Prairie.

Owned and operated by commercial developer Scott LaFavre, the team’s 25,000-square-foot complex is filled with race cars, machinery, tools, three 18-wheel transporters, and everything else one needs to operate three separate, topnotch American Speed Association (ASA) teams.

But there’s more. Also housed in the shop is a set of three NASCAR Busch Grand National cars, two Re/Max Challenge Series cars, two local Late Model cars, and three Legends cars. Look around more and you’ll find that Scott has built a basketball court, a four-hole golf course, a tennis court, and a go-kart track, all for the use of employees.

Such shops are typically found in North Carolina or Virginia, areas at the hub of stock car racing.

“You’re not supposed to be able to do what we’re doing up here,” LaFavre reveals. “I’ve spent a lot of time down South and had a lot of opportunities to move my team down there. The difference in our (Minnesota) environment, which truly makes who and what our company is special, is the heart of the people. Up here, it’s so special and unique for them to be able to follow their dreams. There aren’t many opportunities with other race organizations, so everybody who works for us, their heart is really involved.”

But it takes more than just heart to drive a multicar racing team that is based so far from the action.

“The fact that I’m told continually that what I am doing isn’t possible only motivates me further to keep expanding and building our infrastructure even stronger,” LaFavre explains.

The Price of Success

LaFavre spends about $1 million a season to field each of his teams. That coupled with the quality of his facilities would lead one to wonder why LaFavre Racing hasn’t made strides toward Winston Cup. Although LaFavre Racing driver Mike Garvey competed in some Busch Series races last season, in cars that still sit restlessly under the roof of LaFavre Racing, it seems that there is no thought of moving on to the bespectacled world of Winston Cup. LaFavre says those plans have nothing to do with the fact that Talladega is a three-day drive from Lakeville, Minnesota.

“I have no doubt in my mind that we could run one of the other stock car circuits. It would involve more travel and the logistics of that situation, but you could certainly overcome that by additional manpower and perhaps an extra tractor and trailer on the road. But, in the whole scheme of things, when you’re looking at budgets to run in those types of circuits, that’s not that significant compared to the trade-off of the work ethic and commitment, and the lack of distraction that exists here in Minnesota,” LaFavre says.

LaFavre Racing is the kind of place that would make a race car wrencher want to wake up before dawn and run to work in a foot of that oh-so-prevalent Minnesota snow. That kind of commitment from the owner, drivers, and crewmen seems like the perfect recipe for Winston Cup success. LaFavre chooses to spend his time and money on the ASA circuit.

“I believe, by far, that the ASA is the most bang for the buck in motorsports marketing,” he says. “The American Speed Association’s popularity is exploding race by race. General Motors’ commitment to the new Vortec fuel-injected V-8 engine has been an incredibly exciting new opportunity, a breath of fresh air—a fresh breath of life to the series in general. Add to that BFGoodrich’s commitment to the radial tires and the money they’ve put in, as well as the fact that TNN now is an equity partner in ASA. The muscle and commitment of those major organizations have played a huge role in the makeup of what the ASA is today. And it’s evolving rapidly. I believe that a couple of years from now no one will know the ASA as it is today.”

As it is, the ASA thrives on its short-track roots. Catch a race from Salem, Indiana, on TNN and you’re bound to see more rubbing and scuffing than in five of your average Winston Cup 500 milers. LaFavre believes that adds to the series’ growing popularity. It also is one of the reasons he has chosen to become so involved.

“On the smaller tracks, there is more contact. For me, that adds a whole another element of excitement that I really enjoy and thrive on. As they say, rubbin’s racin’. That’s true for me,” LaFavre attests. “I like to be on the edge of my seat, and I think people enjoy that. The ASA is a very affordable alternative with a lot of action. It has all the ingredients. We’ve been going to a lot of the second-tier markets where the race fans are very hungry for venues to attend. The ASA serves a very unique niche in the marketplace that’s alive and well.”

High Goals

Those are exciting words for the series from someone who makes it his business to know such things. LaFavre has made his fortune through smart business moves and good, old-fashioned hard work. He fought his way through a tough upbringing and into the top rung of the high-pressure business world. This is not someone who was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his hand. Now he rubs elbows and does business with heads of industry. With such a high-pressure day job, one might think stock car racing would be little more than a hobby for a rich man who can afford such extravagances. Perhaps this venture started that way for LaFavre, but it has become much more.

“If I look at all the different companies I am involved with and own, and put them all together, they’re not as difficult and challenging as it has been to build this racing company into a successful company. And until the business side of it is financially successful, I haven’t built a truly successful company. I believe that will happen over this next season. I believe our company will, for the first time, be self-sustaining. And when that happens, that will be, without a doubt, the greatest business accomplishment I have achieved thus far.”

LaFavre’s rags-to-riches story did not include college. His kind of business savvy stems from experience, determination, and an ability to be at the right place at the right time. He says this is the right time to be involved with the ASA.

“I believe this is a very opportunistic time for our company, and I am so bullish on the rapid expansion and professionalism of the ASA that I’m showing my commitment by expanding to take up even more real estate and putting more of my capital into additional teams,” LaFavre explains. “We have more and more incredible sponsorship opportunities coming to us, calling us, based on the explosion going on in the ASA.”

Looking Ahead

LaFavre has so much confidence in the series that he has decided to add another full-time team to his repertoire for 2001. LaFavre Racing now fields two full-time ASA drivers, Garvey and former ASA series champion Kevin Cywinski, and

features other drivers in a third ASA car on a race-to-race basis.

This increase in overall team size not only brings about opportunity for those young drivers searching for their shot at getting a seat in an upper-echelon team, but it also opens doors for prospective crewmembers. Currently, LaFavre Racing Teams has only 15 paid employees. That leaves a lot of work to be performed by volunteers, those people with the huge hearts and racing dreams that LaFavre mentioned earlier. Both of those numbers could as much as double with the addition of the new teams.

Finding good help in the form of paid employees is tough, but not as tough as working a volunteer to the bone and keeping him happy without handing him a check at the end of each week.

“Again, we help them fulfill their dreams,” affirms LaFavre.

When the team travels, so do the volunteers, all expenses covered. They work in the pits, on the cars, and in close quarters with the drivers. They become major parts of a racing team—and an excellent one at that. On such a high level, LaFavre can afford nothing less than total competence, even from those volunteers.

“We have the highest standards of any team, and the most difficult thing is having to fire a volunteer.

How do you fire somebody who gives their all and asks for nothing in return? We do it because we have to. We’re as strong as our weakest link. We continually strengthen our links in our chain of success,” he says.

And this is where one might expect a problem. How do you continually strengthen those links when often the strongest are in the South? How do you entice a person to move North, away from the action, in order to solidify his place in the action? Apparently, you simply go out and perform. Success breeds interest, especially when that success comes in front of a national television audience.

“We have received, in the last 30 days, more than 40 applicants from throughout the United States. We’ve had phone calls from Argentina, Australia, and Canada,” LaFavre reveals.

Don’t let the address fool you. Sure, Lakeville, Minnesota’s a long way from Daytona, but you’d never know that while walking around LaFavre Racing on a hot August day. On a January day, you might notice the difference—but you’d be too busy getting ready for the next season to care.