The popularity of NASCAR and auto racing drivers who earn multi-million dollar paychecks create the illusion that being part of a racing team would be far removed from the grind of those of us working in the 9-to-5 world.
Racecar drivers appear to be a different breed, born with a thrill-seeking nature that pushes the limits of responsibility for the adrenalin rush of risk and reward.
To be sure, it does take a certain moxie to race automobiles at high speeds. However, such bravado is not so far removed from the bold qualities needed to start and successfully operate a small business.
The Milwaukee Mile and the Slinger Super Speedway do not just host national events at their tracks. And their competitors are not all full-time professional drivers. Some are adults with day jobs who devote nearly every hour of spare time they have to a car, to a team and to the track.
“It is very expensive when you get up to (higher) levels,” said Scott Mayer, who by day is the president and chief executive officer of Brookfield-based QPS Companies Inc. “A good Indy car team for a full season will cost $6 million per year, so you need to find sponsors who are willing to put their name on the side of the car in exchange for taking part of the expense.”
Mayer was a national champion in snowmobile racing when he was 6 years old, but soon afterward dropped his motor sports racing hobby to grow up and eventually start QPS in 1985. His side job is as a contracted racecar driver for teams competing in the Indy Pro Series, a developmental league for the Indy Racing League. Indy cars are among the fastest cars in the world.
“Ten years (after starting QPS), I went to a racing school on a whim and entered a minor league series, drove and won races and realized I had talent left over from when I was a kid. I moved up through higher series until I made it to Indy car races,” Mayer said. “I race in the summer from May to September, every other weekend all over the country.”
Michael Egan, owner of Brookfield-based Bonafide Safe & Lock, which is in the process of changing its name to Bonafide Security Solutions, has been a professional racecar driver since 1981. Egan races every weekend of the season at Slinger Super Speedway in the late model division, which is the track’s highest division.
“This is a second full-time job for people in the late model division,” said Todd Thelen, spokesman for Slinger Super Speedway. “About 25 percent of these guys own their own business.”
Egan competes against drivers who are ages 16 to 66. He spends about 50 hours per week doing maintenance on his racecar when it has not been wrecked in a race, he said.
“They are entrepreneurs, and this is part of their business package,” Thelen said. “For the lower division guys who don’t run as well, this is like their weekend golf game. Instead of spending $20,000 per year at a country club, they are spending that here.”
Egan Motor Sports spends about $9,000 per year just in tires for his racecar, he said. Everything in the car aside from the frame and body is custom-made. After every race, almost every part of the car undergoes adjustment or replacement, Egan said.
Rick Loch and Jim Lagina own Muskego-based Loch-Lagina Motor Sports LLC, which supports Loch’s son, Rich, who drives the racecar for the team.
The Loch family owns Ricardo’s Pizza in Greendale and Riverfront Pizzeria Bar and Grill in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. Lagina is owner of Milwaukee-based Lagina Plumbing Inc., formerly Louis Schmitt Plumbing.
Lagina knew the Lochs for a long time and has worked for the racing team on the sponsorship side since 2000. In 2003, Lagina became a partner in the venture.
Loch-Lagina Motor Sports competes in the American Speed Association (ASA) Midwest Tour, which takes the team to tracks in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois.
Some major sponsors of Loch-Lagina Motor Sports include: Keg-A-Que, manufactured by Keg Products Inc. in Mequon; All-Glass Aquarium, manufactured by Aqueon Products in Franklin, a division of Central Garden & Pet Co., Walnut Creek, Calif.; Johnsonville Sausage LLC in Sheboygan Falls; and Thermoset in Mequon.
Lagina also uses the racetrack venue as a chance to network with clients and contacts and promote his company. Tickets at Slinger Super Speedway are $13 per person, and the track has suites and a pavilion for hosting events or accommodating large groups of people. The facility, combined with the outreach to the community for sponsorships, are a great way for Loch-Lagina and anyone else with logos on the car to get exposure to large groups of people, Lagina and Thelen said.
“It is one of the most cost-effective ways to market to customers and to reach more people at a grassroots level,” Lagina said. “We get more exposure with folks and time to spend with customers that far exceeds other sports opportunities.”
Lagina himself is able to network at the track with sponsors and business owners involved with other teams, he said.
“Every time I go to the track, I see someone affiliated with a business and may buy product from,” Lagina said.
The large community that is involved in racing, both on the track and in the stands, promotes a sense of camaraderie that fuels the passion for the sport and makes every race worthwhile, Egan and Lagina said.
“Everyone helps everybody,” Egan said. “But once you hop in the racecar, all bets are off.”
