We're into Winning

Scheuring Speed Sports owner Steve Scheuring, in his own words.

“This is our 21st year of owning Scheuring Speed Sports. Probably the craziest thing I ever did was start this snocross team. I actually went to school for heavy equipment. I gave up a great job. I had a company truck. I had a company credit card. I had a great income. I put it all aside and went just with my passion, just what I wanted to do.

“I don’t know if that was craziest, stupidest, smartest, bravest…whatever it was, that leap of faith changed my life.”

“My biggest challenge is making sure we’re prepared both with a budget and good equipment and good crew,” said Scheuring. “I’m very fortunate for the crew I have. We’ve established ourselves as a team with integrity, a team with results and a team with media savvy. People gravitate toward us. They stick with us. They see the proof that we deliver.”

What makes a great racer?

“My idea of what makes a great racer is attitude.

“We brought on Lincoln Lemieux three years ago. My other top driver got hurt in New York at a race, and I needed someone to fill in for him. Lemieux was running a regional race there. I grabbed him from his trailer and I go, ‘Hey, what do you think about racing for us tomorrow?’ He goes, ‘Well, let me think about it.’ About five minutes I came back. I go, ‘What do you think?’ He goes, ‘Okay. I’ll try it.’

“He went out and made the final. I could see this kid’s raw talent. We kept him all year. He could’ve been on the podium a couple of times had he had some conditioning experience. The following year we signed him again because we saw his potential. And now he’s the only one on a Ski-Doo who won a race last year. So it’s racing somebody with raw talent and the right attitude and kind of cultivating them toward what you’re looking for in a rider.”

Delves into UTV racing

“In addition to the snocross racing, last year we took on the side-by-side racing program also. We had some good finishes. You know, we built off of that last year.

“We built a better vehicle this year because we had more time to prepare. We got the weight down. We got the widths right. We went out and won the first race. Since then we haven’t been out of the top four. We were on the podium again this week. Sitting second in points right now in the National Series with one race left to go. We’re the top-finishing Can-Am. I’m pretty proud of that; the first full year of actually doing that and to be sitting in that position.”

Preparation key to success

“Just being in a race environment year-round I think fuels everything. At our shop here in Aurora, Minn., we have 23 acres inside an industrial park, which is our own testing facility. We have eight snow guns and two groomers. We usually start making snow pretty close to Halloween, and by Nov. 5 we have a track open the same size as the Spirit Mountain Duluth Snocross track.

“In addition to having my guys out there, we allow other teams and drivers to come up. We rent it out, kind of make it a good spot for everybody to come up and practice. For the first race we’ll have every top team, every junior driver from the United States, Canada and overseas here for two weeks for the first weeks of November.

More than just racing

“One of our other businesses we have is wildland firefighting with the U.S. Forest Service. We travel all over the United States, primarily the East coast. We’re actually on active burns. And it’s just a cool adrenaline rush to be in that environment. I have a background in heavy equipment, so it’s a perfect fit. And it’s fun.”

“It’s just backward of everybody else. Everybody else does racing for a hobby and equipment for an income. I’m backward. I do racing as my primary gig, and I love being around equipment.”

“I mean, it’s like a big sandbox around here. We’ve got excavators, dozers, lowboys, skid-steers, loaders, groomers. That, to me, is like reliving my childhood.”

Hates losing, loves winning

“I’m a very competitive person, and I’ve learned I hate losing more than I like winning. I won the hot dog eating championship last summer at the Water Carnival at Hoyt Lakes because I didn’t want to lose. So, everything I do I want to be the best at, and I know winning comes from hard work.

“There’s a bunch of great teams out there, but none of them will ever outwork us. I truly love it. As long as I’m having fun, I’m going to keep doing it.”