22 • November 2024 • Powersports Business

BY MADELYN PEGG ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Ducati Detroit opened in Birmingham , Michigan , in 2013 and immediately took its position as a top performer in sales . “ For 10 years in a row , starting with our first full calendar year in business , we have won an award from Ducati for top sales volume in the Midwest ,” says Kevin Callaway , co-owner of the dealership . He shares that the dealership consistently ranks in the top 10 in the country in sales volume as well .

“ Working hard on the sales side of things and building a rapport with clients , that was always one of our targets when opening Ducati Detroit ,” he says . “ But then to maintain that sales volume and loyalty is something we ’ re pretty proud of .”

CALLAWAY ON THE TRACK Callaway was part of the original staff when the dealership opened over 10 years ago and acquired it with his partner , Jim Blasius , in September 2024 . When he joined the Ducati Detroit team , Callaway transitioned with 20 years of business management experience from a family-owned sporting goods company and a name in motorcycle racing .

His father , a fan and rider of European and Japanese performance motorcycles dating back to the early 1960s , was a street rider and built café racers . He taught Callaway the ins and outs of motorcycling and bought him his first bike when he was eight years old . Although Callaway ’ s mother did not let him race as a kid , he started racing motorcycles in his late 20s .

“ I spent a lot of my childhood in the ’ 80s as a racing fan , going to AMA professional roadraces at Daytona , Mid-Ohio and Road America ,” Callaway says . “ We also went to a lot of pro flat track races around the region . Kenny Roberts , Bubba Shobert , Eddie Lawson , Jay Springsteen – these were common names discussed in our household .

“ I eventually won about seven roadracing national championships ,” he continues . “ It ’ s something that I was also able to enjoy with my father as he traveled around the country with me while I was racing .”

Now , he has raced for almost 20 years and in addition to regional and national roadracing championships with WERA and AMA , he won the AMA Senior Roadracer of the Year award in 2020 . He still races occasionally with WERA and AHRMA and has coached at The Mid-Ohio School for eight years .

BLASIUS IN THE INDUSTRY I met [ Callaway ] at a soccer field ,” Blasius says . “ My eldest was a pretty competitive soccer player , as was [ Callaway ], who was coaching . That was my first introduction to [ Callaway ], and we got to know each other .”

“ We became reacquainted through motorcycles and [ Blasius ] became one of Ducati

Detroit ’ s top clients ,” Callaway says . “ When the opportunity came this past winter to possibly acquire Ducati Detroit , [ Blasius ] and I were a natural fit to partner in the venture .”

Like Callaway ’ s introduction to the sport , Blasius got his first motorcycle when he was eight years old , and his father was also a motorcyclist . “ I was a fan of all things racing , whether it was two wheels or four . If it had a gasoline powered engine and went fast , I was all in ,” he says .

He started his racing career in AMA Amateur Motocross then transitioned to semiprofessional and professional AMA flat track racing , eventually riding for Yamaha Motor Corporation .

“ That went on until I realized that I wasn ’ t going to make a lot of money in the motorcycle

Ducati Detroit is currently 6,500 square feet , and by the Spring of 2025 , its square footage will be more than doubled . Photos courtesy of Ducati Detroit .

racing field , and I got into the construction field and became a land developer ,” he says . He was 24 when he entered the construction industry , already having worked as a mechanic at multiple dealerships to support his racing career .

“ Later , I decided that I wanted a new adventure and moved into automotive financing ,” Blasius says . “ I ’ ve been in that career for 30 years now .” His company , Automotive Credit Corporation ( ACC ), was established 33 years ago and now has 230 employees and is used in 36 states .

As he built his career , Blasius collected motorcycles and continued to ride on the street . He returned to the track in the 2010s . “[ Blasius ’] youngest son has been a very successful motorcycle racer and has won some strong accolades ,” Callaway says . Josheph Bla-