Daytona Avanti
Looking Back
An Interview with Bo & Mike Laws
By John Hull

Through a curious set of circumstances (see Avanti GTO - Or How This Story Finally Got Published - this issue) I found myself at BLP Products Inc. in Orlando, Florida on Christmas Eve 1998. My mission was to meet with Bo and Mike Laws and get their views and reflections on this historic Avanti, the collaboration that made it possible and the race itself. When I arrived at BLP's facility in Orlando I was greeted by Mike Laws. Mike had informed me due to my having to switch dates for our meeting that Bo had a scheduling conflict and could not make it that day. We agreed to meet anyway and lay the groundwork for the accompanying interview. We spent the next hour or so reflecting on the car, the race, and reviewing some printed materials, photos, and accounts of this historic race that I had brought along to help jog everyone's memories.

We decided to conduct the "formal" interview in written question and answer form. This would allow for Bo's participation and also allow them to have the benefit of written questions in front of them. Mike was a gracious host and gave me a tour of their facility, the production/machine shop area, as well as, examples of their high quality product offerings.

I indicated to Mike that a little history of BLP Products Inc., it's involvement in racing, and of course the Avanti! connection might be beneficial for our readers. The following is the evolution of BLP Products Inc. as taken from their current product catalog:

"in 1964 Bo Laws, President of BLP Products, Inc. started Bo Laws Automotive focusing on high performance service and engine building. Through the years the company successfully advanced by offering retail and wholesale performance parts, machine shop/dyno services, carburetor modification and manufacturing high performance parts.

During the 1960's and 70's with not many ready made racing parts available Bo either made most of the racing parts or modified existing ones. Bo was fortunate to have grown up in an era which provided him with an open and creative mind. Many years were spent building racing engines, along with investing countless hours in research and development on the engine dyno.

In 1990 Bo Laws sold the retail and machine shop/dyno division along with the name Bo Laws Automotive Inc.. With his knowledge and successful background, Bo retained the manufacturing and carburetor modifications divisions and began a new company- BLP Products Inc. (Bo Laws Performance Products.)

BLP manufactures state-of-the-art performance engine parts including gaskets, carburetors, fuel pumps, and fuel system components.
Recently Bo Laws and his son Mike Laws, owner of MLR Research merged their companies together and retained the name BLP

1. The first written reference I've seen to the car and race is the January 27, 1983 South
   Bend Tribune article titled "Avanti Racer entered in Daytona by Ray M. Lellaert Jr. Obviously, with the race only a week or so away the project started before this. 
   Ray talked to Bo about this project just a week or two before Christmas of 1982. As I recall it was a pretty casual conversation and decision.
   

2. How did your company become involved in this project? 
   Ray called Bo and ran the idea by him. 
   

3. What was the basic business or businesses of your company back in 1982/1983 ? i.e. Background - racing engine building testing research & development ? 
   The basis business was a full-service race engine building facility.
   

4. Were your major efforts in racing performance speed or endurance or both? 
   The major efforts were a combination of speed and endurance because our customer base included drag racers and short-track oval racers. 
   

5. Had you participated in this type of project and endurance race before? 
   The only experience Bo had in the 24 hour race arena was with a few local racers in the early 70's.
   

6. Was the relatively short notice a problem ? 
   I don't recall the short notice being a problem because the qualifying engine was borrowed
   and the race engine was basically already built.
   

7. How many and what type of engines did you provide?
   (1) Qualifying engine, and (1) Race engine. The qualifying engine was borrowed from a late-model dirt track customer from Louisiana, while the race engine was built for the Avanti. The qualifying engine had 13.5-1 compression, 850 carburetor, and a fairly radical cam. The race engine had 11:1 compression, used a 600 cfm carb, and a milder cam (TR-260 Crane I believe.)
   

8. Were they existing engines, borrowed or built specifically for the race?
   See answer to Question (7) above.
   

9. How long would it take to build an engine similar to the one that powered the Avanti at Daytona Start to Finish including testing & Dyno time etc. ?
   If all of the parts are on hand but not modified approximately 6 weeks.
   

10. What are the major differences in a qualifying engine versus the actual race engine?
    Usually, the qualifying engine is built with lighter weight rotating components, less aggressive camshaft profiles, and run at less RPM.
    

11.  Are they fundamentally the same? Can they be built in basically the same time frame? 
    Yes to both questions
    

12. Dick Datson in his coverage of the car and the race indicated the entire project took approximately six weeks from the start to a completed car. 
    Yes, that sounds about right.
    

13. He also indicates Ray Dillion was the driving force in getting your company involved in the project. Can you confirm this account?
    Yes, see Question (2) above
    

14. What was your relationship with Ray Dillion?
    Ray built the short-track cars that Mike raced, and also enjoyed "bass fishing" trips with Bo when in Florida.
    

15. Knowing the state of affairs at Avanti (cash crunch) I would assume this project was a relatively low cash budget high investment by participants i.e.: yourselves and Dillon. Is this a fair statement ? 
    Yes, that's a true statement.
    

16. Steve Blake noted you donated your labor and I'm sure a few goodies to the project. Is this also a fair statement? 
    Yes, that's also true.
    

17. What was the attraction for you in becoming involved in this project? It would've appeared not to be financially rewarding, tremendous time constraints, etc. I believe Steve Blake was quoted as saying the more people told him it couldn't be done the more he wanted to do it. Was that part of the challenge for you and Dillion and Herb Adams to prove people wrong? 
    Yes, that was part of our motivation. The "uniqueness" of the entire project was appealing.
    

18. With hindsight when you heard from whatever source of the project did you think the parties involved were more than just a little bit crazy? 
    No, we are used to deals like that.
    

19. Were the engines installed in Florida or were they shipped to South Bend Indiana? Or Dillion in North Liberty ? 
    The qualifying engine was installed in the car in North Liberty at Dillon's shop.
    

20. Can you end the 305 versus 350 debate on engine size? Blake claims it was a 305, other references seem to indicate a 350 ? 
    The engine was definitely 355 cubic inches. 
    
    DAYTONA 
    

21. Was the car shipped to your shop in Orlando first or did it go directly to Daytona?
    I don't recall the car ever coming to Orlando.
    

22. What was your involvement in the qualifying runs ?
    We and tuned the qualifying motor.
    

23. Were the accounts I left you of the "protest" accurate?
    The protest after looking back was a little comical. After the qualifying runs, and the immediate protest, Steve Blake was notably shaken. We immediately removed the ' qualifying engine from the car, put it in the back of our pick-up truck and returned it to Orlando. I remember that the engine was still warm when it got to our shop that night ! Blake may have been nervous because of the cubic inch claim to IMSA, I'm not sure. The ironic thing was that after tuning on the engine and some aerodynamic work by Dillon and his crew, the race engine ran just as fast as the qualifier.
    

24. Procedurally, after the "protest" was the qualifying motor pulled and the race engine installed? Did you do the work of changing the engines? 
    No.
    

25. Were you surprised by the lap record and speeds of 207 plus on portions of the track?
    Yes.
    

26. Was the race motor significantly different than the qualifying motor?
    No, just less compression
    

27. Was 630+ horsepower a good working number for the qualifying motor?
    I think the qualifying motor was a bit higher maybe around 665 HP
    

28. Do you remember anything about the practice and qualifying runs?
    No, nothing out of the ordinary.
    

29. Were the cars aerodynamics especially up front a problem?
    Yes, initially until Ray made a lower spoiler, and installed a couple of panels underneath the nosepiece.
    

30. Upon reviewing the copy of your Spec sheet I left you does anything jump out at you as being advanced for the time you built the engine? 
    No.
    

31. What are your memories of the race itself?
    Both of us were impressed with the speed. Bo does not like the 24 hour races, Mike does.
    

32. Were there any deficiencies in the car that showed themselves during the race i.e.: brakes? 
    The car needed larger brakes and tires. It also needed a transmission cooler.
    

33. What happened to the engines qualifying motor and race motor after the race?
    The qualifying motor was sent to Louisiana. I'm not sure about the race motor.
    

34. What happened to the car after the race? Back to South Bend ?? I have pictures of the car at the South Bend plant in 1984. Don't know. That's why we are trying to locate it.
    

35. The Avanti had an all star team with yourselves, Dillon, Adams, Ruttman etc. Was this the first time you all collectively worked together?
     Yes.
    

36. Do you have any special memories of your collaboration?
    No.
    

37. What did you all do after the race? Did you all collectively feel a great sense of accomplishment for your efforts or did you all basically know things would work out as planned? 
    Yes, things went as planned.
    

38. If you had to sum up your involvement in this dramatic chapter of Avanti history what would you say? 
    We did not realize the accomplishment at the time.