Off-Road and On Trend: Q2 Motorsports and Apparel opens
M.K. French
Farmer Staff Writer
If you’ve been in the vicinity of the fairgrounds recently, you may have heard the sounds of engines revving to life. Those are also the sweet sounds of a new business in town: Q2 Motorsports and Apparel, located at 1101 Second Avenue Southeast. The family business recently opened its doors, marking the culmination of a lifelong dream for owners Melissa and Stephen “Doozer” Quintero. The shop is a unique hybrid, blending an off-road repair shop with a trendy retail storefront. It is a business born not just from a love of mechanical engineering, but from a desire to plant roots for the next generation.
For Stephen, affectionately known by the community as “Doozer,” the shop is the realization of a passion that started in the deserts of Southern Arizona. After moving to North Dakota for work, the veteran mechanic of 25 years found himself missing the robust off-road culture of the Southwest. “I’ve always been into racing and off-road backgrounds. It’s kind of been my thing…I’ve built race cars and off-road trucks,” Doozer shared. “I wanted to bring off-road things here and build race cars here...it’s my little special hole in the world that I just love to live in.”
While Doozer turns the wrenches, among other things, Melissa manages the “front of the house,” which features an impressive array of men’s, women’s, and youth apparel. The shop has secured top-tier brands like O’Neill, Fasthouse, Factory Effex, Klim, and Shreddy Lyfe, along with popular accessories like Pit Viper and Heat Wave Visual sunglasses.
The timing of the opening wasn’t coincidental. While the Quinteros have always been a racing family, traveling to Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming to compete, a new milestone provided the final push they needed. When asked about the inspiration for blending their passion with a unique business opportunity, “We found out we’re going to be grandparents this July,” Melissa said. “My husband had dreams of owning a shop one day and having our little grandson run around his garage. That was the push to do it. So now we’re going to be grandparents...and we thought, let’s do this…My husband has [been] racing since he was small,” Melissa said. “We felt like it was our time.”
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