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Mike Linder and TJSlideways
- By TJ Buffenbarger www.tjslidways.com
- Published 04/4/2007
- Press Releases
- Unrated
In what has become a yearly tradition we sat down with Fremont Speedway 410 sprint car champion Mike Linder to talk about new rules, track improvements, and if he ran a team who he would chose to drive the race car along with many other topics. Never lost for words, Mike is always one of our best Monday Night Grill guests.
TJ: First off, how was your first weekend out with your new car and engine?
Mike Linder: Horrible. The engine didn't run right Friday night at Attica. So we found out after changing everything we had with us that and eventually found out it was a magneto and distributor. We changed everything around it, but did not change the distributor. So we basically ran one competitive lap in the heat and one competitive lap the B-Main.
TJ: Didn’t you have the same problem at Attica a couple of years ago?
Mike Linder: Yes, almost the same thing. The engine ran great on the dyno and ran fine when we fired it up at the house and revved it up. The last time the engine wouldn't run at all, this time it would run fine for a lap or two.
TJ: What did you think of the improvements at Attica Raceway Park?
Mike Linder: Awesome! Rex [LeJeune] and John [Bores] and the staff did a great job! Granted, I didn't get to sit and watch the races in the stands. From the racers side the lighting is nicer and with the front stretch improvements it doesn't even look like Attica. It looks nice. They did a good job all around, had a full house, and to me the race track was great again. No complaints and I will complain to the right people, not on the internet, if I don't see something I don’t' like to the right people that can make changes.
TJ: Do you like the new rule about lapped cars going to the tail of the field during restarts?
Mike Linder: I hate that, I absolutely hate it. Its something I will openly say on here. I don't agree with. I don't like rules that affect the outcome of the race, during the race. If the leader has to bust his butt to get by a lapped car why shouldn't the second place guy have to do the same thing? If a leader laps a car, the lapped car generally will not race the second place car as hard. The second place driver already had the advantage more times than not in lapped traffic. Now they are making it even easier for the second place car. I know why they are doing it, closing up the field, I just don’t' like it.
I'd rather see a 12 car point handicap where the fastest cars never start up front. With the redraw there is always that one good car on the front row. Instead let’s put the 12th place point guy on the pole, running his butt off while the top point guys are coming through the field together. It doesn't alter the race after going green, and it makes for a better ran 90 percent of the time. There will be yawners, that are part of the sport, but if you put your good cars in the back it makes for a better race. Just look 305 Sprints and the trucks at Fremont, they always have good races. I don't think that's coincidence. If you go to an Outlaw show and put Steve Kinser on the pole, how exciting is that? Put him 12th and see how exciting that is! I know they won't do it, but why don’t' we?
TJ: Have you brought this up before to the promoters?
Mike Linder: I have, and it has been accepted as far as conversation and wasn't shot down. I would like to see one or both the track do it. I know I'm shooting myself in the foot because we could be starting in the back at Fremont every week, but I don't mind as long as [Mark] Keegan, [Byron] Reed, and other top drivers are back there with me I have the confidence if they start back there with me. I want a better race so we can get more people in the stands and make more money in the long run. Fred Rahmer wins from 12th all the time and so can our drivers.
TJ: What do you think of the new tire rule?
Mike Linder: The tire rule, I do have some issues with the rules about leaving one tire on all the time. I'm sure it works out in the end. The Attica/Fremont rule is just have to put on a spec tires, but with the All Stars the tire you qualify on you have to run in other events.
TJ: What about having one manufacture supplying the tires?
Mike Linder: As far as the American spirit goes, yes I do, but on the other hand it eliminates one of our weakest decisions, choosing a tire for the feature. Now we can focus on other aspects of the car instead of what tire to put on. Plus if there was more than one manufacture I’m not sure how you would police it because one tire is always going to be better than the other, and as a race team you are going to bolt on the tire that is the fastest.
TJ: What is the key to running well at an All Star show at Attica for your team?
Mike Linder: I would say at Attica our biggest issue, I hate saying this, but we were out motored last year and previous years and we are not quite as smart on tires as [the All Star Teams] are. They were on a non spec tire all the time and we’re not quite that smart. Some of the guys we ran weekly with were, but it seemed like at the end of the night we always would wish we had chose a different tire. Now those factors are out of the equation. If we are going to run well, this will be the year. I'm not sure about this weekend, but theoretically the issues we had with the All Stars should be gone.
TJ: Do you think part of running better in All Star events at Fremont versus Attica is getting to qualify at Fremont every week?
Mike Linder: I'm sure that does help. That is a good point and I think it has something to do with it. We are used to the pressure of qualifying and the track conditions from it. At Attica the track is normally slick during time trails and hard to get a good time where at Fremont we're used to going through that. We do qualify pretty well with the All Stars at Fremont and don't at Attica. That's probably a lot of it. I never gave it that much thought.
TJ: How many years have you driven for Andy James?
Mike Linder: I started in 2002, so this is my sixth season.
TJ: Andy seems to be one of the most laid back owners in the business and trusts you and your crew to run the entire program?
Mike Linder: Yes he does. We are extremely fortunate. The other aspect now Andy is a track promoter. That’s how we found out what was wrong with our engine; we went to Waynesfield and tested it. We did some more changes to the fuel system and it ran the same way it did at Attica. At that point we got another magneto to try in the car and figured it out. So now we don’t just have a car owner, but now, jokingly, he has a test facility for us.
TJ: The past few seasons your team has come on late in the season, did you approach the start of the season differently to run better at the start of the season?
Mike Linder: Well, out of the box we thought we would be pretty bad. We have 75 more horse power in the engine, more than we have ever had, a new car, and I’m not historically good at driving the car the beginning of the year. So we anticipated a slow start. It sounds stupid and people probably wonder ‘why would you hinder yourself into a slow start?’ It just seems like we started bad every other year, and now we have this lighter, more powerful car and getting the car adjusted and me getting used to it. There was nothing we could do to help that unless we did some races early in the season, but finances and jobs dictate we do not. Its something we have to deal with and suffer through the first couple of nights. Hopefully later on we can get rolling. Only way to get better is to race more. Friday night Lee Jacobs looked like he had been racing all year, its something some guys can do. We just haven’t been able to do that.
TJ: What did you think of Waynesfield?
Mike Linder: It's a nice place. There is still some work that needs to be done to the, but the facility itself they is great. Just some normal spring cleaning up left to make it more presentable. The lights, fence, guard rail, are all less than five years old. I really liked it.
TJ: Did Waynesfield remind you of any other race tracks?
Mike Linder: Going down the front stretch into one and two it’s just like Gas City, down the backstretch into three and four it is just like [Wayne County], but the entire track is just a touch smaller than Limaland. It’s a pretty neat race track. One and two is banked more than Gas City, more than Attica and three and four is banked about like Attica. I can see where it is going to be a really neat place to race winged or non-winged sprint cars. If there is even a slight bit of moisture in the surface for the Speedweek show could be incredible.
TJ: Are you going to do non-wing races at Waynesfield?
Mike Linder: I can't say that we won't, but it’s not in the plans. Andy has no intentions of us coming down there. If we get some rainouts thought we might head that way.
TJ: With several different tracks picking up 410 races in Ohio will we see you at tracks other than Attica and Fremont?
Mike Linder: We'll follow a lot of Speedweek; Lima and Waynesfield, we’re not sure about [Wayne County Speedway] yet. We are not going to do Eldora and probably will not race Sharon. We would like to do some more of Speedweek this year. If Attica gets a lot of rain we might start looking around for other show. The biggest reason we do not travel is we have two great paying shows in our back yard. I know the 14th of April Attica is off and Rich Farmer has a 305 he wants me to drive. Other than that we will do some travel to Lernerville, Mercer, and places about that far away.
TJ: What track have you not raced at yet you would like to try before your career ends?
Mike Linder: Obviously I'd love to run the Nationals. I have no desire to do Eldora again, and I am not sure why. I’d love to do Knoxville sometime, maybe Florida. The thing we need to do is get into a situation that we had enough funding to go to Florida someday, but those two places are the first two I could think of. I've been to all of them, never raced any of them. If we were not worried about money we could probably have a good time. Not anticipating any success, but just try to be somewhat competitive.
TJ: If you could change one rule to reduce cost for the race teams, what would it be?
Mike: Little wings on the car. Either a narrower spec tire or smaller wing on the car is the realistic next step to save money. The biggest expenses for us are the tire and engine bill. If the wing is smaller it produces less down force and causes less wear. The problem is the fans in the stands will say they are ugly two races into the season, but if all the cars had the smaller wings nobody would notice anymore. A harder or potentially narrower spec tires would help in some applications.
TJ: If you stepped out of the cockpit to be the manager of Andy James Motorsports, who would you hire to drive the car?
Mike Linder: If I was going to run a local deal and travel some without question Rob Chaney. No doubt in my mind he would be my driver. He gives you more bang for the buck. You won't get anyone better than him to race locally around here. He makes something out of nothing. Chaney might wreck some cars once in a while, but he'll get to victory lane too. I know some people would disagree with me, but I'd say him or Greg Wilson, but I'd pick Chaney first.
TJ: Are you going to race any pavement shows this season?
Mike Linder: It hasn't been discussed, but the last time it was the week before the race Farmer and I decided to run pavement last time. It could come out of thin air. We come to the end of the year we could go to Sandusky or do something like that. We had a lot of fun. It cost a lot of money, but we had fun. I do not want to do it on a regular basis though, its fun for a change.
TJ: How much longer can you see yourself racing 410 sprint cars?
Mike Linder: As long as I can physically do it. The 410 class, I have no loyalty to that division. If I cannot get a 410 ride I won't quit racing. When I can’t get a ride in a truck or anything I will quit racing. A lot of people are stuck on the 410 think and won't drive anything but a 410 sprinter. The most fun I ever had in a race car I had was in a truck, second most in a 305 at Sandusky. I like running 410 cars and it was a childhood dream and run the premier class at Fremont Speedway, that’s what everyone wants to do. As long as I can do it, I will. When it does go away I hope I can get something else. Pride is not and issue, people ask why I race 305's on off days; I do it because it is fun.
TJ: First off, how was your first weekend out with your new car and engine?
Mike Linder: Horrible. The engine didn't run right Friday night at Attica. So we found out after changing everything we had with us that and eventually found out it was a magneto and distributor. We changed everything around it, but did not change the distributor. So we basically ran one competitive lap in the heat and one competitive lap the B-Main.
TJ: Didn’t you have the same problem at Attica a couple of years ago?
Mike Linder: Yes, almost the same thing. The engine ran great on the dyno and ran fine when we fired it up at the house and revved it up. The last time the engine wouldn't run at all, this time it would run fine for a lap or two.
TJ: What did you think of the improvements at Attica Raceway Park?
Mike Linder: Awesome! Rex [LeJeune] and John [Bores] and the staff did a great job! Granted, I didn't get to sit and watch the races in the stands. From the racers side the lighting is nicer and with the front stretch improvements it doesn't even look like Attica. It looks nice. They did a good job all around, had a full house, and to me the race track was great again. No complaints and I will complain to the right people, not on the internet, if I don't see something I don’t' like to the right people that can make changes.
TJ: Do you like the new rule about lapped cars going to the tail of the field during restarts?
Mike Linder: I hate that, I absolutely hate it. Its something I will openly say on here. I don't agree with. I don't like rules that affect the outcome of the race, during the race. If the leader has to bust his butt to get by a lapped car why shouldn't the second place guy have to do the same thing? If a leader laps a car, the lapped car generally will not race the second place car as hard. The second place driver already had the advantage more times than not in lapped traffic. Now they are making it even easier for the second place car. I know why they are doing it, closing up the field, I just don’t' like it.
I'd rather see a 12 car point handicap where the fastest cars never start up front. With the redraw there is always that one good car on the front row. Instead let’s put the 12th place point guy on the pole, running his butt off while the top point guys are coming through the field together. It doesn't alter the race after going green, and it makes for a better ran 90 percent of the time. There will be yawners, that are part of the sport, but if you put your good cars in the back it makes for a better race. Just look 305 Sprints and the trucks at Fremont, they always have good races. I don't think that's coincidence. If you go to an Outlaw show and put Steve Kinser on the pole, how exciting is that? Put him 12th and see how exciting that is! I know they won't do it, but why don’t' we?
TJ: Have you brought this up before to the promoters?
Mike Linder: I have, and it has been accepted as far as conversation and wasn't shot down. I would like to see one or both the track do it. I know I'm shooting myself in the foot because we could be starting in the back at Fremont every week, but I don't mind as long as [Mark] Keegan, [Byron] Reed, and other top drivers are back there with me I have the confidence if they start back there with me. I want a better race so we can get more people in the stands and make more money in the long run. Fred Rahmer wins from 12th all the time and so can our drivers.
TJ: What do you think of the new tire rule?
Mike Linder: The tire rule, I do have some issues with the rules about leaving one tire on all the time. I'm sure it works out in the end. The Attica/Fremont rule is just have to put on a spec tires, but with the All Stars the tire you qualify on you have to run in other events.
TJ: What about having one manufacture supplying the tires?
Mike Linder: As far as the American spirit goes, yes I do, but on the other hand it eliminates one of our weakest decisions, choosing a tire for the feature. Now we can focus on other aspects of the car instead of what tire to put on. Plus if there was more than one manufacture I’m not sure how you would police it because one tire is always going to be better than the other, and as a race team you are going to bolt on the tire that is the fastest.
TJ: What is the key to running well at an All Star show at Attica for your team?
Mike Linder: I would say at Attica our biggest issue, I hate saying this, but we were out motored last year and previous years and we are not quite as smart on tires as [the All Star Teams] are. They were on a non spec tire all the time and we’re not quite that smart. Some of the guys we ran weekly with were, but it seemed like at the end of the night we always would wish we had chose a different tire. Now those factors are out of the equation. If we are going to run well, this will be the year. I'm not sure about this weekend, but theoretically the issues we had with the All Stars should be gone.
TJ: Do you think part of running better in All Star events at Fremont versus Attica is getting to qualify at Fremont every week?
Mike Linder: I'm sure that does help. That is a good point and I think it has something to do with it. We are used to the pressure of qualifying and the track conditions from it. At Attica the track is normally slick during time trails and hard to get a good time where at Fremont we're used to going through that. We do qualify pretty well with the All Stars at Fremont and don't at Attica. That's probably a lot of it. I never gave it that much thought.
TJ: How many years have you driven for Andy James?
Mike Linder: I started in 2002, so this is my sixth season.
TJ: Andy seems to be one of the most laid back owners in the business and trusts you and your crew to run the entire program?
Mike Linder: Yes he does. We are extremely fortunate. The other aspect now Andy is a track promoter. That’s how we found out what was wrong with our engine; we went to Waynesfield and tested it. We did some more changes to the fuel system and it ran the same way it did at Attica. At that point we got another magneto to try in the car and figured it out. So now we don’t just have a car owner, but now, jokingly, he has a test facility for us.
TJ: The past few seasons your team has come on late in the season, did you approach the start of the season differently to run better at the start of the season?
Mike Linder: Well, out of the box we thought we would be pretty bad. We have 75 more horse power in the engine, more than we have ever had, a new car, and I’m not historically good at driving the car the beginning of the year. So we anticipated a slow start. It sounds stupid and people probably wonder ‘why would you hinder yourself into a slow start?’ It just seems like we started bad every other year, and now we have this lighter, more powerful car and getting the car adjusted and me getting used to it. There was nothing we could do to help that unless we did some races early in the season, but finances and jobs dictate we do not. Its something we have to deal with and suffer through the first couple of nights. Hopefully later on we can get rolling. Only way to get better is to race more. Friday night Lee Jacobs looked like he had been racing all year, its something some guys can do. We just haven’t been able to do that.
TJ: What did you think of Waynesfield?
Mike Linder: It's a nice place. There is still some work that needs to be done to the, but the facility itself they is great. Just some normal spring cleaning up left to make it more presentable. The lights, fence, guard rail, are all less than five years old. I really liked it.
TJ: Did Waynesfield remind you of any other race tracks?
Mike Linder: Going down the front stretch into one and two it’s just like Gas City, down the backstretch into three and four it is just like [Wayne County], but the entire track is just a touch smaller than Limaland. It’s a pretty neat race track. One and two is banked more than Gas City, more than Attica and three and four is banked about like Attica. I can see where it is going to be a really neat place to race winged or non-winged sprint cars. If there is even a slight bit of moisture in the surface for the Speedweek show could be incredible.
TJ: Are you going to do non-wing races at Waynesfield?
Mike Linder: I can't say that we won't, but it’s not in the plans. Andy has no intentions of us coming down there. If we get some rainouts thought we might head that way.
TJ: With several different tracks picking up 410 races in Ohio will we see you at tracks other than Attica and Fremont?
Mike Linder: We'll follow a lot of Speedweek; Lima and Waynesfield, we’re not sure about [Wayne County Speedway] yet. We are not going to do Eldora and probably will not race Sharon. We would like to do some more of Speedweek this year. If Attica gets a lot of rain we might start looking around for other show. The biggest reason we do not travel is we have two great paying shows in our back yard. I know the 14th of April Attica is off and Rich Farmer has a 305 he wants me to drive. Other than that we will do some travel to Lernerville, Mercer, and places about that far away.
TJ: What track have you not raced at yet you would like to try before your career ends?
Mike Linder: Obviously I'd love to run the Nationals. I have no desire to do Eldora again, and I am not sure why. I’d love to do Knoxville sometime, maybe Florida. The thing we need to do is get into a situation that we had enough funding to go to Florida someday, but those two places are the first two I could think of. I've been to all of them, never raced any of them. If we were not worried about money we could probably have a good time. Not anticipating any success, but just try to be somewhat competitive.
TJ: If you could change one rule to reduce cost for the race teams, what would it be?
Mike: Little wings on the car. Either a narrower spec tire or smaller wing on the car is the realistic next step to save money. The biggest expenses for us are the tire and engine bill. If the wing is smaller it produces less down force and causes less wear. The problem is the fans in the stands will say they are ugly two races into the season, but if all the cars had the smaller wings nobody would notice anymore. A harder or potentially narrower spec tires would help in some applications.
TJ: If you stepped out of the cockpit to be the manager of Andy James Motorsports, who would you hire to drive the car?
Mike Linder: If I was going to run a local deal and travel some without question Rob Chaney. No doubt in my mind he would be my driver. He gives you more bang for the buck. You won't get anyone better than him to race locally around here. He makes something out of nothing. Chaney might wreck some cars once in a while, but he'll get to victory lane too. I know some people would disagree with me, but I'd say him or Greg Wilson, but I'd pick Chaney first.
TJ: Are you going to race any pavement shows this season?
Mike Linder: It hasn't been discussed, but the last time it was the week before the race Farmer and I decided to run pavement last time. It could come out of thin air. We come to the end of the year we could go to Sandusky or do something like that. We had a lot of fun. It cost a lot of money, but we had fun. I do not want to do it on a regular basis though, its fun for a change.
TJ: How much longer can you see yourself racing 410 sprint cars?
Mike Linder: As long as I can physically do it. The 410 class, I have no loyalty to that division. If I cannot get a 410 ride I won't quit racing. When I can’t get a ride in a truck or anything I will quit racing. A lot of people are stuck on the 410 think and won't drive anything but a 410 sprinter. The most fun I ever had in a race car I had was in a truck, second most in a 305 at Sandusky. I like running 410 cars and it was a childhood dream and run the premier class at Fremont Speedway, that’s what everyone wants to do. As long as I can do it, I will. When it does go away I hope I can get something else. Pride is not and issue, people ask why I race 305's on off days; I do it because it is fun.