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Home Game

When the stars of the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car Series arrive for the Annual Bill
Gardner Sprintacular at Lincoln Park Speedway they face a unique challenge. Sprint cars are a
regular feature at the Putnamville, Indiana oval all summer long and recognized legends can be
found on the list of former track champions. Many of the USAC front runners in 2023 have
already taken laps at this familiar oval. However, waiting for drivers like Emerson Axsom, Jake
Swanson, Justin Grant, C J Leary, and Brady Bacon are a host of talented racers who know this
track inside and out. For this group, this is a home game.
Tye Mihocko moved to Indiana from Arizona to pursue his racing dreams. Today he
works at DRC chassis as a welder, and on weekends he can be found vying for victories at
several Indiana bullrings. In 2022 he teamed with owner Jamie Paul to capture the Lincoln Park
championship. Yes, he has plenty of experience at Putnamville, but he knows he faces a mighty
challenge this weekend. “For the most part I try to look at it as the same as any other night,” he
says, “But you have to turn it up with the USAC guys because they are just on kill every lap they
make.” Interestingly, he admits that he begins preparing for a date with USAC well in advance.
“I try to get in that mindset of just racing an extra ten percent harder all throughout the week” he
admits, “That isn’t to make a negative comment about racing at the local level. Not at all.”
With the MSCS format in play on Friday he is on familiar turf. “I have run the exact same
format all year except two races with USAC” he reports, “That format is good for me because,
unfortunately, I tend to not qualify well. Sometimes I land on the front row of a heat race and
that allows me to start in a decent spot in the feature.” Rest assured, Tye would like to master the
art of single car qualifying and works hard at it. Yet, when things don’t go as planned, he says
“You try your best to shake it off and go on to the heat race and try to fix it.”
Mihocko has enjoyed a strong year on the local scene marked by three wins at Lincoln
Park. Here is a chance to shine. “I never really think about exposure,” he says, “My focus has
been on doing the best I can on that specific night and let what happens, happen.” He would
love a chance to race regularly with USAC but says his main plan is to just keep his head down
and keep working. One reason he spends little time fussing about the future is his sense that he
has “a pretty good deal going right now.”
Does he have an edge over his USAC peers this weekend? If so, he reasons it is slight. “I
feel if there is an advantage it because I feel normal showing up there. It is where I have been for
the last year or so. It feels standard as opposed to going to run a USAC show at a place like
Lawrenceburg where it would be a new format, new guys, and a new racetrack. So, instead of
changing all three of those variables I am only changing two.”
Like Mihocko, Jadon Rogers has put three wins on his resume at Lincoln Park. In his
case the 2020 USAC Rookie of the Year clearly feels he has something to prove. “I feel every
race I have been in after I split from the Baldwin ride has been a big deal,” he admits, “because I
am trying to show people that I am good enough to race with USAC. So being back on that stage?
and back on camera I really want to have a couple of good nights and remind people that I am
here.”
Since climbing back in a car owned by Jeremy Ottinger it feels like Rogers has regained
his stride. He says he had not lost confidence in his own ability and feels his performance has
improved as his comfort level increased. His father, who is an airplane mechanic by trade helps
prepare the car, and Rogers adds, “We are making sure everything is right. We have new stuff,
and we take care of the car. I am confident in the piece we are taking to the racetrack.”
Jadon isn’t one bit shy about his overall goal. “I feel like I have a really good shot to
win,” then adds, “we nearly won a USAC race here last year and we have been running really
well.” However, he doesn’t think his experience at Lincoln Park gives him a leg up on the field.
“I feel like you can turn as many laps as you want as a local racer,” he says, “but the level of
experience and talent changes drastically whenever it comes to a USAC race.”
Brayden Fox, who spends the week working at CSI shocks, has a great racing pedigree.
His late grandfather Galen Fox is enshrined in the USAC and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
for his wizardry with a wrench. His father Brad was a Lincoln Park Speedway track champion
and notched two USAC National wins in his career. Brayden has entered the world of sprint car
racing methodically. Under the watchful eye of his father and Uncle Steve Fox, Brayden nailed
down the first two wins of his sprint car career at Bloomington Speedway this summer. Thus, he
enters the weekend on a bit of a roll.
As for the wins he can only say, “they felt like a long time coming.” Nonetheless, what
veteran observers have noticed is an increased aggressiveness in this young driver. He credits
this jump in intensity to team member Robert Brown. “He has been helping me a lot,” Brayden
says, “not just with car set up but also my driving.” Getting a bit more specific Fox adds, “We
are focusing on keeping the momentum up and trying to drive like the USAC guys. Like if we
are at Putnamville and it is slick those guys aren’t just going to go slow on the bottom. They will
run it hard through the middle and keep the momentum up.” This is the bar that Fox is trying to
reach.
With some experience under his belt Brayden has a better feeling for what to expect when
USAC comes to town. “It may have been at Lincoln Park last year,” he says, “but I felt good. I
won my heat race and started pretty far up. Then the feature started, and it felt like everyone was
going ten times faster and harder than a local race. It almost didn’t feel like the same track.”
This year he heads into the weekend very much in the groove. How he has managed to
turn up the wick is even difficult for him to put into words. “It hasn’t even been something I have
done on purpose,” he says with a laugh, “It is just that everything feels good right now.” Even
with the recent success and new approach he appropriately calibrates his expectations. “I don’t
think there is any added pressure,” he says, “but I do want to race well. At local races I know I
should be a top three car. That means if you run fifth or sixth you don’t feel great. But if it is a
USAC race if I can qualify, get through the heat race, and run competitively in the feature that is
the goal.”?
Fox is well-aware that he is still on the learning curve. Yet, he took an important first step
in the progression. “I have only been running non-wing sprint cars for a couple of years,” he
says, “So I just wanted to focus on winning races. I didn’t care that much if I ran with USAC. I
wanted to win first and get that out of the way and go from there. We all talked and maybe next
year we might go with USAC to race in Wisconsin. That would be a place that isn’t too far away
and there wouldn’t be a ton of cars. I would like to start there and work my way up.”
Mihocko, Rogers, and Fox all have enjoyed a good season in local circles. This weekend
they are on familiar turf determined to make a mark. They may not be on the top of everyone’s
Dirt Draft list, but on the other hand they just might surprise a lot of people.

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