Lincoln Lemieux

Eric Girouard  0:00  

This is Bucket Talk, a weekly podcast for people who work in the trades and construction that aren't just trying to survive, but have the ambition and desire to thrive. The opportunity in the trades and construction is absolutely ridiculous right now. So if you're hungry, it's time to eat. We discuss what it takes to rise from the bottom to the top with people who are well on their way and roll up their sleeves every single day.

Jeremy Perkins  0:28  

All right, we're here on this episode of Bucket talk with Lincoln Lemieux, Lincoln, you are a retired snow cross rider and part owner of one three motorsports one of our proud partners in in the game, but Lincoln, welcome,

Lincoln Lemieux  0:45  

yeah, thank you guys for having me. This is awesome. It's been a while since I've done a podcast with anyone, so I'm glad to be on,

Jeremy Perkins  0:53  

awesome, awesome. Well, we're glad to have you on. You know I love I think I, I personally just got into the sport through BRUNT within the past couple of years. First one being Shakopee last year. You know, I've been around snowmobiling. Wasn't really a snowmobiler myself. It's kind of an expensive sport,

Lincoln Lemieux  1:14  

a little bit.

Jeremy Perkins  1:16  

But, you know, definitely had the affinity and love for the sport. But then I saw a whole another side of the sport when I went up to Shakopee and just the fans, the like, Everything about it was just amazing. It was a tight knit community. Everybody is rocking, rocking their riders and and then even, you know, as you talk to people, they have their fan favorites and so definitely cool. But I wanted to, you know, get a day in the life and then kind of go as far back as you want to on, on how you got started in the sport, all the way up to your pro days and even to ownership.

Lincoln Lemieux  1:56  

Yeah, yeah, it's a loaded question, for sure. So I started racing when I was six years old. You know, we had a lot more snow back then. Snowmobiles are cheaper, gas cheaper, everything was a little cheaper, you know, yeah, but it's still expensive to go racing with a family. But I started at six years old. We went to a race in Ian pond Vermont, which isn't too far from where I live, in st Johnsbury. And it was kind of a family sport. My cousins were racing at the time, a big regional circuit. So we went as a family, my mom, my dad, my sister and I, and after that race, when I was seven years old, we did the regional circuit full time. So from seven until I was well, we're still racing, but so from seven until now, 30 years old, we've been racing full time. So yeah, but yeah, like I said, it started off as a family sport. We raced all winter long. When I was like 1112, years old, it started to get more serious, you know, you kind of get a little bigger, taller, you fit into your body, you know. So I was able to start jumping the snowmobile and enjoy a little more and really compete for championships, like junior championships at that age. And then, you know, as I got older, 14, I got to ride a bigger sled. Back then, there was kind of division divisions in classes. So, you know, I started off young, on 120s so just like what your kids would ride around the yard, and then we'd go to fan cooled sleds, which they don't make anymore or race. And then you go onto the liquid sleds, which is what everyone races now. So when I was 14, I finally got on a liquid sled, which meant more power, faster, could do bigger jumps. And then that's kind of when I when I realized I was pretty good. I was fast. I could do it all the pros. Did you know? So, yeah, so you know, I was always winning, winning a lot when I was younger, competing at the top level against the fastest guys. And it was just a lot of fun. I got to do it with my family all winter, and got to spend a lot of time and and, yeah, there's nothing better to do when it's cold out and there's a lot of snow. Yeah, yeah. It was just a it was really just a family sport. And it continues to be a family sport now that we own one three motorsports together, and my dad and I, my mom and Jake, so just a big family community.

Jeremy Perkins  4:49  

That's crazy. That's crazy. Um, interesting. So like, when it comes to, like, prepping for the sport I know, you know in the south, you know guys. Football all year round. So it's hard to compete with, you know, the northern guys going down and playing the South. It's like, Well, these guys have been training all year round, and they're, they're one sport athletes versus multi sport. You know, a lot of the top performers and contenders come from other countries, ie, Canada, Sweden, those areas and and how do you compete? I mean, I know we're at, like, the lower threshold for having snow for four or five months out of the year, right? But how do you compete with those guys, knowing that they can train longer they have longer seasons. Is that? Is that even a disadvantage for you? Or do you travel to go do that? Like, how did you work up to that?

Lincoln Lemieux  5:48  

Yeah. I mean, yeah, when I was racing, we would always try to travel to wherever had snow the earliest. I remember back when I was on sharing speed sports. Tim Trembley and I traveled to Colorado to ride on snow first. So we were on snow like beginning November, like November 1. And that was one of the, one of the worst years, because we did nowhere, nowhere had snow. So it was getting close to the season. Back then, we used to start racing on Thanksgiving weekend. So November 1 meant we only had three weeks to ride a ride and train and get ready. So So yeah, that's, that's kind of what we did back then. There wasn't as many fast guys from Norway, Sweden, those type of areas. And at least if they had snow in Canada, we could travel up there and ride as well. So, so we were all set. We would just travel to where I had snow first, and just, even if it was just trail riding or boondock and whatever, we would just go out and, you know, work in our hands, try not to get blisters at the first race of the year. You know what I mean? So that's a big thing, though. I think, you know, the guys who do the best, they're they're usually on snow earlier. So you can kind of see that in the results, where Elias is winning the lot emo hard. Those guys start riding in October, because they get snow in Norway and Sweden, super early. So, yeah, but, yeah, so, but uh, for also when I was when I was racing, and what I kind of knew preach to my athletes now is you have to have a really good summer program, fall program. So I would go to the gym five days a week with a personal trainer that was doing snow cross related movements, you know, and we do a lot of high intensity training to prep for the season and just to get your body as close in, as close to snow shape as you possibly could. So it doesn't matter. I mean, it definitely helps when you train that much. But still, after that first day of riding, you wake up the next day and you can barely stand up out of the chair, you know. So no matter how much you do, you still have to get on the snowmobile. But, you know, having a top, top of the line program definitely helps for when you hop on the sled.

Jeremy Perkins  8:20  

That's it. That's, that's a interesting point. And, you know, I don't actually speak for this group of people, but I'm sure you've seen it over, over your life, you know, especially we've seen it with the NASCAR circuit. And what have you is, you know, a lot of, a lot of critics would say, you know, well, snowmobiling is not a sport, or NASCAR is not a sport. And, you know, example, like you just gave, that's, that's insane, that like the amount of physical training that goes into it, it's not like you're just hopping on a machine and going as fast as you can. There's, there's a level of physicality and fitness that that you need to maintain to be able to do that. And I think I want to say Sports Illustrated did something a long time ago, maybe when I was growing up on like testing the physical fitness of lack of a better term. I think it was like Jeff Gordon at the time, right, who was a winning NASCAR driver, and then you know his counterparts in specific, whether it's baseball or the NFL or whatever, and his level of physical fitness was up there, if not better, cardiovascular wise, all that stuff. And it was, it was interesting. Obviously, there's a there's a different level of strong and what have you. But like, I watch, if you ever watched maylene's Instagram, like girls always in the gym, you know what I mean? It's like, it's gym rat all day long. It's wild, right,

Lincoln Lemieux  9:43  

right? And, yeah, that's what you have to do now, definitely, to compete at the top level. You know, I think you know, back in the 2000s late 990s you could get away with not training because. No one did. But now it seems like everyone trains, everyone has a really good program. Everyone eats, well, yeah, and to compete at that level, that's what you have to do now, so, but it's you know, all those, all the motor sports, you know, supercross, you know, snow cross, NASCAR, all these guys, their heart rates are at, you know, 181 90, for however long the races, you know what I mean. So you really have to train for that. And you know, that's what I always love to I love to do that because you can compete in the gym, you know, work out with your buddies, have a good time, but at the same time, you're training to do something that you love and something that comes easy. You know, it's easy to ride a snowmobile and make money, so it's, it's a lot of fun to do that, to work hard in the gym. So when

Jeremy Perkins  10:56  

did you when did you know it was going to be a part time or, sorry, going from like a part time sport to like a full time I'm a professional racer. Did you hold down a job in at that interim? Or did you make the jump and you're like, I am 365, 24/7, a snow cross racer, and then now you gotta go out and find sponsorships. And what have you was that a quick transition. Was that always the plan?

Lincoln Lemieux  11:25  

Yeah, no. So in high school, I didn't really realize, you know, the opportunity I had. I didn't really train. I'd come home after school and I'd ride a lot at our house, so we had a little practice track there. But I didn't really realize how much you could make, especially when I was in high school, you know, back then we're doing the regional circuit, and I think I can make, you know, 25 or to 3500 bucks for a win, yeah. And you'd have, you know, almost 20 races a year. So never really put that into perspective that I could be making quite a minute money when I was in high school, just to ride a snowmobile. So I didn't train super hard, and then I went to college for electrical engineering. So when I was 19 and 20, you know, I was in school again. Wasn't training super hard, because I was trying to do good in in my engineering classes and and I would, you know, do my schoolwork Monday through Thursday, then hop in the car, go to the race, Friday, race on the weekends, and then, and then back and do it all over again. So when I was 20 years old, I got, I got a feeling ride for sharing speed sports at the national level, they just kind of the owner came up one weekend and was like, you know, my rider got hurt. Would you like to fill in on a on a factory ski do team? And I was like, I gotta talk to my dad, because he's got so much money into buying all these snowmobiles for me to race regionally that I can't just say, say, Yeah, but so I talked to them, we're like, Yeah, we should definitely take this opportunity. So, so yeah. Then I started racing at the national, national level, and I think I got paid like 2000 bucks a weekend, which I was like, well, people get salaries to race snowmobiles. So after that point, I kind of was like, wow, I can really make a pretty good living racing snowmobiles. So after that, after that season, again, I was in college. I got my two year degree in electrical engineering. And then I said, I want to be, you know, a professional racer. So I stopped going to college. And then that next year, I was a full time, full time racer. So, you know, when I was 20, I put on the freshman 15, so I was overweight trying to ride a snowmobile. So that following summer, I got into really good shape, probably the best shape I've been I was in my life, and, yeah, came out that next season, and had a pretty good season, and and that's that's when I knew that I could make money riding the snowmobile. So hell

Jeremy Perkins  14:19  

yeah. So a lot of people will probably hear this podcast and then go run and and want to go be a snow cross racer or whatever. But I know there's a lot of big dollars attached to purses and, you know, top top finishes and stuff like that. How much would you say goes back into the sport, like, I know that, like, I have a buddy down the street that does, like, circle track racing, dirt track racing, get some sponsorships, pays for the body, you know, working on his own to to have a car to race. I think this year there's going to be three big races that are, you know, 2030, $1,000 if you win. So that's, that's good, but on the flip side, like he's self funded, so that that a lot of that money goes just back into being a hobby. How much of the early day money went back into the sport? All of it?

Lincoln Lemieux  15:17  

Yeah, yeah. When you're talking when I raced from my parents, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I was lucky enough. My dad owned a trucking company. So, you know, he bought all the sleds and and, you know, paid for all the fuel and all that sort of stuff. But, you know, I was lucky enough, you let me keep all the winnings and all that stuff. So

Jeremy Perkins  15:41  

you need to find here.

Lincoln Lemieux  15:44  

He kind of used that the racing as a little bit of a write off for the trucking company. So, but I mean to do it your own. I mean, a lot goes into it, especially, especially depending on how far you have to travel to these races. Now, a lot of the races are in the Midwest. So if you're talking about traveling to the races from New England, that's, you know, it's almost undoable unless you're riding at a really top level. But if you can race locally, I mean, hopefully you can get your sleds at a discount, um, sell them at the end of the year, and make a little bit of that money back and and hopefully you can do well enough to make some money while you're, you know, first money. And it would be tough to come out ahead of the game now, but back when I started, I think it was easier. We get a little better deals on sleds. But now all the manufacturers are so tight that they don't give great deals on sleds anymore. So yeah, you can make 1000 bucks here or there on something, yeah, but again, you're also putting a lot of time and a lot of money into the snowmobile, so how much you're really making on them? So it's tough now. You got to do it for more of the love of the sport and and hopefully, you know, the drive and the dream to be on a factory team one day. So that's kind of why we started one through motor sports, to give riders opportunities to compete on top level, and so that they can make some money too. So

Jeremy Perkins  17:22  

let's talk about mentality. You know, my first year in the sport, we had Moline. She ended up with broken tailbone last year, or bruised, severely bruised tailbone. She fought through No. She broke it. Yeah, she fought through it. Like custom pants to like, showed grit and determination. It was wild, like, I couldn't imagine, like, everywhere you sit, it just hurts. And then to get on a snow machine and jump the way you guys jump, and ride the way you guys ride, to be able to a compete at a top level, but B continue to win. And then so, and then, you know, we suffered a couple of them this year, some stitches. I did. I forget somebody else broke a leg or something. But mentality wise, this is a brutal sport, right? And and you yourself have gone through a life changing injury, and kind of walk us through like how you get back on the sled at the end of the day, or when it's time to say, You know what I need to I need to find something else to do,

Lincoln Lemieux  18:28  

right? Yeah, I mean, that's that's such an important thing is to have a strong mentality. And one of the things as an owner now and a writing coach that I see is not everyone who runs the snowmobiles has the same mentality, right? So when I rode, I really didn't, I didn't I really didn't care about anything. I didn't really think too much. I knew what the goal was, and my goal was to achieve that. So that was, that was kind of above all things, I never thought about getting hurt. Never, I was never scared to go out there on the snowmobile. You know, I was just kind of, I was all in, just ready to go whenever that flag for light went green. So, but now that when I see other riders, I see that they, you know, some guys are super nervous. You know, you hear it in any sport, like coaches are puking before games or players and stuff. But now I see that which I've never really seen before, and it's like, you know, you have to get to support these guys, and you have to kind of build them up to, you know, think that they're the best, and at the end of the day, they have to believe that they're the best to see the results that they want to see. So but I think as a team, you know, it's really important to just be super positive and give good feedback and and try to help the riders out as much as possible. But one of the other things too is, yeah, we get, you know, snow. Crossroad. Obviously, I heard a lot. I had, I couldn't even tell you how many injuries I had in my 10 year career, probably more than 10 in 10 years, which is hard to believe, but you have to be you have to be strong, and you have to have a high pain tolerance, because there's probably, there's not many racers out there that are racing right now that don't have some sort of injury, you know, you crash, you roll an ankle, you hurt your shoulders. It's just something that you kind of have to ride through and push through if you want to have a chance at that championship at the end of the year. So, yeah, you have to have a strong mentality. You have you have to show grit, and you just have to push through pain. And then, you know, you'll know when you can't push through it, but hopefully you can. And you know, I was just trying to say to myself, you know, if I there's no way I'm knocking on that snowmobile unless I can't get up or my arms broken, or my legs broken. So yeah, and

Jeremy Perkins  21:03  

that happened to you, and now you're at the point where, you know, do I get back on the sled again, and do I go out there and race Pro, or do I go the owner route and and all of that, that must have been hard for you.

Lincoln Lemieux  21:20  

Yeah? Yeah. Yeah. That was two years ago. Now, I got landed on in Dubuque, Iowa. I broke nine ribs for vertebrae, collapsed and punctured her lungs. So, yeah, it was a scary moment, definitely in the moment, I was like, you know, I'm done. I quit. I never want to ride a snowmobile again, scared that I was gonna die, couldn't breathe because my lung. But then, you know, a few days passed, me like I want to get back on the snowmobile, but you have to look at the big picture. I just had our my wife had our first child, like, seven months prior to that. So I had a, you know, had a baby at home, my wife at home, and, yeah, it's, it's hard to, it's hard to get hurt and be a supportive dad and do everything you need to do as a dad. So now I had to step back and and do what was best for my family and, and that's when we decided to continue on through motor sports, but on the owner side, and, and, yeah, so,

Jeremy Perkins  22:31  

so it's interesting too, you know, you bring up the injury aspect, and, you Know, combined with the advances in in technology and faster, faster snowmobiles, heavier snowmobiles also versus physical fitness. You know, I obviously you get in the gym, you train, you strengthen those, you know, weak areas and and you get better all around. Is it more dangerous now than it was. You know, when people were doing it, drinking a Bud Light and smoking a smoking a Marlboro, or is it? Is it more dangerous? I guess now with heavier and faster snow machines.

Lincoln Lemieux  23:19  

I mean, there was always a level of the sport that was dangerous, but I just think there's more, just more athletes at a top level now that that's what makes it more dangerous. Sometimes it's out of the riders hand. Sometimes the tracks a little dangerous, but I guess I wouldn't say it's more dangerous. You know, a lot of riders back in the day had bad injuries too, you know, whether they got landed on or or whatnot. But I just think, you know, the athletes in the snowmobile are at such a high level now that it's that it's easier to get hurt and, yeah, all the athletes are just pushing, pushing as hard as they can every weekend. So, yeah, so I think we see more injuries now, back then, you know, probably didn't hear about it much. Yeah, that porn ACL was like, hey, you know, have another Bud Light. And now it's like end of the world when you carry ACL, you're out for three or four months, and it's a hard recovery. So yeah, it's hard to say, but yeah, either way, there was a lot of injuries, and there still is a lot of injuries. So

Jeremy Perkins  24:35  

no, it's crazy. And then moving on to the ownership side of things, what made you want to start a team was it just, you know, transitioning from the being a pro rider to still love for the sport, just want to do something more, or was this just a unique opportunity that presented itself and you were like, the timing was right? How. Did that all work?

Lincoln Lemieux  25:02  

Yeah, so, so I forget what year now. I think 2021, so I had a I had a full time factory ride for nine years, and ended up not. They didn't want me back, so I wasn't done. I didn't want to be done racing yet. So that's when we decided to start one three motor sports. So actually, Jake called me one day and he was like, Hey, you gonna race the next year? And I was like, I don't have a ride for next year, so I don't think so. He's like, All right, we'll just start our own team. And I was like, Yeah, okay.

Jeremy Perkins  25:38  

He's amazing with that. I mean, it just like, hey, let's do it. Yeah.

Lincoln Lemieux  25:42  

And I was like, Yeah, I don't know. Seems like a lot, you know, it takes you have to be at such a high level mechanics sled, you know, athlete. And I was coming off injury that year too, so, but yeah, so we did, yeah, Jake put everything together, got sponsors, actually ended up calling my dad, and like I said, it was a family sport, so he was all in. My dad talked to one of his friends who the team's owned by five people, my mom, my dad, Scott, called her wood Scott, Jake, and myself. So, so, yeah. So we all just kind of got together and kind of, you know, crunched some numbers, figured out what, how much money it was going to take to go racing. And, you know, Jake did his magic and started to find sponsors and and we had to talk to ski doo because it was a couple months late already. So we had to find sleds to ride. So we got everything together, and we had a pretty good program right away. And but unfortunately, I got landed on that year and, and that was that, but actually ended up coming back at the end of the year and to do one last race. So I wasn't hauled off the track on the stretcher for the last time. I was actually able to finish it and go across the checkers one last time. So that was, that was nice.

Jeremy Perkins  27:03  

That's cool to end on a high note. And then, you know, obviously, to propel yourself and immerse yourself in the the ownership side. Super cool. Great to have a good network. I've met all of, mostly all of the people I haven't met. Your mom, I don't believe,

Lincoln Lemieux  27:18  

yeah, no, she hasn't. And then he races. She's, she's a school nurse, so it's tough for her to get away in the winter with

Jeremy Perkins  27:27  

being a nurse. So, so yeah, I mean, you've surrounded yourself with a great group of people. You got great riders, you got great sponsors. Everybody stuck around and and supported you guys, and now you guys got a really good team. I know Jeremy's young in the sport and, and he's coming up, and he's, he won his first WAS IT Pro light this year?

Lincoln Lemieux  27:49  

Yeah, National Pro light. Yeah.

Jeremy Perkins  27:51  

So that's yeah, big win for the team. We just got Marcus this year, so that it'll be interesting to see. You know how, how the team grows next year, and, and, but yeah, big things. I gotta ask this question, what are your thoughts on the seasonality now? I mean, it's heavily like one of the Lake Geneva got canceled due to just lack of snow. Do you see the sport moving further north into Canada for more like, sustainable season. Or, do you think it was just the el nino winter? Or there's gotta be some changes next year because of it.

Lincoln Lemieux  28:32  

Yeah. I mean, you know, back when I first started racing, when I was, like, 15 years ago, we started on Thanksgiving weekend, and we ended middle of March, so it's April 3, right? Yeah, so we were already two, three weeks done with the season by now. So I think they, I think snow cross themselves. Have to look back at the schedule and say, you know, what went right, what went wrong, and try to crunch the schedule and make it doable for the teams. You know, you have to think about all the truck drivers and the mechanics and getting ready for each race. So, you know, they have to look at the schedule and try to just make it more compact, but make it so that, you know, drives aren't so long, you know what I mean. So I think, I don't think you'll ever see the the national circuit go further north, not anytime soon, because we still have venues that want snow cross, and are some of the best venues that snow cross has ever had, and we have to go to them, like Geneva being one of them, but we're just going to kind of tighten that schedule and and they're going to have to do a really good job making snow in the future. Yeah. So, yeah, sweet.

Jeremy Perkins  29:50  

So, you know, race season is done. What's, what's the off season? Look for you guys. Are you guys? You know, do you guys? Put down the wrenches for. Or, you know, four months and pack them away and then, and then come back at it in the fall. Or are you guys already thinking about, I obviously, Jake's thinking about sponsorships and, like, you can't sleep on that. But from a, from a team and rider mentality, do you guys? You guys go off to Disney World for a little bit and then come back? Like, how does that all work?

Lincoln Lemieux  30:21  

Yeah, yeah. Once the season's done, we try to go through the trailer. We get brand new sleds every single year, just because this the sport is so hard on equipment, yeah, that you have to update your chassis every year. So we'll go through, go through all the sleds. Get all those ready to sell. Take our special parts off of them. And, yeah, sell those sleds. And then we'll kind of go through an inventory, inventory on the trailer, see what parts and stuff that we need to order for next year. And yeah, this, you know, there's nothing happening until, you know, hopefully, October, right? So we'll get some new sleds in, you know, in between there and, yeah, yeah, just trying to, you know, clean the trailer, put the trailer right, nice. So

Jeremy Perkins  31:12  

what are you doing off season?

Lincoln Lemieux  31:15  

So my family, my wife and I, and my father in law, we own a condominium association, so it's a seasonal condominium, so it goes from May through October, so works out really good with the snow, snow cross season. I take care of all the condos on the lake and do the yard work and and fix up cabins, anything I need to do, you know? Yeah, yeah. So based at home, so it's pretty easy, and then that gives me the flexibility to go to my dad's house, dad's shop, and work on trailer and sleds and start preparing for that next season. Cool. Cool.

Jeremy Perkins  31:58  

Are they like, VRBO, Airbnb stuff, or are they like, Do you people just come up and you, you manage the whole condo association? How's that work? Yeah.

Lincoln Lemieux  32:10  

So we have, we have three cabins that we rent out on the lake, and then there's eight other cabins that are owned by owners, yeah, who live in New Hampshire, Florida, Utah, I think so all around, yeah, the United States. And then, you know, they, they usually come up in the summertime and spend some time at their cabin and, and, but, yeah, well, I have to do all the yard work and mowing, weed whacking.

Jeremy Perkins  32:41  

So that's coming now, yeah, you're looking forward to it. Or now,

Lincoln Lemieux  32:47  

yeah, it would stop snowing. I know I shouldn't be saying that with snow cross season, but yeah, once it stops snowing, I get excited to start laying some stripes down on the lawn. So

Jeremy Perkins  32:59  

hell yeah, hell yeah, awesome. Well, it was nice to sit down with you and go through a day in the life, you know, trades run through your family, from from the trucking company to, you know, obviously working on the sleds to now what you do in the off snow cross season. So it's like you guys have made a name for yourself and a good living doing what you guys are doing, and obviously a proud partner. So absolutely love working with you guys. You guys are great people. Great time, if you ever get a chance go out and watch a snow cross event, obviously root for one three motorsports riders and them only, and then, yeah, it's been, it's been a pleasure having you on Lincoln.

Lincoln Lemieux  33:45  

Yeah. Thank you guys so much. And thank you guys for your continued support of our team so

Jeremy Perkins  33:50  

and as a special thanks to our loyal listeners, we're giving $10 off your next purchase of $60 or more at bruntworkwear.com Use Discount Code bucket talk 10. That's bucket talk 10. Do.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai