[media-credit name=”Knight Motorsports Management” align=”alignleft” width=”133″]
[/media-credit]Rookie Mason Mingus continued to learn last weekend at Mobile International Speedway as he finished 19th after running in the top five at one point.
“I’m upset with what happened there near the end of the race, because we really were starting to come into our own,” Mingus says. “Our Call 811 Before You Dig car is pretty wrinkled up, but I guess that’s just the characteristics of being a rookie and racing on a short track.
On a restart with 85 to go, the 17-year-old restarted 13th after making a green-flag pit stop. Short track racing is always tight and as a result of some contact, Mingus damaged the rear-end. Crew Chief Mike Chaffee brought Mingus down pit road to fix the damage, putting Mingus in the 24th position. From there, Mingus was able to work his way back up to the top 15, before going for a spin on lap 177.
The Win-Tron team would make repairs and Mingus would set forth on the climb again, just barely cracking the top 20.
“I couldn’t have asked anything more from the team,” he says. “We went forward from the time the green flag dropped and the car was really good. Our goal this weekend was to finish the race and we accomplished that, I just wish it would have been a little better terms.”
Despite the disappointments, Nate Thiesse, the co-car-owner of Win-Tron Racing says he was pleased with the day.
“Honestly, we couldn’t have any expected anything more from Mason,” he says. “He did everything right this weekend. He acquired seat time, ran competitive laps and made improvement during the race. I know he’s a little down because of the late race entanglement, but that’s just part of short track racing near the end of the race where the intensity picks up a ton.
“For just his second ARCA race, he was able to come from the back to the front twice and see the checkered flag, so we’re proud of him and look to build on this at our next venue at Salem.”
Further information including driver opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com.
For more on Mason Mingus, please visit MasonMingusRacing.com.
