Coming off a strong 14th place finish across the border at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park two weeks ago, Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Mason Mingus (@Mason_Mingus) and his Win-Tron Racing team head to Chicagoland Speedway with momentum on their side.
While Mingus and his Mooresville, North Carolina-based team didn’t record their second top-10 finish of the season, the steady improvements that the freshman NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) team has made over the summer stretch, gives hope that the final span of races will elevate the team to a whole new level.
“Canada was good,” said Mingus. “We made improvements start to finish and that was our goal. You always have hopes of finishing better than where you actually end up, but for us, the truck was good, and I was able to adapt to the track quickly so by race time, we started to find our niche. It definitely gives us a boost heading into Chicagoland on Friday night.”
Much like the Brentwood, Tennessee native has done several times in 2014, Mingus will return to a track that he has experience at in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Friday night’s Lucas Oil 225 brings Mingus back to the “Windy City.”
Last year in his first full season of ARCA competition, he qualified and finished sixth in his 1.5-mile speedway track debut. While the 19-year old understands the night and day difference between the two vehicles, he once again feels that similar elements will come into play that could aid them towards a gratifying performance in the 15th race of the season.
“It’s definitely great that I have run at Chicagoland Speedway before in the ARCA Racing Series,” said Mingus. “Any experience at a track is very helpful. To me, Chicagoland resembles Kentucky Speedway. They are both very rough tracks, so I can take a lot of what I learned there in the trucks to Chicago. I would really like to bring home a top-10 finish on Friday night. I think we will have a strong No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra.”
Of course, Mingus doesn’t expect that second top-10 finish to come easy. He fully expects some stout racing, which will include (some) drafting and plenty of side-by-side racing.
“Chicago is definitely a multi groove and very racy track,” Mingus added. “There should be plenty of action, along with some drafting and intense side-by-side racing. Plus, it’s under the lights, so I’m predicting a good race.”
With his first year of competition on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tour slowly coming to a close, Mingus still eyes a top-10 championship finish. With eight races left, Mingus hopes a string of good finishes will help propel him to his goal.
“It’s not going to be easy by any means, but if we keep working hard, we should be able to finish inside the top-10 in points,” offered Mingus. “It’s going to come down to Homestead, that much I honestly think. I’m determined to give it my all behind the wheel. In a way, we can’t worry about points, we just have to race and let the dominos fall from there.”
Nate Thiesse, co-truck owner of Win-Tron Racing offered his thoughts entering this week’s race.
“We’re excited to go to Chicagoland,” he said. “The entire Win-Tron Racing team has worked hard during the off week getting our truck ready to go. Mason had a good showing in his track debut last year in ARCA and with some luck, we’re hoping for a duplicate showing on Friday night with our No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra.”
Entering Chicagoland Speedway, Mingus sits 11th in the championship standings, 74 markers from 10th place held by Jeb Burton. Mingus unofficially sits second in the Sunoco rookie of the year standings, behind current leader Ben Kennedy.
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