Mason Mingus; Win-Tron Racing Look To Climb In Pocono Mountains

After showing some serious strength at one of the most demanding tracks on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tour last week at Eldora Speedway, Mason Mingus and his Win-Tron Racing team look to continue that surge in Saturday afternoon’s Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

And like Eldora Speedway, Pocono demonstrates unique characteristics, often making it one of the trickiest tracks on the circuit. Hence the course’s nickname, “The Tricky Triangle.”

But for Mingus, the driver of the No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra, he looks to outsmart the triangular 2.5-mile speed plant and earn his second top-10 finish of the season.

“I’m excited for Pocono,” said Mingus, a development driver for Win-Tron Racing. “I always love having the opportunity to go back to a track that I have run on before. We have a lot of great things going on right now at Win-Tron (Racing). They are working extremely hard to bring better trucks to the track each week, which was evident last week (Eldora).

“Hopefully, we can carry the momentum we gained on qualifying last week over to Pocono this weekend.”

The addition of new crew chief Tripp Bruce soared the freshman NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team into the spotlight for the 1-800 CarCash Mudsummer Classic, but the former ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driver is determined to prove the effort wasn’t a fluke, but instead a preview of what’s to come.

“Obviously, Tripp and I haven’t been working together for very long, but there seems to be some chemistry,” added Mingus, a former champion wrestler. “We weren’t sure what to expect, because we made the change within days before Eldora, but I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. Of course, the finish wasn’t what we hoped, but were (definitely) encouraged by the performance.”

To better aid that performance, the Brentwood, Tennessee native is hoping that his two starts in Long Pond last year in the ARCA Racing Series, which yielded two back-to-back sixth place finishes will result in another top-10 effort.

“I think it will help a lot,” sounded Mingus, in reference to his ARCA experience at Pocono. “Any seat time I can get at a track is good and very helpful. It really accelerates my learning curve during practice. I know it’s a different beast from an ARCA car to a truck, but I know the crucial points of managing Pocono, so I’m hoping once practice starts on Friday, we’ll be in good shape.”

Win-Tron Racing truck co-owner Nate Thiesse is also looking forward to Saturday afternoon’s 60 lap shootout.

“We can’t wait to get rolling into Pocono,” he said. “We have a really good vibe and feel that our No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra should be top-notch. Mason has experience at Pocono, so we’re already ahead of the game, compared to some of the other tracks we’ve been too this year. We’re aiming for a top-10 finish this weekend and with a little luck, we’ll accomplish that.”

Entering Pocono, Mingus sits 13th in the championship standings, 65 markers from 10th place held by John Wes Townley. Mingus unofficially sits second in the Sunoco rookie of the year standings, behind current leader Ben Kennedy.

Win-Tron Racing PR