Mason Mingus; Win-Tron Racing 14th In Canada Road Course Debut

In his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) road racing debut, Mason Mingus delivered a solid 14th place finish in this past Sunday’s Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate’s result in the lone road course race of the season, earned him his ninth top-20 finish of the year for Win-Tron Racing. Furthermore, the effort by the team propelled their driver to 11th in the championship standings after 14 races.

“I’m happy with our finish,” said Mingus. “We worked hard all weekend and never stopped improving. I have very little road course experience and none at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, so it was just a matter of turning laps and getting comfortable.”

With three road course racing starts to his credit in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Mingus was hoping some of that experience of turning right and left would prove to be beneficial.

Mingus, a native of Brentwood, Tennessee spent Saturday’s practice sessions getting accustomed to the track’s 2.459-mile, 10-turn course. Gradual improvement from practice to qualifying, landed the No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra 20th on the starting grid.

From the drop of the green flag in the 64-lap event, Mingus followed in the footsteps of the rest of the field and fell into single-file formation. It didn’t take long for road racing pit strategy to start as trucks near the front of the pack began to pit on Lap eight.

Mingus brought his No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra to the attention of his Win-Tron Racing team on Lap 13 from the 14th position. After four tires and fuel, Mingus returned to the track cycling through to the 18th position.

By the halfway point, Mingus had moved into the 17th spot, before bringing his truck back to pit road for a scheduled stop with 25 laps remaining for routine service. The leaders, though, would eventually catch the tail end of the lead lap and put Mingus one lap down.

The first caution flag of the day waived on Lap 48 for John Hunter Nemechek, who stalled in Turn 1. Four laps after the restart on Lap 55, pole sitter Alex Tagliani stalled in Turn 5 bringing out the event’s final caution of the day.  Mingus found himself the beneficiary of the free pass under the yellow, putting his No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra back on the lead lap.

When racing resumed, Mingus utilized the final seven laps of the event to climb one position to take the checkered flag in 14th, his first top-15 effort since a 12th at Gateway (Ill.) Motorsports Park in June.

“In the past, road courses haven’t been ones that I really look forward to, but this was definitely one of the most fun races of the year,” offered Mingus. “The guys at Win-Tron Racing brought me a pretty good No. 35 Call 811 Before You Dig Toyota Tundra and we got to load up a truck in one piece at one of the toughest tracks we go to. All things considered, I’m happy with our finish and look forward to Chicagoland.”

Nate Thiesse co-truck owner of Win-Tron Racing offered his thoughts, post Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

“We’re extremely proud of Mason,” he said. “He did a phenomenal job learning the track and improving his lap times considerably start to finish. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a challenging place, but Mason stepped up to the plate and delivered in his debut. His finish on Sunday also helped him in the point standings too. We’re glad to leave Canada with a solid run and look ahead towards the rest of the season.”

Exiting Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, 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.


Win Tron Racing PR