Mason Mingus; Win-Tron Racing Victim Of Bad “Brakes” At Madison

Topics:  Mason Mingus, Win-Tron Racing, Herr’s Live Life with Flavor 200

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
August 27, 2012

OREGON, Wisconsin (August 27, 2011) - - Win-Tron Racing and driver Mason Mingus headed to Madison (Wisc.) International Speedway this past weekend looking to post their first top-five run of the season in Sunday night’s delayed Herr’s Live Life with Flavors 200.

Unfortunately, the duo would once again be snakebitten while having one of their best runs of the 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season after a brake failure on lap 74 took the team out of contention in the 17th race of the year.

Before the setback, Mingus was showing his worth as a freshman in the ARCA Racing Series after fighting for a spot inside the top-five at a track where track position proved to be critical.

It was clear that a private test session at the 0.5-mile paved oval paid huge dividends after the first practice session had concluded Saturday afternoon. With former ARCA Racing Series champion crew chief Mark Rette at the helm, the team worked on finding a comfortable setup underneath the No. 32 Call 811 Before You Dig Chevrolet Impala. After placing 10th following the first of two practice efforts, Rette made some routine changes to the automobile allowing the handling to improve and Mingus jumping up to eighth fastest overall in final practice leading into Menards pole qualifying presented by Ansell set for later in the day.

In time trials, Mingus whipped his No. 32 Call 811 Before You Dig Chevrolet Impala around the track in 18.262 seconds or 98.565 miles per hour, placing him sixth but less than two-tenths of a second behind pole sitter Alex Bowman. Feeling extremely confident about their automobile, the Lakeville, Minnesota-based team turned their concentration towards race day which would consist of a promising 200-lap slugfest.

Mother Nature would change her tune on Sunday morning, drenching the facility and ultimately forcing track and ARCA Racing Series officials to delay the start of the Herr’s Live Life with Flavors 200 for several hours before taking the green flag nearly three and a half hours later than its original starting time.

From the drop of the green flag, Mingus held his own and after briefly dropping to seventh in the first 20 laps of the event, the Brentwood, Tennessee native would climb back into sixth by lap 30 after a move on Chase Elliott and ultimately move into a race-high fifth by lap 35 after overtaking series leader Chris Buescher who spun after contact with another competitor.

The 17-year old would continue to protect his position inside the top-five but by lap 50, Mingus would begin communicating with his team identifying a problem with the brakes on the No. 32 Call 811 Before You Dig Chevrolet Impala. Despite the setback, Mingus would continue to focus on the job at hand after finding himself in a torrid battle with the No. 52 of Tom Hessert.

The two drivers would duke it out for several laps before Hessert was able to overtake Mingus by lap 70. Idling in sixth, the High School senior was studying for a way to move back into the top-five before his brake pedal went to the floor in turn three on lap 74, sending the No. 32 Call 811 Before You Dig Chevrolet Impala for a loop and bringing out the event’s second caution flag.

Mingus was able to drive his bowtie back to pit lane where Rette and the team immediately went to work correcting the problem. While the team lost several laps in the pits making repairs, they were able to return to the race and take the checkered flag in the 23rd position completing 156 of the event’s 208 laps.

“I am obviously very disappointed with the outcome of the race,” offered Mingus. “I thought we definitely had a top-three car if not a chance to win the race. We had a malfunction with the brakes while battling it out for fifth on the track. We were forced to pit and work on them which cost me a ton of laps during a green flag run. From there, we basically just used the rest of the race as a test session for the next time we go back there.”

He added, “I think we are capable of so much more than top-10s if we could just have a few things go our way. We have been plagued with a few things that are out of our control these past few races, but we are going to take with what we’ve learned and just move on to the next one. DuQuoin, here we come.”

Nate Thiesse, co-car owner of Win-Tron Racing offered his sentiments on his protégés tango with Madison. “It’s unfortunate, that we don’t have a finish to justify our performance,” he sounded. “Mason did exactly what we thought he was going to do and that was to be competitive. We’ve been hit with some bad luck the last couple of weeks and all we can do is just keep our heads held high and surge ahead and look for redemption. We have two races left with Mason the rest of the year and we definitely want to make the best out of them.”

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is the annual Labor Day tradition at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds for the running of the Southern Illinois 100 on Monday, September 3. With just three races remaining in 2012, the quick 100-lap race will be the second and final time the competitors race on a dirt track this season.

In addition to Call 811 Before You Dig, Diamond Equipment leaped aboard the team as an associate marketing partner for Mingus’s 11th-career ARCA start.

Further information including driver opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com or contacting Nate Thiesse at 612.306.1641

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For more on Mason Mingus, please visit MasonMingusRacing.com.

About Win-Tron Racing:

Located in Lakeville, Minnesota, Win-Tron Racing is the home of one the most potent ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards single-car operations. Owned by former racers Kevin Cywinski and Nate Thiesse, the team since has acquired the assets of County Joe Racing has become a favorable fixture on the circuit. Since Win-Tron Racing’s inception in 2007, the team has hosted a variety of drivers including leading drivers James Buescher, Blake Bjorklund, Justin Marks and Matt Merrell to their first career ARCA victories. In 2012, the team will begin its sixth year of competition with current drivers Chris Windom, Mason Mingus and Aleks Gregory.

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:
NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com