Mason Mingus Photo – Courtesy of Win Tron Racing
A native of nearby Brentwood, Tennessee, Mason Mingus is making his first ARCA Racing Series start at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, substituting for the injured Justin Fontaine in the Music City 200 presented by Azure Foundation on Saturday night.
Although is Mingus’ first ARCA start at the historic short track, he does have an extensive Late Model resume at Nashville to lean on in his No. 33 Win Tron Racing car.
“I’m really stoked to get back to racing in the ARCA Racing Series and with Win-Tron Racing,” said Mingus. “I’ve only been in one ARCA race since 2013, so I’m anxious to get back behind the wheel and have a strong race for Justin (Fontaine), dsmamt and ProMATIC.”
Mingus was also a mainstay in the series from 2011-2013, earning five top-five and 25-top-ten finishes and in 2013 a second-place championship run. What’s missing from his ARCA resume is a victory.
To make that happen at Nashville, Mingus knows he’ll need to battle his teammate Gus Dean and other strong ARCA competitors. More importantly, he knows that to finish first, he must first finish.
“It’s going to be a competitive race,” added Mingus. “When I race full-time in the series, we had a lot of good cars, but looking at the entry list you can probably add another handful of cars on top of that who should be included in the mix.
“Patience is going to be important, tire management is going to be crucial and traffic always comes into the mix at Nashville, so it’s going to be a very entertaining race. I feel blessed to have this chance to be back with Win-Tron Racing and I really want to go out there and make the most of it.”
Mingus is standing in for Fontaine during his recovery from injuries sustained at Daytona International Speedway in February. Last week, Win Tron Racing gave an update stating that Fontaine’s recovery is progressing better than expected and he should return to competition by early June at the latest.
Team principal, Kevin Cywinski says he’s happy to have Mingus behind the wheel and back with Win Tron Racing.
“Mason did a lot of great things for Win-Tron Racing over the years and I’m glad to have him back in one of our cars this weekend at Nashville,” said Cywinski. “I think he’ll be a great teammate to Gus and I know we’re taking two cars capable of contending for the race win.”
Along with carrying Fontaine’s ProMATIC colors, the hood of the No. 33 will have a message of support for the Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee.
“I’m very proud to bring additional awareness to dsamt this weekend at Nashville,” says Mingus. “I have a family member who has Down syndrome, so I’ve seen how the association has come together and done great things for the families and the community. We’ll have a big cheering section on Saturday night and that makes me awfully happy.”
The Music City 200 will take place Saturday, April 8th at 9 pm ET with a broadcast on MAVTV and live streaming and scoring at ARCARacing.com.