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ARCA: Rookie Mason Mingus Continued to Learn at Mobile

[media-credit name=”Knight Motorsports Management” align=”alignleft” width=”133″][/media-credit]Rookie Mason Mingus continued to learn last weekend at Mobile International Speedway as he finished 19^th after running in the top five at one point.

“I’m upset with what happened there near the end of the race, because we really were starting to come into our own,” Mingus says. “Our Call 811 Before You Dig car is pretty wrinkled up, but I guess that’s just the characteristics of being a rookie and racing on a short track.

On a restart with 85 to go, the 17-year-old restarted 13^th after making a green-flag pit stop. Short track racing is always tight and as a result of some contact, Mingus damaged the rear-end. Crew Chief Mike Chaffee brought Mingus down pit road to fix the damage, putting Mingus in the 24^th position. From there, Mingus was able to work his way back up to the top 15, before going for a spin on lap 177.

The Win-Tron team would make repairs and Mingus would set forth on the climb again, just barely cracking the top 20.

“I couldn’t have asked anything more from the team,” he says. “We went forward from the time the green flag dropped and the car was really good. Our goal this weekend was to finish the race and we accomplished that, I just wish it would have been a little better terms.”

Despite the disappointments, Nate Thiesse, the co-car-owner of Win-Tron Racing says he was pleased with the day.

“Honestly, we couldn’t have any expected anything more from Mason,” he says. “He did everything right this weekend. He acquired seat time, ran competitive laps and made improvement during the race. I know he’s a little down because of the late race entanglement, but that’s just part of short track racing near the end of the race where the intensity picks up a ton.

“For just his second ARCA race, he was able to come from the back to the front twice and see the checkered flag, so we’re proud of him and look to build on this at our next venue at Salem.”

Further information including driver opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com.

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

March 17, 2012
ARCA: Josh Williams Makes Best of Mechanical Woes at Mobile

[media-credit name=”Chris Knight Motorsports Management” align=”alignleft” width=”133″][/media-credit]After starting off strong in the Mobile ARCA 200, Josh Williams would not get the finish he desired due to a mechanical malfunction.

“Man, we had such a super race car,” Williams says. “I’m glad we were able to keep it in one piece, but I’m dejected because I think our problem could have been prevented. We’re still a young team and we’re learning, so we’re going to have some hiccups along the way.”

Starting behind the eight ball due to missing the test and practice being shortened by mother nature, Williams qualified the No. 02 Southwest Florida Calbe Construction Ford Fusion in the 25^th position.

Williams drove to the top 12 by lap 68. Williams held his own in the top 12 till 85, before falling through the field after a restart.

Under the next caution on lap 168, the crew diagnosed a problem with the rear end of the car, telling their driver to finish the race while staying alert on the problem. Once at the shop after the race, the team found that a shock had become disengaged from the rear-end of the car.

Williams would bring the car home in the 20^th position, two laps behind race winner Cale Gale.

“The strong point of the weekend was knowing that we had a car capable of running in the top-10 and were still able to salvage a decent finish all things considered,” he comments. “Salem’s next and that’s one of my favorite race tracks, so we’ll look for a little redemption there.”

Last year at Salem Speedway, Williams started 11^th and finished sixth in just his first start there.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is the third of 20 races on the 2012 tour at the historic Salem (Ind.) Speedway for the running of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 on Sunday, April 29.

For more information on Josh Williams, his Josh Williams Motorsports team and sponsorship opportunities for the 2012 season please connect to the team’s official website at Joshwracing.com.

March 15, 2012
Hometown Hero Cale Gale wins Mobile ARCA 200

[media-credit name=”ARCA Racing Network” align=”alignleft” width=”287″][/media-credit]Hometown Hero Cale Gale would come home the winner of the Mobile ARCA 200 at Mobile International Speedway after holding off Chad Hackenbracht. Gale was able to take the lead from fellow Alabama native Grant Enfinger on lap 176 and held the lead, even through the four cautions that followed.

“This worked out better than we ever could have expected it to,” the 28-year-old said in victory lane.

Gale had spent his time cutting his teeth, learning how to race at Mobile before moving up to the higher ranks. He will now forever hold the honor of winning the first ARCA race ever at the half-mile located in Mobile, Alabama during ARCA Racing Series presented by Meanrds’ 60^th Anniversary Season. The win marks his first ARCA victory since winning in 2006 at Gateway.

“We came here with intentions to win but actually being able to pull it off is awesome and it comes at a good time,” he said. “What a packed house today. (Promoter) Rick (Crawford) has done an awesome job promoting this thing, and Tommy Praytor too. It’s especially special, because my grandfather passed away last year and we spent many a night down here on Saturday nights and it’s my first race to win since he passed away.”

The victory also marked the first ARCA win for Eddie Sharp Racing since Craig Goess’ victory last year at Pocono in 2010.

Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell winner Alex Bowman would finished third, followed by Mikey Kile and Clint King. Chris Buescher would finish sixth, followed by Brennan Poole, Jared Marks, Tom Hessert and Chase Elliott.

Southern short track star Bubba Pollard would finish 11^th, followed by Ryan Reed, Grant Enfinger, Sean Corr and Tyler Reddick.

Alex Bowman would lead the first 28 laps, before Chase Elliott would take the lead at lap 29. Making his first ever ARCA start, Elliott would lead

[media-credit name=”ARCA Racing Network” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]all the way till the third caution of the race, choosing to make a pit stop. This would hand the lead over to Bowman on the lap 56 restart. Bowman would pit under the next caution, handing the lead to 15-year-old Erik Jones, who became the youngest driver to start an ARCA race. Jones would lead for 15 laps, before Gale took the lead on lap 77.

At the halfway point, Gale led followed by Elliott, Matt Lofton, Grant Enfinger and Bowman.

After the restart, Enfinger quickly moved up to second and was able to pass Gale for the lead on lap 127. Enfinger would continue to lead the field, even beating Gale off pit road during a lap 168 caution. Gale would be able to get by Enfinger a couple laps after the restart, before a caution after Mason Mingus lost control of his car and drove over the turn three and four hill.

Four cautions would follow, extending the race beyond it’s scheduled distance and a final green-white-checkered on laps 202 and 203 would decide the race. Hackenbracht would try to get under Gale on the inside in turn two of the final lap, but would not be able to get by.

Unofficially, Gale leads the point standings, 15 points over Poole. Hackenbracht sits third followed by Mikey Kile and Ryan Reed.

The next race for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will take place Sunday, April 29 at Salem Speedway. The 200-lap, 111-mile Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 is scheduled to start at 2:15 p.m. Salem will host practice and Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell on Saturday, April 28.

March 11, 2012
Alex Bowman wins ARCA Menards Pole Award for Mobile International Speedway

[media-credit name=”ARCA Racing Network” align=”alignleft” width=”345″][/media-credit]Last year, Alex Bowman impressed everybody as he won in both his ARCA Racing Series starts. So far this year, he has a 30^th place finish at Daytona International Speedway. Bowman is now looking to turn things around at Mobile International Speedway.

He is off to a good start as he led practice and won the Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell. He drove a qualifying lap of 17.547 seconds to put his No. 22 Dodge for Cunniongham Motorsports on the pole for the first time.

“We have a great eBay Motors and St. Jude’s Dodge,” the 18-year-old from Tucson, Ariz said after qualifying. “I can’t thank all the guys at Cunningham Motorsports enough. I’ve always been terrible at qualifying, quite honestly, and for us to get a pole definitely shows how good the car is. We’ll definitely have a good race car tomorrow. Look for us up front.”

Bowman credits the success to a test earlier in the year.

“We came here and tested a few weeks ago, and it’s a pretty neat place,” he said. “It’s like Madison, and similar to Motor Mile (in Virginia).”

16-year-old Chase Elliott will start his first ARCA race on the front row along side Bowman, driving the No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine/Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet. Elliott, the son of NASCAR Champion Bill Elliott, has turned heads so far with his success. Last year in the K&N Pro East Series, he scored three top-fives and six top 10s in 12 starts. In 2010, he scored 13 victories, 29 top-five finishes, 39 top-10s and six pole awards in 42 Late Model starts. One of the notable accomplishments was winning the Miller Lite Series at Mobile International Speedway.

Starting third will be another rookie as Eric Jones will become the first 15-year-old to start an ARCA Racing Series race, driving for Venturini Motorsports.

ARCA recently changed the age limit from 16-year-olds to 15-year-old for drives to compete on tracks one mile in length or shorter. To compete on tracks bigger than one mile, drivers need to be 18 years of age or order.

“We started off on new tires and worked really hard on the whole package, the drivability of the car,” the Bryon, Michigan native said after practice. “It was fast, just not quite the feel we wanted. We worked through the whole practice and finally got what I wanted.

Jones comes into the ARCA Series with a lot of success, as he won the 2011 JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Championship, winning at Rockford Speedway and Owosso. He also won the prestigious Governor’s Cup, leading every lap in the super late model race in Florida.

Brian Keselowski and Ryan Reed rounded out the top five, followed by Chad Hackenbracht, Brennan Poole, Matt Lofton, Cale Gale and Grant Enfinger. Nine-time ARCA Champion Frank Kimmel starts 11^th with Southern short track star Bubba Pollard in 12^th.

The 200-lap, 100-mile Mobile ARCA 200 will begin at 2 p.m. Central tomorrow, with live timing and scoring and live audio coverage available at ARCARacing.com. WNTM Fox News Radio 710 AM (Mobile) and WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM (Talladega) will produce and air the broadcast for ARCARacing.com, and also air the race to a network of Alabama radio stations. The race is scheduled as the second of 20 this season.

March 10, 2012
Frank Kimmel Looks For First Trip Success at Mobile Int’l Speedway

[media-credit name=”arcaracing.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]For the first time in the 60 year history of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the series will be running on the half-mile oval located in Mobile, Alabama.

One of the tracks that Mobile International Speedway has been compared to is Toledo Speedway, as both have a low degree of banking.

Series veteran Frank Kimmel is hoping the comparison is true in hopes of scoring career win no. 75. Kimmel currently sits second on the all-time ARCA Series win list with 74 victories behind Iggy Katona. Kimmel scored the first victory of his career at Toledo Speedway, Mobile’s sister track, and says he feels real comfortable at Toledo.

“It makes me feel more confident that I can get up on the wheel from the get go,” Kimmel says. “I mean, face it, at the end of the day, a short track is a short track – if you can’t get up on the wheel, it’s going to be a rough day for your team.

Kimmel has also been doing his homework as he enlisted help from short track legend Bubba Pollard.

“Bubba is a legend down here on the Panhandle of Florida and Alabama,” Kimmel explains. “His results speak for themselves in late models and super late models at both Mobile and Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, so I knew who to call when it was time to pick someone’s brain on track facts and logistics. He gave me a lot of great pointers going into this weekend. I’m also looking forward to chatting with our own Grant Enfinger – since this is his home track, he knows the ins and outs too. It’s a little different, I usually have guys coming to me to find out about tracks as the veteran!”

Practice is set to happen on Friday March 9^th from 1:30-5pm CT with Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell that night at 7pm CT. The race will take place on Saturday March 10^th with pre-race coverage beginning at 1:30 CT. Speed will not share this race live, but ARCARacing.com will have live timing and scoring.

March 9, 2012