(Photo by DB3 Imaging)
Inside Line Promotions – COLUMBUS, Ohio (June 13, 2016) – It was a very frustrating weekend of racing for Kevin Mingus. Despite the challenges Mingus gained valuable knowledge and is confident better results are coming.
“It was a very frustrating weekend on both the dirt and asphalt,” he said. “We are better than the results show. We just need a complete night at the track from drawing a better pill to getting a better heat finish to getting a little luck in the feature. I feel by the end of the year we will be making A Mains regularly in the sprint car and we will consistently run in the top three in the late model.”
Last weekend began on Friday when Mingus hit the dirt in his 305ci sprint car at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio.
“We drew a bad pill and had to start toward the back of our heat,” he said. “I got jumped on the start … don’t really know why they didn’t call it back. That got to me mentally and I lost my momentum and it’s very hard to get that back in a 305.”
That relegated Mingus to a B Main, where he finished fifth and missed a transfer by only two positions.
“I was able to put the car in places I haven’t felt comfortable doing in the past,” he said. “I’ve watched the veterans and I’ve picked up a lot. I moved around the track and the car felt better. It was bittersweet after coming off of making the last two A Mains to miss this one. Our expectations were very high. The pill draw put us behind the eight ball all night.”
On a very hot Saturday at Columbus Motor Speedway Mingus again began the evening behind the eight ball by qualifying 11th quickest out of 14 competitors. Throw in in-car temperatures of 138 degrees and Mingus and his team had a lot of work to do.
“The car wouldn’t start for qualifying and we had to get some guys to push-start us,” he said. “The track officials were yelling for us to get going and I didn’t get my helmet and glasses on right or the steering wheel in the right position and I missed my marks.”
Because the track had several make-up events to run along with the regular program heat races were eliminated. Mingus rolled off 11th in the feature.
“The car started getting better and better and I was battling for eighth and spun,” he said. “That’s happened a lot lately and it really got in my head. We found out later another car was laying down fluids in the groove I was running, but at the time I was frustrated. The water temperature shot up to 240 degrees so I went to the pits and the guys pulled some tape off and the car came to life.”
Mingus restarted 14th and drove to an eighth-place finish. He is currently eighth in points at Columbus Motor Speedway.
“The good news is we have a handle on the car,” he said. “Again, we just need a little luck and have a complete night from start to finish.”
Mingus will not race the sprint car for the next two weeks, but he will be in the late model at Columbus Motor Speedway this Saturday.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 10 – Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio – B Main: 5 (6).
June 11 – Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, Ohio – Qualifying: 11; Feature: 8 (11).
SEASON STATS –
11 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 5 top 10s, 5 top 15s, 6 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, Ohio, in a late model
MEDIA LINKS –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kevin-Mingus-Motorsports-149334941749104
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinMingus
Snapchat: Kevinoz10
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Mingus’ mom and dad, Angie and Ken
“They are the backbone of my racing career,” Kevin Mingus said. “Mom’s the chassis and Dad’s the engine. Dad is always in the pits helping on the sprint car and he is always calling to talk about the cars. Mom does everything behind the scenes from making sure the bills are paid and the budget is updated to videoing the races for me to watch to making sure we have food. She deserves more credit than she sees or hears.”
Mingus would also like to thank Huber Machine Werx, Hillbilly Rod Shop, Brandon Oakley Racing, DB3 Imaging and Midwest Equipment Company Crane Rental.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 13, 2016
- Article Date: 6/13/2016 by Inside Line Promotions