EXCLUSIVE: Mason Mingus talks Trucking with Billy Boat Motorsports

Following three top-15 finishes late in the season with Billy Boat Motorsports, it was announced earlier this week that Mason Mingus will be behind the wheel of the No. 15 811 – Call Before You Dig Chevrolet for the entire 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

“I’m excited to be working with Billy oat Motorsports for the full season this upcoming year,” Mingus told OnPitRoad.com earlier this week. “Luckily, we were able to build a solid foundation in the last six races last year to work off of. With them hiring Dennis Connor as my crew chief, I’m really excited; I think he will be a big plus to our program. I got to work with him twice last year, and felt like I got along with him very well. We communicated well so I think he will be a valuable tool to us, and hopefully set our expectations really high and meet that. I think they’re putting together a lot of really good equipment, and hopefully we can contend this year.”

The combination of Mingus having a year of experience underneath him with Dennis Connor’s 14 years of crew chief experience, including 25 Truck Series victories, Mingus feels that he and BBM can run in the top-10 each week, and build that into winning races as “that’s everybody’s goal and that’s what we’re working for”. The limited experience with the team has helped work towards the first goal, as besides a crash at Talladega and issues in the season finale at Homestead, Mingus finished in the top 20 in each of his starts with BBM, including a pair of 13th place finishes at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.

“If we can start running in the top 10, then we can start building and looking for top-fives and eventually wins,” he added. “I think the group of guys that they’re putting together, and the equipment, that we’re capable of that. As long as we can go out and be consistent and be sure that we last for the entire race, that’ll be the first obstacle – but I know they’ll build solid equipment.”

In searching for success, one of the tracks that Mingus is looking forward to getting to is Bristol Motor Speedway as he notes he really liked the high-banked, short tracks while racing late models as he was coming up the ranks.

“I really liked going to places like Salem, Winchester Speedway – they kind of resemble Bristol a little bit and I really looking forward to that one last year,” he noted. “We didn’t nearly as well as I would’ve hoped there so I’m looking for some redemption this year as I feel that is a place that we should run well and suits my driving style.”

Looking back at last season, Mingus had a solid year en route to finishing 11th in points with strong runs at certain tracks, including a 10th at Kansas Speedway and a 12th place finish at Gateway.

“It was definitely a learning season for me,” Mingus reflected back. “It was a big learning curve jumping up to the trucks from the ARCA Series. I felt like a good grasp on the ARCA Series in 2013 and contended for the championship. I would’ve loved to win it, but we fell short of a little bit. Moving to the Trucks, they drive so much different than the cars so it was a whole new ball game learning how they worked and we go to so many different mile and a halves than we do in the ARCA Series. There was a lot of brand new race tracks to me, so it was a lot of learning – a lot of brand new things from the tracks to the trucks to the people that I was racing against.”

As the year went on, it seemed as though Mingus continued to get stronger, posting stronger finishes within the top-15 versus just shy of the top-15. The finishes are partially attributed to laying down more laps each week.

“I think it was a number of various things, but definitely having more experience under my end and knowing what to expect going into these races,” Mingus commented.

One of the other things that the 20-year-old notes he learned in 2014 that was huge was the aerodynamic side of the trucks, and how to use it to his advantage in traffic.

“When we go to the short tracks, there’s a lot of lap traffic, but when we got to the mile and halves, it’s spreads out a little more,” he explained. “So you really have to use the air to your advantage. So as a rookie, that was a big thing that I had to figure out.

The Brentwood, Tennesse native feels the experience will certainly be an asset going into this year, along with the equipment and people at Billy Boat Motorsports and using the Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines.

For Mingus, his journey began at the age of seven in quarter midgets.

“I don’t know why I wanted to, but I had a go-kart in the backyard and I just really bugged my dad that I wanted to race,” he recalled. “So we went out and got me a quarter midget, and I just started racing, trying to see what I could achieve. I moved up to various different series, different types of cars – most recently, I ran late models for three years and then got into the ARCA Series, and now the Truck Series. It’s been a fast progression, but I’ve had a lot of fun and go ta lot of experience at a bunch of different race tracks across the country in a bunch of different cars.”

Throughout his career, he has won races, with some wins being more memorable than others, including his first late model win in Salem, Indiana.

“That one kind of sticks with me because that was the first time that I won in my first season in pro late models,” he commented. “Just to get that win, it was a big confidence booster and helped me move forward in my career.”

Certainly Mingus looks to be on the fast track forward now, and looking back in the rearview, the advice for others on that track is to be committed, be dedicated and be willing to learn in all aspects.

“Nowadays, you have to be really good on the media side, on helping people promote their products because the name of the game is getting the money to go racing,” he shared. “So not only does a driver have to have the talent, but you have to be promotable. You have to be well-rounded and be willing to learn at all aspects of the game.”