Mason Mingus knows a thing or two about

traditions in Short Track Racing.  After all, he

has run the All American 400, The World Crown

300, Snowball Derby and the Winchester 400. 

The Redbud 300 may not be the biggest race,

but the tradition of running at Anderson is huge

and Mingus went back to the 2011 version of the

Redbud 300 looking to better his 11th-place

finish in 2010.

Mingus already was on a roll when he qualified

in the top 10 and was riding around with the

leaders for the first 200 laps. As the race drew

closer to a finish, tempers flared and Mingus

ended up wrecked in the wall, but he managed to come back out to post a 10th-place finish. 

"For the first half of the race we had a really good car and were fifth at the halfway break,” said Mingus.  “We took two tires and came back out in fifth and we were not going to push anything until 50 laps to go.  Jeff Lane was behind us and was pressuring us and he got into my left rear on the straightaway and we ended up wrecked with another car.  It was pretty badly damaged.  We are running for points so we came back out to make laps."

Mingus still was able to take top rookie honors for the race to tighten the margin between him and fellow rookie Derrick Griffin.  The margin is les then 50 points with several races still to go. 

The popularity of the rookies has shown in the pre-race autograph sessions. 

"I was signing autographs and the people just kept coming," said Mingus.  "We run a lot of races, but not many are as big as the Redbud 300.  This was my second time in it and we had a great night going for a while before we got messed up."

Mingus will be back in action on Friday, August 19th at the Dixie Motor Speedway (MI) for a 125 lap event.

Mingus Rides to Top 10 After Damage

Second Trip to the Redbud 300 Produces Mixed Feelings

Mingus was the top finishing Rookie again at Anderson Speedway (Speed51.com Photo)