Welcome to Indiana-ville: Mason Mitchell: The Making of an ARCA Champion

Mason Mitchell leads Grant Enfinger by 200 points with only Kansas race left

The 2014 season in the ARCA racing series has only one race remaining and Mason Mitchell is in position to outlast Grant Enfinger for the season championship. Having worked for ARCA this season and shot seven of the 19 race events run so far in the series, I have had an inside view into the ascension of Mitchell into the champion's role and it has been a thing of beauty to behold. What I've witnessed is the maturation of a race driver into a championship favorite who has learned his lessons well and applied them from race to race in a calculating manner. Barring a catastrophe at Kansas, the pilot of the #98 machine will go to ARCA's season ending banquet in Indianapolis in December as a deserving champion and someone to watch in the future as his stock will surely be on the rise.

Mason racing door to door at Talladega

My first ARCA race of the 2014 season was at Talladega where I was shooting for AP. Tom Hessert won that day but Mason ran in the lead pack. The team's equipment was nicely turned out, but I didn't really know who he was at that time. That isn't surprising since ARCA is renowned as a training ground series and race grids from event to event often feature a revolving door of different young drivers. Mason is one of only six (6) drivers this season who made every ARCA race and no less than 140 different drivers have scored some points this year! A couple of months later at Salem Speedway, Mason was beginning to attract attention for his speed and aggressive style, yet unlike many young drivers, he kept his equipment off the fences and didn't wreck anyone else either. I would not see ARCA compete again until June at Michigan, but it was a big weekend for Mason as he won a hotly contested pole position and could easily have won the race. He seemed shy and reserved at the time when he was outside the car, but his confidence inside the car was clearly growing. I was ARCA's main photographer at Michigan and it was great to be there and personally see his growth over those two days at the track.

Mason earned a hard fought pole position at Michigan in June

Three weeks after Michigan, Mason got probably his biggest lesson of the season at Winchester Speedway. He was clearly not happy after the race when another young lion, Brandon Jones, barged into Turn 4 on the last lap and body slammed Mason's #98 into the wall and stole a sure win away. It was the first ever ARCA race for Jones and I'm sure Mason had no idea what to expect that last lap when the #4 car loomed large in his mirrors near the end. But he learned and it would pay off later in the season.

Brandon Jones (#4) stole a Winchester win from Mason

Two weeks after Winchester, Mason had his big breakthrough for the season: that coveted first win. That came at Chicagoland Speedway where I was again shooting for ARCA and I was really glad to be able to capture his honest jubilation in Victory Lane, along with the epic burnout he did on the frontstretch. Those will two enduring memories of my summer of ARCA racing and I'm sure Mason will not soon forget that Chicagoland weekend where he was in control of the race most of the evening and won without being seriously challenged.

An epic burnout followed Mason's first ARCA win - at Chicagoland Speedway in July

The very next weekend, ARCA was at Lucas Oil Raceway outside Indianapolis and as the racing gods so often seem to do, it was a forgettable weekend for Mason following on the heels of a most memorable one at Chicagoland. Rear gear troubles cut short a promising run at Lucas Oil and Mason had to face the highs and lows of racing head-on which he did with class. You could see the disappointment in his family and crew after they thrashed for many laps with the car up on jackstands in the pits trying to fix the problem and get him back on track to earn some more points. That weekend also brought a measure of disappointment for me as well, since my summer of shooting for ARCA was at an end and I was going to be back in the classroom resuming my teaching duties a little over a weeks' time.

Mason got a Gatorade bath after winning at Chicagoland

The next time I would get to see ARCA in person was at Salem Speedway last weekend, and the lessons learned from the first 17 races all came together for Mason that night. He had a very strong car all night and seemed to be able to lead the race at ease most of the night. Veteran Tom Hessert made a late charge to snatch the lead from Mason with just more than 10 laps to go, but Mason regrouped and mounted his own charge on the final lap, where he and Hessert went side by side the entire lap, making contact coming off of Turn 4 which caused Mason (on the inside) to spin and finish the race in second place while crossing the finish line backwards. Hessert held onto his banged up car for the win and Mason was gracious afterwards, acknowledging that he wanted to race Hessert cleanly and didn't want to get a dirty win. Everyone within earshot knew Mason was referring to the one that got away at Winchester in June and yet this time when the roles were reversed, he did everything he could to fight for the win without crashing another competitor. I know Hessert appreciated it and understood what a challenge he had just overcome.

Last night the ARCA series raced at Kentucky Speedway where Mason started second and finished third with his main championship contender Grant Enfinger winding up 30th, which benefited Mason tremendously in the series points race with only Kansas remaining. Now his points lead is up to 200 and Enfinger has his work cut out for him to mount any kind of challenge in the season finale. Grant has had an interesting and rewarding season in its own right. Despite changing teams in mid-season, he still managed to rack up six (6) wins, eleven top-five and 15 top-10 finishes. Mason's work is not done yet but a there's no denying he's had a breakout season and the ARCA championship is within his reach now. Adding another win to his Chicagoland triumph would be icing on the cake, and his record of ten (10) top-five and 16 top-ten finishes is no small feat in this highly competitive series. It has been a pleasure working with ARCA this year and watching Mason Mitchell mature as a racer. If he is ultimately successful and wins the series title at Kansas, I can't wait to congratulate him personally at the banquet in December. Either way, he has represented the series well and made some lasting memories for everyone involved, myself included. Best wishes at Kansas to both Mason and Grant. I will be there in spirit.