After nearly two winless seasons in a super late model, Jon Mitchell began to question his abilities. That is until last Saturday at Super Bee Speedway in Chatham, Louisiana. He finally returned to victory lane in the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series.
Mitchell’s résumé includes two SUPR Series championships (2014-15) and a Comp Cams Super Dirt Series title (2012).
“Competition has become so tough,” Mitchell, of Texarkana, Texas, said. “We are dealing with hired guns driving for teams with a full program. We worked our asses off, with no good runs for the effort we put in.”
Most race nights, it’s just Mitchell and his wife, Kimberly.
“I’m one of the last few guys who drives the truck, buffs the tires, finances everything, and drives the car — I don’t have a crew,” said Mitchell. “Kimberly does whatever is needed — from changing tires, to selling T-shirts, to handling the signals during the feature.”
Jon Mitchell recently purchased a new version of the Rocket XR-1, dubbed the 1.2, which he said only a handful have right now. He rushed to debut it at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi. Mitchell then took the time to prepare it, resulting in a second-place finish on the second night out at Texarkana 67 Speedway in Arkansas on Friday. The next day, he won at Super Bee Speedway.
“I worked with Mark Richards [of Rocket Chassis] a lot,” Mitchell said.” I spent hours in the shop, zooming in on the certain areas we targeted.”
Kimberly was over the moon with the win, posting on Facebook, “He freaking did it!….All the nights of him doubting himself and wanted to give up multiple times, he swept the night and won the last race of the year! I cannot be more proud of him!!”
Kimberly recognized the hard work her husband put in the past two seasons.
“Kimberly was so excited — you would think I won the Daytona 500,” said Mitchell. “She loves me and loves to see me do what I love to do.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
