Finding Victory Lane with Venturini Motorsports: Mason Diaz

Today, we are proud to continue our popular series of interviews with the driver’s of Venturini Motorsports. 

My co-host, Mykkal Mulalley, and myself have been grateful to the teams and racers that we have spoken with on the program, and during this unparalleled lull in the racing season, we hope to provide you, our readers, listeners, and fans, a little snippet into some of the people who make this the greatest sport in the world.

Today, we are pleased to bring you a little more insight into the mind of Mason Diaz.

 How are you spending your off time? I am working full time at my family business, The Sign Shop. We are an essential business during this crazy time. With doing that, I am also enjoying some free time by working out, iracing and fishing a bit. Trying to keep myself busy while keeping distance from others.

 

What is your favorite car number? My favorite number is 24, it has been my number from the beginning of my career.

 

Do you prefer a loose race car, or a tight race car? I prefer a loose race car. I feel as a driver you can control it by giving it less gas coming off the corner or not arcing the car as much going in the corners.

 

What’s the most complicated part about driving in the series? The most complicated part right now is not being able to race but when the series is in full effect there are a ton of difficulties. The most difficult is being able to put the past weekend behind you and focus on the weekend at hand. This can be leaving some emotions behind from the last weekend between another driver or my crew members.

 

With the changes in the racing schedule due to Covid19, do you think that ARCA will have any events without fans in the stands? If so, how do you feel about that? I think that that possibility is possible. We have never been through this kind of situation before so this is new to everyone. If the series is going to run races without fans in the stands then it would be at the bigger named tracks rather than the short tracks.

 

Was racing always your dream? Racing has always been my dream since I was a kid. I played a ton of different sports and nothing clicked like racing.

 

What’s the toughest part of a race weekend? The toughest part for a race weekend would be the down time for myself. The down time just opens up time to think about the car which is a good thing or bad thing. I tend to overthink a ton of situations which is why the down time is a big issue for myself.

 

Would you ever own your own racetrack? This is a funny question! My family actually owns 2 race tracks. One we run full time which is Southern National Motorsports Park (SNMP). The other track my father co-owns Wake County Speedway and the partner takes care of the track operations. For SNMP I have worked there since 2018 the year after I won the Track Championship in the Late Model Stock Series. In 2018 I was named assistant manager but that’s just a title. For the weekly shows I run the Tire Shed and every other job needed from Clean up, to concessions, and even the tow truck driver. If there is a job Inside the pits I have done it and I would not trade it for a thing. It has taught me a lot from both sides of the fence for race tracks which gives me a better understanding of racing as a whole.

 

What racing series or style do you follow the most? I follow Nascar, during the season I follow the Truck series the most due to being able to watch the series since the days are not conflicting with my race days. With that, I would say I follow Nascar Division 1, which is the short track series, the most due to that is what I race and the track I operate runs.

 

Growing up, who was your racing idol? My racing Idol was Jeff Gordon, this is where the number comes from. I was a fan of his before I ever thought about driving. Fun fact, my first go kart was a complete replica from his flame car, and this was when I was 4 years old.

 

What is your ultimate racing goal? My ultimate racing goal would be to make it to Cup. This is a difficult goal but not an impossible one. I just have to keep performing and making the right decisions as I move forward with my career. With the team I have behind me right now, Toyota, anything is possible!

 

We’d like to thank Mason Diaz for taking the time out of his busy schedule. Stay tuned for the next installment of this continuing series.

 

Adam Sinclair