Senior, Mason Diaz spends his weekends unlike most high school students, traveling to big National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) races.  

“What I like a lot about racing is the speed and the door to door racing,” said Diaz. “When you’re going 100 plus miles an hour and leading the race, there is no better feeling.” 

Diaz races many different types of cars throughout the year, but his favorite is the pro late model. “My favorite car is the pro late model because it is a straight rail chassis with a Crate motor with about 430 horsepower,” said Diaz. “Everywhere we go that car is fast which makes it better. I have four wins in five starts, it’s the car that you just go out and drive and not worry as much.”  

He raced last season in the late model stock car division at Southern National Motorsports Park in Wilson County, North Carolina, winning five times. He won the Rookie of the Year award in the NASCAR WHELEN AllAmerican Series in North Carolina. He also won the Rookie of the Year Award in Florida.  

Diaz, 18, made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut on Oct. 28, 2017 in the Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway. He started ninth in the race, ahead of many veterans and points leaders in the truck series. 

“The truck race last year I learned a lot,” said Diaz. “It’s not what I only learned on the track, but also what I learned off the track as well. I learned about how NASCAR runs their races, which is different than a local track.” Diaz would go onto finish 23rd, but he learned a lot about how the truck handled and raced throughout the 200-mile race.  

“I learned a lot with the different kind of tires that they run. They run radial tires which are different than what I run on a regular basis,” said Diaz. “I also learned a lot about how to control the truck since my first time sitting in a truck was the first round of practice for the race.”  

Diaz races with a competitive drive and spirit as he rounds each corner chasing down the leader. “My biggest influence in racing isn’t one person.  

My biggest influence would be the fastest guy at the track,” Diaz said. “I travel a lot for races and at every track someone new to me is the fastest. I want to be better than the fastest guy at the track that I travel to.” He aims to race in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway in September. The Xfinity series is a part of the top three series on the circuit along with the truck series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.  

“The Xfinity race in the fall, I expect to make the show,” said Diaz. “I will be happy just to make the show because there will be around 44 cars racing for 36 starting spots.”  

The week following, Diaz will travel back to Martinsville to race in the truck series for the second time in his career. He will look to improve on his performance after racing in the truck series last year.  

This season, Diaz won the Rattler 125 at South Alabama Speedway in Kinston, Alabama.