Mason Diaz has plenty of reasons to be confident heading into his first ever CARS Late Model Stock Tour race at Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday afternoon.
Diaz, 15, from Manassas, Virginia, has turned many laps at Southern National in Legends cars, Limited Late Models and Super Late Models. This weekend, Diaz will be piloting a car prepared by Late Model Stock Car great Tommy Lemons, Jr. and Jumpstart Motorsports.
“Just hoping to get more seat time is the expectation,” Diaz remarked. “Trying to hopefully finish up front, keep my nose clean, race good guys and get more comfortable with running with a bigger field of cars. The talent that I will be running against on Sunday is the best of the best and I want to learn as much as I can from them.”
The recent postponement of the event from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon gives Diaz another advantage. Sunday’s 150 lap race will be the first CARS Tour race ever run in the afternoon. Diaz, however, has run many laps in daylight at Southern National in Late Models – most recently in the Thanksgiving Classic last November.
“It gives me a little bit of an advantage here,” Diaz stated. “Southern National is a hard track to judge, how it will be on any given race day. The track is so different from one day to the other but it is my home track and I have a lot of laps here and can adjust to this track pretty well. Being quick to the gas, not wear the tires off are things I hope to use to my advantage this Sunday.”
Diaz has raced predominantly in Legends cars. Last season, he finished second in Legends points at Southern National Motorsports Park. Diaz also competed in a CARS Super Late Model Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway, a Limited Late Model race at Southern National Motorsports Park, the Thanksgiving Classic and a couple PASS races.
Diaz scored a career best second place finish in a Limited Late Model race at South Boston’s season opener. That performance also propelled the confidence of the Northern Virginia driver.
“It was a blast,” Diaz explained. “I gained a lot of confidence at SoBo and is was a great way to start off the season. Racing side by side on the high side, it helped me figure out the car and helped me get more familiar with the car I’ll be racing. With the season coming on strong, that race helped me a lot to know and understand how to handle different tracks and run different lines. SoBo was a great way to start off the season and I look to take the momentum from that race and use it in Sundays race”
As of now, Diaz does not plan to compete full-time in the CARS Tour. He is scheduled to run the second CARS race at Southern National, run for the points championship in both Legends Division and the new Pro-Late Model Division at Southern National while also competing at Martinsville in a car prepared by Tommy Lemons (Jumpstart Motorsports) and maybe compete in the Snowflake at the end of the 2016 season.
Photo: Mason Diaz, pictured at Southern National Motorsports Park. (Credit: Alicia Hackett/Frameworks Photography)
