Mason Diaz will make his second career NASCAR XFINITY Series start in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Friday evening and he’s heading to Richmond with plenty of confidence after a strong NASCAR K&N Pro Series East performance at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Diaz, 18, from Manassas, Virginia, finished ninth in the Zombie Auto 150 at Bristol on Saturday afternoon. This weekend, he will return to Richmond Raceway, where he competed in an XFINITY Series race last fall with a 19th place finish. This time, he will be driving the no. 86 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet for Brandonbilt Motorsports, teamed up with crew chief and former Old Dominion Speedway Late Model champion Adam Brenner.
“I am looking forward to this weekend coming off a solid top-10 at Bristol,” Diaz said. “Last September, we finished 19th at Richmond and, this weekend, I believe we can do the better. Brandonbilt Motorsports has been racing the whole season and are doing very well.”
Diaz won the Late Model track championship at Southern National Motorsports Park in 2017, scoring multiple wins at the Lucama, North Carolina track that season in a Late Model Stock and a Pro Late Model. He has also won in a Pro Late Model at New Smyrna Speedway, in a Late Model Stock at Caraway Speedway and in Legend Cars at Southern National, Dominion Raceway, and Carteret County Speedway.
With two starts in the K&N Pro Series under his belt in 2019, Diaz feels more acclimated to the bigger cars raced in the upper echelons of NASCAR racing.
“I believe I have gained much needed experience from racing the K&N car for two races,” Diaz explained. “Racing the K&N car is much closer to an XFINITY car than Super Late Models. I now have two more races run on radial tires which is a learning curve in itself. The tires are way different than anything I have run in the past. The K&N car is also close to the weight of the XFINITY car which helps.”
Diaz believes he can have a strong performance in Saturday’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway with the additional experience he has accrued throughout the past year.
“If everything happens without any problems, I think we can finish in the top-15 this weekend,” Diaz stated. “But my main goal is to just gain experience and keep my nose clean throughout the race and be there at the end.”
Diaz is being backed this weekend by Solid Rock Carriers, Prince William Marina, The Sign Shop, King Roofing and Construction, Barrett Capitol, Trevor Yelgab, Dominion Raceway, Extreme Collision, and Racing Virginia.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Qualifying at Richmond Raceway will commence at 3:40pm and the 250-lap, 187.5-mile ToyotaCare 250 will commence at 7pm on Friday night. Tickets are still available for the event. XFINITY Series Qualifying and the ToyotaCare 250 will both be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) and on the Fox Sports Go app for those unable to attend the race.
To learn more about Mason Diaz Racing, check out his website at www.masondiazracing.com, “like” Mason Diaz Racing on Facebook, or follow @masondiazracing on Twitter.
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