The NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has become well-established as the “proving ground” to the NASCAR Cup Series, similar to the NCAA in the NFL and NBA. Unlike other sports leagues, some drivers make careers out of the “training wheels” series, but many others intend on going Cup Series racing one day. This season, 20-year-old athlete, Mason Maggio has run various races with a new Truck Series team, Floridian Motorsports and recently out qualified one of the best Trucks in the field at Bristol Motor Speedway last Thursday on September 19. Both Maggio and Floridian Motorsports alike surprised a lot of people in the garage by making the show on qualifying speed. Maggio also recently ran his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race of the season, driving for the young team, Joey Gase Motorsports at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 7, resulting in an 18th-place finish at the Georgia-based track which he grew up racing Legend Cars at.
“Atlanta was a huge confidence booster for sure. It’s been pretty up and down this year and I felt like I came into the year with more confidence, having a set schedule and a guarantee that I’d be working with the same people on a pretty regular basis (at Floridian Motorsports). Unfortunately, we’ve had a few things fall out of our control.” Maggio explains. “During Stage 3 at Atlanta in February, we had a top-20 run going on until we had a tire go down and at Darlington we had the same thing happen in the midst of an easy top-20 day. Pocono was a good race for us, but we just struggled with track position and our execution going on and off pit road wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Practically every team in the history of NASCAR has had a decent amount of struggle within their first year of existence, and these can be regarded as growing pains. Floridian Motorsports has had plenty of growing pains, but struggles are paramount to success.
“I knew with the Floridian Motorsports program that struggles would be a factor this year, but it’s been pretty up and down overall. Getting that 18th-place finish and knowing from the behind the scenes standpoint, going into that weekend, the pressure was on since I didn’t even have a primary sponsor. Joey (Gase) and my Dad were scrambling to secure a sponsor and Joey has been very vocal about getting me to become a part of his program, which I’m extremely grateful for and I’m extremely thankful to work with Joey and Mike Hillman Sr. at JGM. It was great for us to finally work together, capping it off with a top-20, which also happens to be my best finish to date in the national series.” Maggio praises. “This is something I’m very happy with and I was finally able to put some pep in my step, after not seeing the results at first.”
Bristol Motor Speedway is regarded as the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile”, boasting 0.533 miles and 24° degrees of banking in the corners. You have to be able to handle a car at high-speeds, turning laps of just over 14 seconds. Maggio turned a qualifying lap fast enough to send home a truck built by powerhouse Spire Motorsports and driver Marco Andretti home, causing them to miss the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway last week.
“I knew going into the race that there would be two guys going home and a lot of people figured it would probably our truck. We proved a lot of people wrong, sending the #04 truck packing. We celebrate the little victories after making races on speed and with knowing the odds are stacked against you. I’m thankful enough that Scott Osteen and everybody else at Floridian Motorsports have allowed me to drive their trucks and we’re going look at Bristol as a learning experience. We’ve got a race at Talladega Superspeedway coming up next week, which we’re gonna attempt to qualify. If we play it smart and make the race, we’ll be there at the end and I’m definitely excited for that one.
Talladega Superspeedway is NASCAR’s biggest and fastest track on the circuit, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series runs there once a year. Floridian Motorsports and Mason Maggio both know that if they can make the race, there is endless potential for a great finish leaving next Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225, since the draft is the equalizer and Talladega is known for having surprise winners and even top-5 and top-10 finishers.
“Talladega has been one of our original races since the start of this year and it’s the one I’ve been looking for this year. Finishing 20th or better would be huge for this group and I would love to do that for these guys, since it’s my last scheduled race, unless something changes. I would love to end our season on a high note and we have a lot of stuff on the way, but a lot of things have to fall in place for us to do more races before the end of the year.”
Most drivers race on a contract basis, and sometimes even handshake deals. Floridian Motorsports took a chance on Maggio, as his career is still fresh and both driver and team are making names for themselves.
“As of right now, I’m not 100% sure if I’ll be back next year, but there have been talks about us doing Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega, but nothing is guaranteed. I’d love to continue to help Floridian Motorsports next year, as we’re one of the smaller teams that only owns a few Trucks and leases other Trucks. There are still a lot of opportunities for next year and I’ve had a few people approach me for some NASCAR Xfinity Series opportunities. I feel like the NASCAR Xfinity Series is one of the best racing series in the sport right now and there are a lot of opportunities there. Now would be a great way to capitalize on them, but I’ll be more than happy to return to Floridian Motorsports next year to help them as well.
Those who want to see Maggio in action can tune in to next weekend’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 4, 2024 at 4:30PM EST on FS1. Maggio has shown his strength and speed on Drafting Tracks and pending him qualifying his Truck into the field, you can expect Maggio to be a factor for a top-20 and possibly even a top-10 finish at the end of the race!
Every Man on Every Crew, LLC. 
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