USAR: Mike Mason racing news 2005-06-20

High School Graduation Latest Victory For Mike Mason

Bakersfield, CA - Mike Mason celebrated a personal milestone when he graduated from Bakersfield (CA) High School on Thursday, June 9.

The aspiring 18-year-old race car driver now has his sights set on bigger goals.

"It's time to get to Huntersville and start working on our race team and race cars," said Mason, who will make his USAR Hooters Pro Cup division debut later this season. "We've pretty much got everything in place. Now all we need to do is get it all organized, finish our new car, andstart testing and racing. I've been waiting for this to happen for months and its finally here."

Before Mason and his Mason Motorsports team could move to North Carolina, the young driver had to take care of finishing high school. A solid student, Mason has been planning the move for nearly a year.

"It's taken quite a while to get things accomplished," said Mason, who came through the California go kart, late model and touring division stock car ranks as a teenager. "It's been tough trying to concentrate on school because we have had so many things going trying to get our race team moved and established in North Carolina.

"I'm going to miss Bakersfield, school and my friends, but racing is all I ever wanted to do and this is a great opportunity for me. I'm really looking forward to getting back in a car and starting to get a feel for Hooters Pro Cup racing."

Mason isn't completely done with school as he will enter college in the fall in the Charlotte, NC area. He plans on pursuing a degree in Motorsports Engineering.

"Charlotte is the place to be if you want to get an educations and involved in all aspects of big league stock car racing," said Mason. "My family has made a lot of sacrifices over the years to keep me in the seat of a race car and I am going to do my best to make all that pay off. I can't wait to get started."

Mason Motorsports has already set up shop in suburban Huntersville, NC and Mason will move there permanently the last week of June. He is expected to make his Hooters Cup debut later this year in August or September.

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