Straight out of Tennessee and ready to roll in this week's Nashville Spring Series, is Semi-Pro driver Sam Mazzo! His love for racing ignited at a young age from watching racing in NASCAR to the movie Cars. From navigating the world of motorsports through quarter-midgets to Legend Cars, with great support from his family and racing role models, chasing podiums and showing resilience on the track is what Mazzo continues to strive for.
Hometown: Fairview, Tennessee
Division: Semi-Pro
Car Number: 31M
Race Team: Mullins Motorsports
Favorite Movie: Talladega Nights
1. What got you started in racing?
I’ve always loved racing ever since I can remember pretty much. I remember my dad watching NASCAR when I was little and I'd be on the ground rolling my Hot Wheel Cars around pretending like I was racing them. When I was really little I remember when I was three or four and just fell in love with the movie Cars and that’s really what kind of sparked my love for racing and cars. No one in my immediate family really raced so when I was seven years old, every year my dad would me to a Monster Jam event in the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and they had these quarter-midget cars out there before the event started and a little go-kart league so we went and checked it out because there were kids that looked my age racing. So he (his dad) got a flyer and I remember walking to our seats and I remember him asking me if I wanted to try it and I just had the biggest smile on my face. So when I was seven years old in 2013, it just took off from there and I just started making laps in quarter-midgets and I just knew I was in love with it. I’m 18 now and I started in 2013 so this is like my 10th full year.
2. What has your racing journey been so far?
Well, there’s been a lot of ups and downs. I really didn’t have that many wins, I had a few regional wins and quarter-midget wins and some good national finishes but I don’t really have the stats to show that I had a bunch of success in quarter-midgets. Definitely started to succeed when I moved up to the USAC Ford Focus Midgets in 2019, I placed second nationally and in 2021 I won a couple of races there and then at the end of 2021 is when I got the Legend Car. Josh Mullins called my dad from a mutual friend and that’s kind of how it got going. In September 2021 we went up to Highland Rim [Speedway] and practiced and then that same weekend we raced and then that was my first race in one of Josh’s cars. Then 2022 was my first full year in Legends and I’ve been doing it ever since.
3. What has been your most rewarding win?
Every year at the Spring Series, not so much at Highland Rim, but now that this year it’s in Nashville, I feel like the past couple of years I’ve definitely been able to podium a lot and have had some good finishes because I just feel like that track really resonates with me and that’s somewhere I’ve really had success at. But, the one that has really been the most memorable to me over my career so far was probably my first career win at Lanier Speedway. I started on pole and led every lap so that kind of sparked me winning and was probably my most memorable one. I’ve been very close in Nashville a couple of times but with late cautions, it kind of took the opportunity away but I would just say my first career one at Lanier was my most defining one.
4. What is your favorite event to race in?
Although I really enjoyed the Spring Series just because it’s all of the national competitors and the best drivers in the country come to my home track which I feel is really fun because you race with high competition and really get to race on my favorite track but I would say my favorite event is definitely the Summer Shootout. There’s a lot of prestigious names for one, and for two, the atmosphere is just amazing. There's no other place like Charlotte. Just walking through the pits feels like a special event each and every week. I would say the Summer Shootout is definitely my favorite event to race and just be in the environment and it’s just a really good time over the summer.
5. What’s the most important thing to know when driving?
I’ve always been told that racing is 90% mental and 10% everything else so I would say that, especially the past couple of years and even leading into some this year like Winter Nationals. The middle piece has always been something I’ve kind of struggled with but over the past few years I’ve learned, I have the car, I have the ability, I just need to put that to work. I would say having confidence that your car is going to be there and, it’s just up to us. You kind of just have to trust yourself and trust the car and just try to cope with that and be there, just be present all the time and try not to overthink and understand the situation going on in each race or even practice or qualifying or whatever that may be.
6. What is your pre-race routine?
I don’t really have a certain routine I just like to be alone for a minute before I get in the car and I kind of just think about what I’m going to do but also I try not to overthink as well. Sometimes I have the tendency to overthink, I try to calm down and keep my confidence in my head. I don’t really listen to music or anything like that, I just try to be quiet and kind of think of what I’m going to do to make the best out of the race.
7. Who do you look up to in the world of motorsports?
Over the past few years, Josh (Mullins) has won the National Championship and he’s just helped me so much throughout my entire racing career and just being in the shop with him and having that fellowship, he’s really like a father figure to me. Just having that bonding time with him on and off the track because I mean I look up to pretty much everything he does whether that be in racing or just life in general. I would say Josh is definitely the person I look up to in motorsports just because he’s coached me so much and that’s carried over, on and off the racetrack so I would definitely say Josh.
8. What is the best part of racing for you?
The best part of racing is just learning how to deal with adversity and all the life lessons that come with it but it’s also the camaraderie that comes with your competitors. I’ve made so many of my lifelong friends through racing. I definitely don’t know where I would be without those people. Like Josh for example, he made me the driver and the person that I am today. I would say the memories made and the people I’ve met and just everything about racing from unloading the trailer to loading it back at the end of the event. Even if there’s a bad day, you always have somebody to lean on and talk to and it’s an experience like no other, whether it be a local race in Nashville or at a [the Summer] Shootout. I would just say the people and the support are really the best part from each end, especially in the Legend Car [community], it’s like one big family.
9. Circle Track or Road Course?
All of my career I’ve only raced one road course in a go-kart a few times but I do enjoy racing both. I would definitely have to say oval just simply because that’s what I’ve had the most practice on and that’s where I’ve had success. I would say oval, but I would like to race my Legend Car on a road course.
10. How have you been able to balance your senior year of high school with racing?
My school has been reliable as far as they've been really lenient in letting me miss a lot of class time and school time for racing, they know it’s my passion. The work doesn’t stop, I still have the same assignments as everybody else but they just assign it to me and allow me to make it up when I get back. As long as I make it up, they don’t really mind me missing. I feel like the fact that I’ve stayed on top of my work and that I have somewhat decent grades. I’ve kind of gained respect from my teachers because I’ve proven that I can stay on top of school and manage racing at the same time. Normally I’ll do it (schoolwork) in the car on the way to and from races. Like when we go to Atlanta, which is four hours away or something like that, I just find time to do it and make it work. That’s just how it’s been all four years of high school.
11. What are your goals for going into the NASCAR Technical Institute?
My goal ever since I was little has always been to be a driver. I’m still working towards that obviously, I think many people can attest to that but, I would like to either be a mechanic in some form of NASCAR whether that be Trucks, Xfinity, or Cup. The school teaches a lot of stuff like fabrication, pit crew, engine building, just everything so there are a lot of different avenues, I just think I’m gonna try all the avenues of the school but I feel like my main passion would be to either be a crew chief or driver one day for sure.
12. What do you like to do outside of racing?
I played lacrosse in high school. I played for three years ever since I was a sophomore and that’s kind of just a team bonding thing, just to keep my hand-eye coordination and my agility and cardio in check for racing which is the main purpose I play but I like to do that and I like to do iRacing when I can. I’m not that serious because of all the other stuff I have but I’m also on the shooting sports team at school which is like sporting clay shooting and I really enjoy that. Along with that I really love spending time outdoors and spending time in God’s creation. I like to hunt, I like to fish, and I just love spending time outdoors by myself or with others, it kind of goes along with racing because you can make so much fellowship with it. I also like to go to Josh’s shop and kind of watch him and learn from him and do what I can on the car to get better and to have a better understanding of the mechanics for when I’m in the car and at the racetrack.
13. What would it be if you had to pick a career outside of racing?
If I wasn’t a race car driver or involved in racing I’d probably try to pursue some sort of music like either a singer/songwriter or playing the guitar or something like that. I just feel like music is a big part of my life and I like to listen to all types of music and I think that it would be fun to write songs and share it with other people.
14. What are you looking forward to heading into the Spring Series in your hometown?
Last year was a little bit different because there are a few more Semi-Pros that have moved on to bigger things but I feel like this year with the new disc brakes and the new brake systems, I feel like it’s gonna be a little bit more to adapt to so I’m interested to see how myself and everyone else adapts to the track. Nashville is not necessarily the easiest track to learn if you’ve never been on it before, I think the new brakes are gonna produce hard racing and I’m interested and excited to just try, succeed and in my finishes, get a Top 10 or Top Five or whatever it may be. I’d just like to come out with a clean for the whole week.
15. What are your goals for the rest of the 2024 season?
Obviously, Top 10 and Top Fives and podiums would be nice but I mean, my goal has pretty much stayed the same for the past three years. I’ve definitely gotten better with clean finishes and building upon those finishes and hopefully, wins will come but I would just say finishing clean, especially in the (Summer) Shootout because they like to wreck at the Shootout. I would say finishing clean and hopefully building upon those finishes and I would like to try and achieve a state championship or a track championship, I definitely want a podium at the Shootout as well and I just want to finish every race, that is my goal.
16. Any final thoughts?
I would just say through the ups and downs and all the adversity of racing, my faith has been a solid standpoint that I can lean on and I feel like every time I have a bad finish or something, I always know God has a plan and he’s constantly working, not just in my career but in my life. I would just say if there’s any advice to give to somebody, just turn to Christ and good things will happen. My faith has really been a big standpoint in my career because I just feel like through adversity and through wins, I can glorify God through everything I do and I’m confident that he sees value in me no matter my performance or if I mess up.