Photo – Courtesy of Mason Mitchell Motorsports
For Mason Mitchell Motorsports driver Austin Wayne Self, the 2015 ARCA Racing series season has seen him be a threat to win week in and week out.
“We’ve just been focusing on ourselves,” states Self who has accumulated four top-fives and six top-tens this season. “I feel like we’ve definitively put ourselves in position to win this year we just need that little bit of luck and we’ll be in victory lane”
A native of Austin, TX, Self says that there is not one correct path that a driver can take in NASCAR and explains that it is unlike any sport in terms of development.
“You look at all the different drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, and look at how they got there and their path leading up to it and there’s no one person whose the same and there’s no right path”
Although you wouldn’t infer it from watching him in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Self grew up with open wheel racing aspirations with the desire of one day racing in the Indy 500.
“There is not a whole lot of asphalt racing in Texas, especially when you compare it to the east coast”
When asked what inspired him to come to NASCAR and the ARCA Racing Series, Self went on to say…
“Especially at a younger age there are more opportunities in NASCAR, I had never raced on anything circle track and I started racing late-models and just kinda fell in love with it (NASCAR)”
Along with the four top-fives and six top-tens this season, Self has also had two poles this season and finds himself fourth in the series standings. Piloting the No. 98 that had its fair share of success last season, Self has maintained expectations for this year.
Chicagoland Speedway presents a special opportunity for Austin as his team owner, teammate, and this week his crew chief, Mason Mitchell was able to win this race a year ago.
“I feel like having Mason there with me has been a big part of our success just because he knows the way I drive, he knows race setups, he’s raced the past couple years so he knows the competition.”
Although Self admits he struggled here a year ago, he feels confident racing for Mason Mitchell Motorsports and feels like there is no reason he and his team couldn’t get the job done this weekend.
“Everything the past five races have kinda fallen in place. We’ve been putting ourselves in position to win and have been taking chances with tires and doing things a lot different. We’ve made a couple changes here the past two weeks and I think its gone pretty smooth so I feel pretty confident.”
The Scott 150 from the Chicagoland Speedway will be live on Fox Sports 2 Saturday, June 20th beginning at 6:00 pm ET. Arcaracing.com will have live timing and scoring presented by Pirate Energy and AM Technical Solutions for all on-track activity.