“I got out of the truck and thought ‘did that really just happen?”
What happened to Stephen Mallozzi was his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Mid-Ohio Speedway this weekend, where he managed to overcome starting 36th and last and turn it into a 22nd place finish.
The Salesianum alum finished all 67 laps during the 150-mile race, working his way up as far as 19th place during the event.
Mallozzi’s journey to one of NASCAR’s national series came as he’s watched his father Stephen A. battle Stage 4 lung cancer.
SJ’s dad was in attendance this weekend, and said he’s proud of his son’s determination to get onto the track.
“He made it all work, I give him a lot of credit for that.”
SJ said he left his car Saturday satisfied that a dream came true.
“I set out to do this thing, and I did it. So there’s a part of me that knows if this is the end of the journey and I can’t find a way back into the sport, I did what most people never get the opportunity to do, and I did it with my Dad still around.”
Finding sponsorships to race in NASCAR’s lower series are not easy to find, but for one Saturday afternoon, it really did happen for Stephen Mallozzi.