By Mike Kitchel
The life of a racecar driver is unique. Particularly for a young sprint car racer who spends a majority of his days waiting impatiently for the moment he can leave for the racetrack each night. For a typical teenager this would amount to wasting time through an effortless mix of sleeping in, playing video games and aimlessly drifting through a cell phone.

But Mason Daniel isn't your average teenage racecar driver.

"I've been studying the stock market and trading since I turned 18," he explains. "I've always been interested in the stock market – most people think it's too complicated and leave it to the experts. But I've always been the type to figure out how to learn things on my own."

Mason's mornings are spent trading on the stock market, and on long trips to sprint car races, he studies day trading magazines. His backpack is filled with ‘Stock Market 101' manuals, 300-page how-to books and every other version of resource material that will fit. He's certainly taught himself about the profession. And then some.

While this may sound crazy to some people, it comes as no surprise to those who know Mason. When he was a young kid he spent a lot of time playing games on his computer. Then he learned to program. By the time he was 12 he'd written a business plan for his father Scott that outlined plans to set up his own server to host online games for his friends. Once he did – it expanded quickly. What originated as a plan for Mason and his buddies to play Mount and Blade War Band exploded to two dedicated servers that hosted upwards of 200 members per day.

Not bad for a 12-year-old. He hopes his career in the stock market goes as well.

"With everything in my life I've always been self-taught or had a mentor teach me," Mason said. "Once I started racing I knew that I was going to have to keep learning on my own. First it was computer programming, then cyber security and then I found out about day trading. It's been a cool experience."

Racing is a playground of instant gratification, but Mason's always thought in the long term. But when he decided to become a racecar driver full-time it meant he would have to bypass college. And, in the event his driving aspirations didn't work out, his career path required a backup plan.

Mason already had one.

"I knew when I took this alternate path by skipping college to pursue a career in racing that I needed to find a backup plan," he explained. "I was always under the impression that you couldn't trade stocks unless you had a degree. But I learned that a lot of people that trade don't have a degree, are self-taught, and can make a good living at it."

And while his racing life requires a unique schedule, his stock market aspirations fit in perfectly.

"Once I graduated high school, I shifted my focus to day trading, because they only trade the first hour of the day," Mason continued. "That's easy. I can trade for an hour in the morning and then go work on my sprint car."

His job on the night shift – behind the wheel of his sprint car – stands firm as his primary focus. And his success on the racetrack is ascending at a rate that is beginning to make it look like he may not need a career backup plan after all. But that doesn't mean Mason has to give up his stock market dreams.

Because there will always be plenty of time to kill in the morning.

The Catalyst Blog