Temple law student Stephen Mallozzi interns at a law firm during the week and drives NASCAR trucks on the weekend

Stephen John Mallozzi isn’t your average Temple law student. Set to graduate next spring, the 24-year-old Swedesboro, N.J., native has balanced two passions for the last two years.

If you’ve heard Mallozzi’s name before, it’s probably connected to him being a NASCAR driver. He drives part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and has raced in the Xfinity Cup Series, making his debut on the track in 2022. He has started in a career-high four races in the Truck Series this year.

On top of that, he’s working as an associate for a law firm, Archer & Greiner, this summer in Voorhees. He also picks up shifts at Outback Steakhouse or as a delivery driver to continue racing, since he isn’t a full-time driver.

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“The juggling question’s easy, right? I’ll never get the chance to do this again,” Mallozzi said. “I’m young. I’m 24. If I want to try and make it work and have any chance and not live the rest of my life looking back and saying, ‘Hey, I should have tried a little harder,’ now is the time to do it. So that’s why I’m willing to have those sleepless nights and those long days and those tough travel plans right now, because when you’re 32 and maybe more established as a lawyer, you can’t really just decide you want to go back to NASCAR.

“You never want to do either one of those things [halfway]. You want to make sure that you’re able to still put your best foot forward.”

It’s been over two months since Mallozzi was last behind the wheel for a race, a 33rd-place finish in April at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina. He admits the stop-and-start nature, racing infrequently against drivers who do this for a living, is his “biggest challenge behind being competitive and trying to not sacrifice professionally.” But Mallozzi also remembers how he thought his debut in 2022 would be a one-time thing.

He returned to racing because of his father, Stephen Anthony Mallozzi, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer in 2016 and is still receiving treatment. The younger Mallozzi calls his father, who works even while participating in a clinical trial, “an inspiration for me.”

“I don’t think I have any room to complain about maybe having to work double time to make racing and the law happen at the same time,” Mallozzi said. “I think we’re nine years into this fight at this point. Pretty crazy for a guy who was only given six months [to live] out of the gate. … He continues his fight and acts as inspiration for me to continue to pursue my dreams. Because, I’ll be honest with you, trying to be a professional race car driver is really hard, but something tells me fighting Stage 4 cancer is a little bit harder.”

After his second career race in Martinsville (Va.) in early 2023, Mallozzi went viral after sharing his story about returning from the race at 3 a.m. and working a morning shift at Outback Steakhouse four hours later, which led to a racing sponsorship from the company. Since then, Mallozzi has made 10 starts between the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series, his best finish (22nd) coming in his debut race, the Camping World Truck Series’ O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 in Lexington, Ohio.

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Before racing took off, though, Mallozzi attended the University of Virginia after high school and graduated with a degree in economics with a sports media minor in 2023. But last year, he realized he’d like a stable career and has “always been great at presentation, always been great at speaking.” He wanted to become a lawyer, following in his father’s footsteps.

His mother, Melissa, describes her son as “an excellent student,” whom she believes “never got a B.” His choice for law school came down to Virginia or Temple; Mallozzi chose the latter to be closer to his family.

“He’s actually had a full scholarship to Temple Law. He’s their Beasley Scholar,” his mother said. “That being said, he could have gone to other schools, too, but he decided that. Once his father got sick, we said, ‘We can’t pay for law school. You have to do that on your own.’ And he said, ‘OK, I’ll make it work.’ And he did, and he wanted to continue to race and pursue that dream as well, so he went with Temple on the full ride, and he’s super glad he did. It’s a great school. He’s having a really good experience, but he’s an extremely hard worker.”

Added Mallozzi: “Temple is one of the most highly respected schools for the firms that are hiring in the greater Philadelphia area. … The law school decision was always wanting to have a stable career, always wanting to have a plan in action for if [or] when racing goes wrong, and Temple University was a no-brainer, considering the close ties I have to Philly.”

Although Mallozzi is still figuring out what he’d like to do with his degree, he’s interested in combining his passions for sports and law. Having negotiated multiple racing sponsorships for himself face-to-face, he says, he’d like to work in the name, image, and likeness space for high school and college athletes.

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“It’s probably super intimidating to have to navigate [NIL] on your own and not really have anyone to guide you, right?” Mallozzi said. “Because unless your dad or mom was also a professional athlete who had this experience or your mom or dad is a lawyer who understands really well what’s going on, you’re dealing with some pretty significant amounts of money. And I think to have somebody who is 25, 26 [years old], just out of law school, who also did this very recently, or even is still doing it if I’m racing at that time, would probably be really comforting and a really nice niche for me to carve out.”

Mallozzi was set to compete in the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway this weekend before losing his Truck Series ride for the race. He will continue the balancing act of law and racing over the next six weeks, although his “summer associate job is the most important thing on my calendar.” He returns to school in September, as the NASCAR regular season is beginning to wind down.

And he’ll have his family’s support, whether he’s on the track, in the classroom, or working as a law associate.

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“It’s been a constant push to say, ‘Hey, Stephen, you have to live your life. You have to continue on, no matter what happens here,’” Melissa Mallozzi said. “‘I know you love your dad; he loves you. I love you, but you have to make your way in this world, and that’s all that either one of us wants.’ I think that’s been his biggest challenge to overcome. I’m proud that he has pursued what he loves to do, and that’s what I want for my kids, is for them to be happy. And he’s living his dream.”

Mallozzi added: “I’m balancing all the things I want to accomplish in life and figuring out a way to do it. I’ve got the job to set up my future. I’ve got the job to help pay the bills, which is serving or delivery driving. I’ve got the career I’d love to pursue, which is racing. And then I’ve got law school, which is a requirement to set yourself up for the future.”