{"id":1857,"date":"2011-10-27T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2011-10-27T16:02:17","modified_gmt":"2011-10-27T20:02:17","slug":"a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-blake-koch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/10\/a-conversation-with-nascar-driver-blake-koch.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with NASCAR driver Blake Koch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you’re ever looking for Blake Koch amongst a crowded group of his NASCAR peers, just look for the guy with the impossible-to-miss, brighter-than-bright smile. It’s a common sight in the garage area to see Koch (pronounced Cook) flashing those pearly whites despite being part of an underfunded team that fights tooth-and-nail (pardon the pun) to keep up with major players like Roush-Fenway and Joe Gibbs Racing.<\/p>\n

Maybe that’s because, beyond his competitive drive (which is undoubtedly there), Koch is motivated by a desire to show God’s love and share a message of hope that he’s personally learned by walking alongside his mother during her recent bout with cancer. In this Inspiring Athletes interview, the Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year contender talks about his unlikely journey to NASCAR, the Bible study that’s changed his life, how his mother’s illness strengthened his faith and why his team at MacDonald Motorsports is different from most others:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: When did you start racing?<\/p>\n

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Blake Koch, driver of the #81 Nationwide Series car (Photo courtesy of NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blake Koch: I started racing in the middle of 2007. I was around 21 years old when I got in a stock car for the first time. Before that I raced dirt bikes growing up. So I\u2019ve been around racing my whole life but just not car racing. I got started in a spec truck in a Florida series. It\u2019s called a fast truck series. I did about 10 to 15 races in that and then I got in a late model and ran about 10 races in that. Throughout that time, I didn\u2019t love it because my truck kept breaking every week or we\u2019d get rained out. It was pretty frustrating. I didn\u2019t know if I loved it that much. But then it just clicked one day that this was what I wanted to do. So I tried to get into a driver development program and I was able to make that happen with Richard Childress\u2019 program out West, which was run through Golden Gate Racing team. We got a sponsor for that called Godspeaks.com and ran that full time in 2009. I made my Nationwide debut in 2009 in the #81 for MacDonald Motorsports in Memphis. We started 25th and finished 17th in that race. At the time, I didn\u2019t appreciate how good of a run that was until this year. It\u2019s hard just to finish a race. It\u2019s really difficult. The competition level is so high. But this year I\u2019m full time and there\u2019s a testimony in there about how I got out of racing. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I just felt like God was stripping it away from me until I gave it all up and put it in His hands and then He brought me back in to the sport. Here I am now, full-time in 2011.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Tell me about your mother\u2019s fight against cancer and how that challenged your faith.<\/p>\n

Koch: I found out my mom had been diagnosed with breast cancer and immediately I was devastated. I thought the world was coming to an end. I didn\u2019t really turn to God at that moment. I did probably five minutes later. Then I started praying. But right when I heard it, I didn\u2019t turn to God first. I didn\u2019t have a feeling of, \u201cEverything is going to be okay.\u201d A few minutes later I started praying and I put it in His hands and just tried to understand that He\u2019s in control and whatever is in His will is what\u2019s going to happen and she\u2019ll be taken care of.<\/p>\n

Bonham: When did this happen?<\/p>\n

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Angie Koch and her son Blake Koch (Photo courtesy of MacDonald Motorsports)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Koch: It was 2007. Right when I started racing was when she got diagnosed with breast cancer\u2014probably around the same month. It was interesting timing. So she made it through it. There was a lot of faith that kept me positive and strong. When I knew she had to have surgery, I wasn\u2019t worried about it all. I knew she was going to be okay. I just had faith in that. Then four years go by and they see something else. That was right before Darlington this year and she had a double mastectomy. When I found out there was a possibility of it coming back and she was deciding whether or not to get a double mastectomy, I was all for it. I didn\u2019t want to worry about it anymore. Every time she calls me, I don\u2019t want to worry about her telling me she has cancer again. So I was like, \u201cRemove it. Let\u2019s get it over with and go through this process together.\u201d And it\u2019s been good so far. There\u2019s been a lot of prayer, a lot of people praying for her. And her faith has grown from it for sure. My mom is just a great lady. She\u2019s such a great mom. Like today, during qualifying I was on the poll for a long time and she sent me a text saying, \u201cIt was so great seeing your smile on TV.\u201d That\u2019s what she cares about. It\u2019s always cool to talk to my mom because I know she doesn\u2019t care about racing. She just loves me for who I am.<\/p>\n