![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2011\/07\/2011-NSCS-Trevor-Bayne-Headshot.jpg\")
<\/a>Bayne: Everything I drove up until the Camping World East series was owned by my family. My dad always owned the teams and found the right teams and he was my crew chief all the way up until I was in the Hooters Pro Cup at the age of 15. My family\u2019s been very supportive and that\u2019s key in this sport. It\u2019s not football or baseball or basketball where you can do it yourself. If you\u2019re good in high school, you just shine. (But in racing) you have to have a family behind you. A five-year old can\u2019t pick up a go-cart and take it to the racetrack himself. It was all family driven. My dad\u2019s dad used to race. My dad never raced, but in the same token they never pushed it on me. They\u2019ve supported me in everything I\u2019ve wanted to do and I had the option to play football, if I wanted to race or whatever I wanted to do. They were going to support me, and that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonham: Are you pleased that\u2019s there\u2019s such a strong faith component within the NASCAR community?<\/p>\n
Bayne: NASCAR has a Christian base in it but surprisingly there\u2019s a lot of outreach that still needs to be done in this sport. I\u2019ve been surprised about that because as an outsider looking in, that\u2019s all I saw was the pre-race prayer and stuff like that. But people don\u2019t see how much revival still needs to happen. I think that\u2019s why God\u2019s placed us here.<\/p>\n
Bonham: How much do you rely on the ministry of Motor Racing Outreach?<\/p>\n
Bayne: It\u2019s awesome to have MRO here, to have believers and followers, most importantly followers. Guys like Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse, Justin Allgaier and myself. We started a Bible study with (former Nationwide chaplain) Lonnie Klauss that we do every Saturday morning before we go qualify. That\u2019s been a core support for me because we\u2019re not home on the weekends. A lot of times we get back late. We try to get back to church as much as we can, but the Cup races are on Sunday. It\u2019s good to have that core support here with MRO and those guys.<\/p>\n
Bonham: Did you grow up in a church going family?<\/p>\n
Bayne: I\u2019ve grown up in church for sure. I\u2019ve been to First Methodist and Baptist where I attend when I\u2019m in Knoxville. I live in Mooresville (North Carolina) part time and I attend a contemporary, non-denominational church there a lot just because I like the worship. They have good messages too<\/p>\n
Bonham: Are you trying to be a new kind of \u201cyoung gun\u201d in this sport?<\/p>\n
Bayne: I want to be real. I don\u2019t want to pose as anything. I don\u2019t want to pose as a tough guy. I don\u2019t want to pose as a nice guy. Whatever Trevor Bayne is, that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to be. I\u2019m trying not to let that change me. Staying humble is the key to this. I try to let that shine through. This can be gone in a second. If it weren\u2019t for God leading me through this, I\u2019d be in trouble.<\/p>\n
Bonham: You were in wreck with Justin (Allgaier) early in the 2010 season and you obviously weren\u2019t happy with him.<\/p>\n
Bayne: (Laughs) Yeah, we were in a Bible study together earlier that morning.<\/p>\n
Bonham: So how do you deal with confrontation on the track and the aggressive nature of the sport when it comes to maintaining good relationships off the track?<\/p>\n Bayne: Growing up in the sport, I\u2019ve been able to separate what happens on the track with what happens away from the track. That track is totally different. I\u2019m not the same person when I put that helmet one. It\u2019s not Trevor Bayne. It\u2019s not Justin Allgaier. It\u2019s not Ricky Stenhouse. There\u2019s a racecar and I want to beat it. That\u2019s how I see it and that helps with the pressure. When I look at these Cup guys, I don\u2019t say, \u201cOh, there\u2019s Kyle Busch.\u201d Or if it\u2019s a Nationwide guy, \u201cOh, it\u2019s Steven Wallace.\u201d I don\u2019t see them any differently. It\u2019s just another car. If they crash me, I get upset, but I don\u2019t bring it off the track.<\/p>\n Bonham: How have you managed to remain stable in a very unstable world with changing rides and other uncertainties that come with the NASCAR lifestyle?<\/p>\n Bayne: My faith is the biggest thing that helps me through it. I know there\u2019s a plan for racing and even if I\u2019m not in a racecar, I have to be content with that. I probably wouldn\u2019t be happy but I\u2019d have to learn how to like it.<\/p>\n Bonham: Do you feel a certain amount of responsibility to be who you are as a Christian driver in this sport?<\/p>\n Bayne: It is a responsibility to be who you are and not let this sport change you and not let the good runs and success or the bad runs change you. You\u2019ve got to be the same person all the time. The Bible talks about being firm on the rock. I try not to look like I\u2019m on sand all the time. I try to be that same person. You\u2019re going to have emotions. People are going to see that you\u2019re upset. But that\u2019s a good thing. They\u2019re going to see that you\u2019re passionate about it, but you\u2019ve got to think about consequences a lot of times. You\u2019ve got to think ahead from what you\u2019re about to say. I might be mad at some guy but if I say what\u2019s on my mind, it\u2019s probably not going to be good.<\/p>\n Bonham: So when things happen on the track, especially with guys that maybe you\u2019ve spent time with in a Bible study earlier that day, that makes it easier to forgive and move on from it?<\/p>\n Bayne: Yeah. People from the outside are like, \u201cI can\u2019t believe Justin did that! You\u2019ve got to wreck him back! No. We\u2019re good. We\u2019re friends. At times it seems intense but that\u2019s what happens on the racetrack. I wouldn\u2019t retaliate on the track.<\/p>\n Bonham: How important is it that people at the highest levels of NASCAR support the strong faith element within the sport?<\/p>\n Bayne: This is such a great platform and it\u2019s good to use it being used. They still do the prayer on TV. Not many times can you be on ESPN giving God glory. We\u2019ve got to use this platform and that\u2019s what drives me to be successful here. He\u2019s provided this so let\u2019s make the best of it. That\u2019s why I think He\u2019ll continue to keep me here because it is a platform and we have the talent and the ability. So, we\u2019d better use it.<\/p>\n Bonham: Last October I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to interview you because you’d been dropped from Waltrip Racing. I struggled to find your hauler in the Nationwide garage.\u00a0Just the fact that you went from that place to winning the Daytona 500 a few months later, how does that underscore your belief that this is bigger than racing for you?<\/p>\n Bayne: It is. You know, before this ever happened, I had a meeting with some of the people that are running my business stuff, running my financial and everything.\u00a0My dad was involved.\u00a0We sat down and we said what is the goal of Trevor Bayne as a company, as a person, as anything?\u00a0I told them, the goal, this is going to sound weird, but it’s not to be the best racecar driver, the most marketable, the most popular, but it’s to build a platform and let God use us on the platform that He’s building, which might require me to become the best racecar driver or be the most marketable or most popular, whatever it is.\u00a0I just want to stand on the platform He’s putting under me.\u00a0That’s our goal.\u00a0If that’s our goal, our highs and lows are going to be a lot more manageable.<\/p>\n To keep up with Trevor Bayne, follow him at his official website<\/a> or check him out on Twitter here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the blink of an eye, Trevor Bayne went from rising Nationwide star with no sponsorship to youngest Daytona 500 champion in NASCAR history. Since then, he\u2019s dealt with an unidentified illness caused by an insect bite that forced him to sit out for nearly two months. Still, the unflappable 20-year old phenom has kept…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,382,388,5],"tags":[430,151,139,426,190,427,189,198,401,10,25,428,241,24,141,431,429,425],"class_list":["post-915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-athletes","category-qa","category-racing","category-sports-features","tag-a-conversation-with-trevor-bayne","tag-daytona-500","tag-espn","tag-jeff-gordon","tag-justin-allgaier","tag-knoxville-tennessee","tag-michael-mcdowell","tag-motor-racing-outreach","tag-mro","tag-nascar","tag-nationwide-series","tag-ricky-stenhouse","tag-roush-fenway-racing","tag-sprint-cup","tag-trevor-bayne","tag-trevor-bayne-interview","tag-waltrip-racing","tag-youngest-daytona-500-champion"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>