Few, if any, have ever achieved a major success at the highest level of NASCAR as quickly as Trevor Bayne. Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011 at the age of 20, in just his second Cup Series race.
Although he has not reached that height since, Bayne, now 28, has enjoyed something most stock car drivers would envy: full-time employment. Bayne has run roughly three full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series and the past four in Cup.
But, for the first time since he was 5, he is out of racing, having lost his ride with Roush Fenway Racing at the end of last season. That has placed him in a “strange, uneasy time of life” at the moment, but not in a funk.
He credits his positive outlook to his faith in Christ. It is that message he will share, in part, when he speaks at the Hampton Christian Academy 28th Annual Spring Banquet Fundraiser. The event is set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25 at the Newport News Marriott at City Center in Newport News.
“Winning the Daytona 500 was great, but not everyone can relate to winning a huge race,” Bayne said. “I’d love to share how great God was to give me that opportunity, but also how he’s given me peace and joy no matter what the circumstances.
“That comes from being reared in Christ. I had the same joy and peace winning the 500 as I have now that I’ve lost my ride.”
Life is still very good for Bayne. He and wife Ashton spent much of the past month in Hawaii.
The highlight, Bayne says, was camping on the beach with his three-year-old daughter and almost two-year-old son. They are expecting a third child, a boy, in September.
“Family comes first,” Bayne said. “When I do something else in life, I always want to maintain that quality of life with my family.”
The start of something else might be coming soon. Bayne is about to open a coffee shop, name to be announced, in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn.
“Coffee has always been fun,” he said. “When you’re on the road 38 weeks a year, you’ve got to find something you like.
“Coffee farms are some of the most impoverished areas in the world, so the chance for ministry and outreach is huge. And the communities built in a coffee shop and around a cup of coffee are incredible.
“I look forward to being in the shop every day, seeing the same people and building relationships.”
That’s if he isn’t at the race track. Bayne is enjoying the respite from racing, but would clearly like to return to the sport if possible.
His four full-time seasons in Cup with Roush from 2015-18 did not go well. In 129 races, Bayne had just four top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes.
“Obviously I didn’t want to be out of a race car (this season),” he said. “I still wanted to drive and have a chance to win races – it’s something I’m passionate about.
“But you can burn out on anything, especially if you’re not in the best culture and have the best opportunity to win races. Sometimes it was like, `I almost need a break.’
“But the more refreshed I get, the more I miss racing, competing, turning laps. I train every day as if the opportunity is going to come.”
Bayne says he’s in great shape. He missed five weeks in 2011 after being hospitalized by a spider bite. Two years later he announced that he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but has since had no symptoms or sick days, so he believes that was a misdiagnosis or that God healed him.
Nevertheless, his road back to NASCAR could be steep, for the same reason it is steep for virtually everyone to attain or maintain a full-time ride. Money.
“The model has changed so much,” he said. “You need to bring money, and if you don’t have a family with millions of dollars to fund a race program, or you don’t have a huge sponsor, it’s tough to make it.”
Whether Bayne makes it back to NASCAR or not, he appreciates the time he had in it and the road that lies ahead. He will share his thoughts on both when he speaks at the Hampton Christian Academy banquet.
“I still can’t believe the Lord allowed that to happen,” Bayne said of his Daytona 500 victory. “There’s not many things in your life people will remember eight, nine, 20 years from now.
“I’m thankful it did happen, because it has given me an opportunity, a platform, to do speaking engagements now that racing is potentially over. I don’t want to be one of those people who talks just about what he did 10 years ago.
“I’m going to keep living in the moment and pushing forward.”
WANT TO GO
Tickets for the Hampton Christian Academy banquet featuring Trevor Bayne as a speaker are on sale through this Thursday, April 18. For more information, contact Brittani Post, HCA Marketing Director at 757-838-7538 or email her at: bpost@hamptonchristianacademy.org.
