Trevor Bayne
Photography by Betsy Hansen
He’s young, good looking and talented …
and he’s back to take another shot at the “Great American Race.”
Last year, just one day after his 20th birthday, Trevor Bayne became the youngest race car driver ever to win the Daytona 500 and a $1.4 million purse. The prestigious Daytona 500 has a reputation for creating legends and 2011 was no exception as Trevor Bayne barreled to victory a fraction of a second ahead of Carl Edwards.
It’s deja vu in February, as Bayne remains in the Woods Brothers No. 21 Ford for his second Daytona 500. He said he’s thrilled to be riding again for one of NASCAR’s oldest and fabled teams. “We are going to be back together,” he said.
What are the odds of a repeat? Only three drivers; Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95) have managed consecutive victories. Bayne admits to feeling some added pressure, but despite being philosophical about what may happen, he will be giving it his all. “If I don’t win this year, I have a few more years to work at it, but I am definitely going the same way I did last year. I’m going to win.”
With limited races scheduled this year due to team cut backs, he will not be a Nationwide or Sprint Cup championship contender. “It’s disappointing because a lot of the fun in it is racing for that championship, but then again we can just go out there and race to win and not really worry about the points.”
The clean-cut and articulate Bayne has media darling written all over him and with movie-star good looks he’s likely to attract a bevy of new female race fans. We hate to break the news ladies, but Bayne says he has a steady girlfriend who hails from his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn. When asked about “groupies” on the race circuit, Bayne responded in a diplomatic fashion. “There are a ton of fans and some of them are crazier than others and some of them are young girls,” he said. “It’s never a bad problem.”
Nearly a year to the day, Bayne still speaks in awe as he recalls last year’s magical winning moment. “I’ll never forget it. It’s pretty unbelievable,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it this early in my career. It’s something that most people have to work for, for a long time.” The young driver never saw the notice from NASCAR advising drivers to bring suitable clothes for a media tour if they won, and said he probably wouldn’t have thought it was applicable, even if he had. Win the Daytona 500? Just a dream for the future, he thought. As a result, his parents had to make a middle of the night trip to a Laundromat to clean what few garments he brought with him. He recalls landing in San Francisco for one of many appearances in a two-week, whirlwind media blitz. There was a red carpet, he said, and throngs of fans holding signs. He recalls thinking, “What in the world happened overnight?”
Although he was literally catapulted into the spotlight, Bayne said he has been working toward that moment from the age of five when he began racing go-karts in his hometown. Go karts led to race cars and he’s never looked back. Growing up he was a huge fan of NASCAR and Jeff Gordon was one of his childhood heroes.
So what is the rookie driver doing with his winnings? Despite the big win, don’t expect Bayne to start living a high-flying lifestyle anytime soon. That’s just not his thing. Although drivers don’t keep all of their winnings – the purse is shared with the team – Bayne’s take was likely a healthy six-figure payday for a young man barely out of his teens. He donated some of his winnings to an orphanage in Mexico and his church community, he said, but has no big personal splurges planned. Bayne shared the story of his appearance on the Lopez Tonight show after the Daytona 500 win. George Lopez asked him how he was going to spend his winnings. Bayne mentioned his donations to charity and then said that his computer had crashed on his way to the show, so he was thinking about purchasing a new one. Lopez told him that if he was helping orphans with his winnings, the show would buy him a laptop. Sure enough, the computer arrived a few days later, Bayne said.
Bayne’s philosophy is dictated by his steadfast Christian faith, which by his own account is a “huge part” of his life. Articulate and outspoken about his beliefs, he views racing as a platform to spread the word of God. He said he reached out to the Denver Bronco’s quarterback, and former Gator football star, Tim Tebow, for advice on staying grounded with his new found fame and fortune. Tebow is a Christian athlete who doesn’t hesitate to make public testimonies about his faith and often wore references to bible verses on his face black during college games. Bayne said he aspires to be humble in his daily life. “I just don’t want to be the guy who gets the fame and he gets the money and he has to be part of all the worldly things. It’s not about any of that; it’s about being a good steward of my money.”
He shared an advance copy of Driven by Faith, The Trevor Bayne Story written by local motorsports editor and author Godwin Kelly. The book, recently published by Zonderkidz, a division of Zondervan, was written to inspire and motivate young adult readers. It tells the story of Bayne’s road to racing and the role of faith in his life. “I wanted readers to understand how much power Jesus has in our lives,” Bayne said.
Although he doesn’t have a whole lot of down time when he’s in town for the race, if you are hoping for a glimpse of the young driver outside of the track, check out Ronin’s, one of his favorite sushi places, or Steak ‘n Shake, one of the Wood Brothers’ favorite burger haunts.
Whatever the future holds for Bayne, make no mistake, he is driven to win. “I want to be a Cup champion one day, that’s what we are working toward every weekend.”
