Faith, trial, perseverance, and Brian Vickers.. in ink.

This tattoo on my foot sparks a lot of questions. Typically the answer I give is “It’s a really long story, you’ll just have to get to know me to find out.”. Well now you can skip the getting to know me part and just read the rest of this.

First of all, that angle, isn’t it’s intended view, I did it intentionally. Most people don’t see that it says “BV”, they see a heart and… something else. I get a lot of opinions on what that part could be. So let’s flip it.. here’s the right angle.

Why “BV”? Why is the V drawn like that? Why why why.. more questions (you see why I avoid trying to explain to people).

BV is short for Brian Vickers, why the V like that? It’s how Brian sloppily signs his name (no offense intended). His signature typically looks like half of a B and a hooky V. Like so…

So theres where the design came from. But the meaning behind it all? That’s deeper.

I’ll try to explain..

Middle school sucked. yes, this is relevant to my story. Middle school is a stinky time for most human beings, and I was no exception. But I found a drug of sorts to get me through the long weeks: NASCAR. Somehow, through a friend, I got addicted to this sport that I once found stupid. I lived and breathed it, it was what kept me going. looking forward to race weekends. Then a grew up (a little).  I got to high school, my favorite driver changed to this new guy, Brian Vickers. I liked his style, his attitude, and his driving. When Ricky Hendrick died, I saw something different in him. Strength through real adversity. He had lost a friend before in Adam Petty, and now again. Tragedy. Real tragedy. The sport became different.

Fast forward a bit.. now let’s look at his career. This guy kicks serious butt at a lot of tracks, he can run with the best of them and beat them. However, the dude’s luck sucks. I can’t count how many races in Charlotte he shoudl have won, get taken away by incredibly stupid things. Charlotte is the most annoying example, but it happens a lot at plenty of tracks.

How is this relevat to my life? In reality it really isn’t. But in the same way new orleans wanted a Super Bowl to recover from a hurricane, seeing Brian succeed was like hope that I can succeed.

You see.. I have terrible luck. I get incredibly close to good things happening to me, and ridiculous things happen to take them away quite suddenly. Examples? Sorry random blog readers, you don’t know me well enough quite yet to hear that fun stuff! But trust me, there’s lots. I still remember Brians first year with Red Bull… the Daytona 500 week. During the duels.. watching his tire burst and his Datona 500 hopes blow up with it.. dang. Felt like my hope had hit the wall too. And sure enough… yeaaah no good for me either.

It has become almost a joke for me.. when brian races well, things seem to go really well for me too. If he doesn’t, well it doesn’t for me.

Right now, some really stinky stuff going on in my life. Struggling through it, but it seems to be getting worse and worse.

If you want to look at the past few race results go ahead and look them up, but they parallel my life quite nicely so you should be able to guess

Anyway, here’s the ultimate point of all this.

Seeing Brian win races is always a good confidence booster for me, as strange as it sounds. My faith is compltely in Christ, and I know God is in control, but it’s just this funny thing. When Brian wins, it reminds me that I can ‘win’ in life too. Against all odds. watching brian come close and fail.. frustrating, because I feel that pain. So I got this tattoo after he won a race, as a celebration, and as a reminder. He won, I can too.

For clarification, I in no way believe his performance has anything to do with my life, it’s just an ironic coincidence that has become a running joke of sorts for me and my family.

Brian seems like a cool guy, it’s part of why I can call him my favorite driver. He handles tough times well, moves forward and improves himself. It’s something anyone can learn from watching. Sports stars in any arena can have an impact on people. Sports and life teach similar lessons in different ways. Thats what this is about, a metaphor for my own perseverance and faith in myself. I’ve always said God teaches me things in really strange ways, this is just one of those ways. I’m thankful for the sport in my life.

Am I that diehard fan i was in 7th grade? No. But I still love racing. This tattoo isn’t about Brian, or NASCAR, or any of that. It’s about going through tough times, and finding a way to keep moving.

But seriously, Brian, could you win again already?!

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