How It All Began....

Sorry that I haven't updated in the past few days, we've been really busy here trying to get some designs done for clients to use in their sponsorship proposals. We're loaded down with enough work to keep us busy through next week (which is a good thing of course) so I apologize if my entries become more sporadic. Just know that means that we're working.

I said in an earlier post that I'd discuss a bit about myself at some point, so I figure now is as good a time as any. If you didn't know by now, I'm a night owl. I actually did go to sleep early last night - we had a big spring-like thunderstorm roll through and it was perfect conditions to go to sleep - which is why I'm up so early. But I'm a night owl. I do most of my best thinking and design work between the hours of 10 PM and 3 AM. Probably not healthy or smart to stay up until dawn, but that's just how I work.

I've been involved in NASCAR in some sense of the word since late 2008. From about September of that year to late November, I was doing freelance work for a friend of mine that worked for Transnet Racing, a team owned by driver Alex Garcia. At that time I was still pretty new to the design aspect of NASCAR, but I spent a lot of time working with this friend of mine as she tried putting together sponsorship deals for Alex. Obviously nothing panned out, and Transnet officially shut down in December of that year. Alex did make an appearance at Daytona International Speedway in January of '09 for Preseason Thunder, but nothing came about for him after it. I hear he's trying to get some stuff together to run the road course races in Nationwide this year, so if anyone's interested, I recommend looking him up.

Anyway, when Transnet closed down, my friend lost her job and had to "float" a bit while she tried to find employment elsewhere. In so doing, I had to do a little floating of my own, but when you're doing design work as a "favor" and not for pay, you're not so much floating as much as you're fishing for leads. It was around February when I got my first of two tiny breaks. This friend of mine relocated to Charlotte and began doing part-time work for Key Motorsports, and I was able to do a design layout for their Truck and Nationwide car. They needed a new design layout to put in their proposals and, though it was still pretty rudimentary, I replicated their car and truck designs for them to use.

Right before Speedweeks, though, I got the second break when my friend told me that Mike Garvey was fielding a car and running his operation out of Transnet Racing's old shop. As with the Key Motorsports layouts, I did a "blind" layout of Mike's car for Daytona. At that point the team was decaling the car and this friend of mine was giving me information that she got from Alex regarding the car. That's why on Jayski, when you look at the paint scheme page for the 73 Cup car from 2009, there are two different car layouts. There was a mix-up on what font to use for the car number when I first did it, and it came out all wrong, so I went back and redid it. But in the lower right hand corner, I put "Layout by C2C Racing Designs." That's how it all started...

The difference between now and February of '09 is the fact that C2C is designing these cars, not simply copying or replicating them. It can be quite a task sometimes, but it's worth it. We do a lot of work, though, by doing designs for people to use in sponsorship proposals, and proposals are just that. It's a process that always keeps the designer grounded, knowing that even though our design may be good and solid, its fate ultimately lies in the hands of the sponsor. If the sponsor doesn't want to get involved, that's a design that gets shot down. I'm not a stranger to that - believe me, doing freelance work, you find that it happens a lot more often than not. You start learning to not get too sure of something until you see it with your own eyes.

That's not a bad quality to have, though. Too often people get their hopes up too soon, and it messes with their perception of things. Being new to the motorsports design industry, it has been an education, but I take disappointments and setbacks in stride. We keep pressing forward. It's a fixture of not just my daily life, but of my faith too. There's a verse in the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1-2, that says: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne." (NLT)

I love what it says and I think upon it often. No matter what the situation is like or the circumstances surrounding them, it is important to keep pressing forward and running the race that is set out in front of us. Yes, we will stumble, and there will always be setbacks and disappointments, but the important thing is to remember that once our race is run, there is a great reward at the end. In life, it's a fulfilled one, in faith, it's eternal life, and in my choice of profession, it's a slick-looking set of wheels taking the checkered flag and going to Victory Lane. It's all a matter of faith.

Speaking of a slick-looking set of wheels, I better get to work. I think I'll get a headstart on some things so I can enjoy "World's Worst Drivers" on the Travel Channel and "Madhouse" on History tomorrow night. Take it easy, folks.

Guy Driggers