Full Speed Ahead: How Narcolepsy Can't Stop This Race Car Driver

Meet Vincent Arthur - a 21-year-old race car driver from Charlotte, North Carolina, who's proving that narcolepsy type 2 doesn't have to slow you down.

In this inspiring episode of Narcolepsy Navigators, Vincent shares his powerful journey from struggling with undiagnosed brain fog and excessive daytime sleepiness in 2019 to becoming the first race car driver sponsored by Wake Up Narcolepsy in 2023.

Discover how Vincent turned his diagnosis into a platform for advocacy, why he feels MORE comfortable behind the wheel than most people, and how he's using motorsports to shatter stereotypes about sleep disorders. From sim racing victories to real-world tracks, Vincent's story will challenge everything you think you know about living with narcolepsy.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Vincent's 4-year journey to diagnosis and the relief of finally understanding his symptoms
• Managing brain fog, excessive daytime sleepiness, and ADHD-like symptoms during college
• Why driving actually helps some people with narcolepsy stay alert (and the science behind it)
• Partnering with Wake Up Narcolepsy as the first sponsored race car driver
• Breaking barriers and proving that narcolepsy isn't a limiting factor
• Practical advice for anyone who thinks their condition will hold them back

Guest Bio: Vincent Arthur is a 21-year-old professional race car driver and narcolepsy advocate based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Diagnosed with narcolepsy type 2 in early 2023, Vincent quickly became a voice for the sleep disorder community by partnering with Wake Up Narcolepsy as their first-ever sponsored race car driver. When he's not on the track, Vincent studies mechanical engineering and competes in sim racing, where he's achieved multiple victories. Follow his journey at @VincentA55 on all social platforms.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:03:42] - Vincent's diagnosis journey from 2019 to 2023
• [00:13:00] - Navigating college with undiagnosed narcolepsy
• [00:23:00] - Why driving helps Vincent stay alert (the alertness factor)
• [00:25:32] - Partnership with Wake Up Narcolepsy and raising awareness
• [00:28:41] - Vincent's powerful message: "Narcolepsy is not a limiting factor"

Connect with Vincent: Instagram/Twitter: @VincentA55

Resources Mentioned:

• Wake Up Narcolepsy
• Charlotte Motor Speedway area

Support the Show: Support Narcolepsy Navigators on Patreon for bonus content, Discord access, and exclusive merch! Visit www.napsforlife.com

Transcript

Vincent ~ Final
[00:00:00] 
Welcome and Guest Intro
[00:00:00] kerly: Hello, welcome. You're listening to season four of Narcolepsy Navigators, brought to you by NAPS For Live CIC. Narcolepsy Navigators is a podcast for raising awareness of these fascinating illnesses through a deep dive into the lives and individuals living with narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia and Klein Levin syndrome. I'm Kerly Bwoga, the founder of Naps for Life, CIC, and welcome to our stories.
[00:00:42] kerly: Hi everyone. Welcome to Narcolepsy Navigators. I'm Kerly your host. I have narcolepsy type one, and today we are here with Vincent Arthur he is from the United States, he a race car driver and welcome to his story. So Vincent, how was your day? 
[00:00:58] Vincent: Day's been going pretty good. We've [00:01:00] we're. About two 30 in the afternoon here. So a little bit of a time difference, but still enjoying the afternoon. 
[00:01:05] kerly: That's good. My day's been okay. 
Cataplexy Fall Update
[00:01:07] kerly: A friend that has an narcolepsy from a Australia is doing a tour around Europe and London is his first stop. And so I just met up with him and had dinner and he was just catching up.
[00:01:18] kerly: He came on Thursday. I wanted to see him earlier, but I had a fall a week ago. I had cataplexy and then messed up my ankle. So I wasn't able to go into the city and walk, come down, do the sightseeing and things like that. But , it was nice to catch up with him and have dinner. 
[00:01:32] Vincent: That's nice. You gotta catch up with him. Is your ankle doing all right? 
[00:01:35] kerly: I think I need to have an x-ray probably Tuesday because it's still hurting and it's been over a week now 
[00:01:41] Vincent: How often do you have those episodes of cataplexy? 
[00:01:44] kerly: Like every day, but I haven't had a fall in a while.
[00:01:47] Vincent: Really. 
[00:01:47] kerly: I'm not one in public like that, in probably two years, wow. Just one of those things, but yeah, it's so funny 'cause it's just I don't even remember usually like laughter is my biggest trigger [00:02:00] and stress and tiredness . I can't say that any of those things was happening.
[00:02:04] kerly: I was just like, on my way to college, I literally got, just got outta my house, turned the corner and then one minute I was up in the next minute on the floor. I don't remember anything in between. 
[00:02:12] Vincent: Wow. 
[00:02:12] kerly: Yeah and it was a hard fall. 'cause I'm still feeling, even not on my ankle, the other side of my leg, I'm still feeling pain now. And it's over a week, later, I'm still in pain. So it was quite a fall. 
[00:02:24] Vincent: I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it's all, ends up all right. 
[00:02:27] kerly: Yeah, I'm sure it will. Maybe some physio or something is needed. I don't know.
[00:02:31] kerly: I'm going to ask you, Vincent, if you could introduce yourself, what is your name? How old you are, if you feel comfortable, what state in, the US you're resided in. And what type of narcolepsy you have. 
[00:02:43] Vincent: Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Vincent Arthur. I have type two narcolepsy. I am 21 years old and I currently live in Charlotte, North Carolina, although I'm originally from Manchester, Maryland.
[00:02:54] kerly: So is Charlotte to Maryland? Are they, far from each other? 
[00:02:57] Vincent: From my current house to where I grew [00:03:00] up is roughly 500 miles. So 300 kilometers ish. 
[00:03:03] kerly: So that's a bit of a drive,
[00:03:05] Vincent: yeah, it's seven hours. It's not that bad. 
[00:03:07] kerly: Yeah, that long that's like going from London to Cornwall that's far. 
[00:03:11] Vincent: Yeah it's really interesting 'cause I've talked with a couple people from like Europe and from the uk and like the perception of distance is really it's a lot different. Cause 500 miles to me is nothing. But like you just said that's a still a lengthy drive.
[00:03:24] Vincent: Or my travel to work is 35 miles up the road and like in the uk I forget who I was talking to. But that's a drive across the country almost. So it's really interesting to see how that differs between over here and where you guys are at. 
[00:03:37] kerly: That's true. I always have to remind myself that America's a continent and it's not country.
Diagnosis Journey
[00:03:42] kerly: what year did you get diagnosed? 
[00:03:44] Vincent: So I got diagnosed in 2023 the very beginning of it, but I think my symptoms would go back. Probably the 2019 is when I started experiencing symptoms. And I didn't really know what it was, and I couldn't really a attribute it to anything besides [00:04:00] like the antidepressants that I had started at the time.
[00:04:02] Vincent: And, being that young I and really uneducated about. What it was or anything? I thought it was just the medicine. I thought that's what was causing me to have really bad brain fog. And just to be really tired all the time. But, after a while and it went on and I went to a bunch of different doctors and they were all stumped about what it was.
[00:04:18] Vincent: It really, it, it took up until I got a sleep study done. For them to really understand. And it, the doctor looked at the results from the sleep study and immediately was like, oh, okay, you have narcolepsy. And up to that point, it's really nothing that I had considered. Just 'cause I don't have cataplexy, I feel if I did have type one, I feel like we could have diagnosed it a little earlier.
[00:04:38] Vincent: But just because it was type two and, my symptoms were mainly just brain fog. And the other symptoms were like A-D-D-A-D-H, ADHD based. It was really hard for doctors to figure out, we're trying medicines, why isn't this working? So it was a tough road, but once I got diagnosed, it was almost a relief to figure out. It's okay, this is what was wrong. 
Brain Fog and College Life
[00:04:55] kerly: So you mentioned brain fog. So what about excessive daytime sleepiness? You weren't having a lot of [00:05:00] that. 
[00:05:00] Vincent: I was I feel like I've always been like, really tired during the day. But I've never been one to take naps. Like naps have never really worked for me.
[00:05:07] Vincent: Post my diagnosis, I think I've had a little bit different view on naps. I really try to take 'em for what they are, like 15, 20 minutes, just refresh, reset, and then go. Whereas, like beforehand, a nap to me. I'd wake up not know where I was. Like, just super disoriented you, your stereotypical nap.
[00:05:25] Vincent: So I wouldn't take him that often and I just fight through it. But the brain fog was really bad 'cause it it really hurt like my sociability. And I think circumstances really made it to where it didn't. Really have that big of an effect on my daily life. Until I came to college mainly just because my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I had set myself up really good that in my junior and senior year, socially and the stuff that I was involved in, I could just coast through it and not really have to think about it.
[00:05:52] Vincent: Like it was just something that I did. But once I came to college and I had to I didn't know anybody when I came here when I really had to start, making a whole [00:06:00] new friend group and really getting out socially, it was really draining for me. And it was tough.
[00:06:04] Vincent: Plus I was away from home and I didn't have an idea of what was going on, so that just made it really rough that was when I made it rough and it was a wake up to, okay something's gotta go on here. 
[00:06:13] kerly: So is when you got to college that you really started to feel like something's definitely wrong.
[00:06:18] Vincent: It wasn't that it was wrong, it was just
[00:06:20] kerly: or it didn't, something definitely doesn't feel right. 
[00:06:22] Vincent: It was just really hard to make friends and. A lot of the times social situations I kind of start avoiding and small talk is, was it, I mean it still is really tough. So it always takes me a while.
[00:06:35] Vincent: It takes me a while to warm up to people and that can also give people like the perception that I'm like annoyed or disinterested or I don't like them, or something like that. So it's, I've always kept a small circle, but it's really hard to expand past that. Just 'cause it takes a lot of mental energy. As is to form those connections. 
[00:06:50] kerly: I agree with that. That's so true. And did you find not having a support system at college also made it a bit harder? 
[00:06:57] Vincent: Not necessarily. I think my support system [00:07:00] is really good. I'm really close with my mom. And my mom, she works for Johns Hopkins she has an understanding that not many other people do in terms of just like the medical background. I stay in close contact with her. And so, we would always call and stuff like that. And so it wasn't necessarily the support system that was hard. It was more or less just like me going about, pursuing an engineering degree and having to deal with all of those credits and those classes as well as trying to balance. With social life and all the other things, it was just very mentally draining. 
Sleep Study Turning Point
[00:07:27] kerly: So what was the tipping point that got you to the sleep doctor to have the test? 
[00:07:32] Vincent: So I think my mom was doing some research and, she was like, it could be like narcolepsy, but even her perception of narcolepsy was just type one.
[00:07:41] Vincent: Like she didn't really know that there was a type two, so she didn't think it was that. But there was another, I can't remember the name of it, but there was another type of disorder that could deal with sleeping and, oh, I remember what it was. I like twitch a lot and I kick a lot in my sleep.
[00:07:53] Vincent: And so my mom also does that. She was, she found a provider down here that was able to do a sleep study and it [00:08:00] was covered by insurance and all that. So she was like, I really do this and I know you also do this, so like maybe you have restless leg syndrome or something else like that. So just go get a sleep study done. We'll figure it out. And so that's what initially led me to go get the sleep study and then, that's what made me realize that I had narcolepsy to begin with. 
Medication and Daily Window
[00:08:17] kerly: So you said once you were finally diagnosed, you felt a sense of relief. Were you then able to get any recommendations at college?
[00:08:25] Vincent: Yeah, so my neurologist down here once he looked at the chart and was like, oh, you have narcolepsy. He prescribed a medication for me to take. And I'm still on it like now. It's a combination that. Works for me. So that was about as far as like the recommendations go. I've tried a couple things, but it, besides what I'm on right now, it hasn't necessarily worked.
[00:08:45] kerly: If you don't mind what are you taking right now? 
[00:08:47] Vincent: So I'm taking join a PM as well as Vyvanse. 
[00:08:51] kerly: Okay. I dunno, those two. As drugs that they have over here. I haven't heard the, I've heard other people speak about them from the States, but I haven't [00:09:00] personally had those two myself. 
[00:09:01] Vincent: Yeah, they're pretty they're pretty common. Jordanne is new, but like the base medicine in is, it's 
[00:09:07] kerly: sorry. Is Jordan meant to be a stimulant or
[00:09:09] Vincent: yeah, they're both stimulants. I was on Vyvanse when I was in high school, just 'cause like they couldn't figure out what the brain fog was. So they they attributed that to A-D-D-A-D-H-D. So that's what, like Vyvanse is a common medicine for those two conditions. That was used to originally treat it. And then the join a on top of the Vyvanse was for the narcolepsy. 
[00:09:27] kerly: Once you've started on medication, could you feel the difference? 
[00:09:29] Vincent: Yeah, I think so. I think it helps me stay concentrated longer. There's still a point in the day where I feel both of 'em wear off. The brain fog comes back and, after that point, I know there's not a ton of. Meaningful work that I'm gonna be able to accomplish. So I really have to take advantage of the window where both of my medicines are working. But yeah, going from taking it to not taking it, if I run out or something like that it's insane to think that I used to live that way. Like it is rough.
[00:09:56] kerly: So you're asking yourself, how was I functioning? Like [00:10:00] without it.
[00:10:00] Vincent: It's like I'll have 15, like 10, 15 minutes of okay, I can do this.
[00:10:06] Vincent: Feel the way that I felt like before all of my symptoms kicked in and whatnot. But then immediately after it's falling back asleep or, it's just like brain fog and I can't do anything. And it's really frustrating especially to know that I, at one point in my life didn't have the symptoms.
[00:10:20] Vincent: Like that, like a couple times. That's been really tough for me to just accept that, the narcolepsy's not gonna go away. So I'm never gonna get to the point where, you know, where I was before I started experiencing symptoms, I have a combination of medicines that works for me and allows me to live life the best that I can.
[00:10:38] Vincent: And it's always looking at the silver linings there, but sometimes it does get tough. There , I almost feel like sometimes I'm put in a situation where I either have to prioritize, like social interaction or I have to prioritize like brain power thinking like when I'm at work sometimes like in the morning when like I could dive into a conversation with somebody, I'll either not necessarily cut it short, but not put like a ton of [00:11:00] brain power towards it. Which could affect that relationship. But I know that I'm reserving that brain power for later
[00:11:06] kerly: Later in the day that you really need it for. 
[00:11:09] Vincent: So that gets a little frustrating. And sometimes I'm just like, I really wish that I could still just put my brain power towards, anything instead of having.
 
Energy Battery Analogy
[00:11:21] kerly: yeah, you, you wish you could put the, your brain power towards the fun stuff, but sometimes you need to keep it for the very important thing, activities that's coming up.
[00:11:29] Vincent: And I have to sit at 60% power, like all day. So it's almost like charging a phone. It's if you have a really bad battery, yeah, you can play that mobile phone and you play that mobile game or do some streaming or whatnot, but you know your battery, like you don't have a charger all day.
[00:11:43] Vincent: So you gotta you gotta really take care of that battery. You can't use it all morning and then you're at 30% and you still got like the rest of the day to go. You gotta be really careful and that's. That's a box that I find myself in a lot. And it's frustrating. 
[00:11:56] kerly: I think that's a really good analogy. A friend of mine, Ana in [00:12:00] Spain, she's the one that told me, that she uses the mobile phone instead of way to explain to people. And she found that they understand that more. Went back to college to do hairdressing last year, I explained to teenager in using that theory and they really understood it. Cause the teenagers are always on their phone all the time and people understand that concept of, if you're, if you start the day, you wake up early, start the day on 50%. You take your medication and then you've gone up to 75, but then you know how to explain students theory. Reusing the concept of the, you had to shower, now you're at, 60% you had to take the bus to college.
[00:12:36] kerly: Now you're actually, you've, you've done one hour of class, you are already at 50%. If you continue like this, by the time the day it's ended at college. You could be on 10%, you still gotta get home. And how are you not gonna fall asleep on the bus at 10%? You are shaking and trying to keep yourself awake. By the time you get home, you're on 1%, you crash. 
[00:12:55] Vincent: The way I give myself those extra, like 10% bumps during the day is just, an [00:13:00] energy drink or two. I have a really good relationship with a couple representatives over at Red Bull, so I always have, that, to be around. My roommate works at Monsters, so there's, there's plenty of stuff that's always flown in the house that I'll use to just get to the day. Really. But yeah it's tough having to manage my energy. When I want to just be expelling it doing, you know what I enjoy doing.
Friendships and Social Anxiety
[00:13:21] kerly: What about your friends? Do you find that they understand? 
[00:13:24] Vincent: I think so. I mean it's definitely affected my relationships. Like I mentioned earlier, like small talk's really tough for me, so it's like I normally keep small groups and if I see one of my friends walking in public or whatnot.
[00:13:34] Vincent: It takes a lot for me to be like if I'm walking one way and he's walking the other and we're gonna pass each other, it's like that whole time leading up to it, I'm like trying to figure out like what I'm gonna say, like, when to say it. And then it's like I'm thinking too much.
[00:13:46] Vincent: So then when I do say it, it's either too late or it's wrong. It just compounds itself and creates a lot of anxiety for me. Which is super unfortunate 'cause I, it used to be the type of person I could talk to anybody. Where now it's getting into a conversation is really [00:14:00] tough, but like once I'm in a conversation I can keep it. But I'll start to avoid conversation and avoid people altogether. Just because it takes a lot of initial energy to get that conversation going.
[00:14:08] kerly: Definitely. I have tshirt that I made it from a meme that says, i'm awake, please respect my privacy in this difficult time.
[00:14:16] kerly: And I said to people like, seriously, you don't understand. Every hour that we're awake, it's so precious. And like business people will say, time is money. Like every waking hour is precious. Don't do anything silly to waste that time because you're wasting what is really precious time?
[00:14:32] kerly: If I wasted time with you that could have been doing something really beneficial, with someone else, is that I feel like you've stolen that time away and you can't get it back once the time has been taken. You can't catch it back up. 
[00:14:44] Vincent: Yeah, absolutely. 
Saving Energy on Autopilot
[00:14:45] Vincent: And it's that's why I try to create as many like brainless. I don't wanna say brainless, but a lot of like autopilot behaviors, just so I can save that. I normally eat the same breakfast every day. I'll eat the same dinner for a week. Just 'cause that's not a choice that I have to make. Like it's just there. And then [00:15:00] at that point I can not switch my brain off, but I can just, and then just go about it and then when I'm done or whatever, just and then get back to what I was doing. Save that energy. 
[00:15:07] kerly: That makes a lot of sense. 
Engineering and Racing Passion
[00:15:09] kerly: So you said you're studying engineering? 
[00:15:12] Vincent: Yeah, I'm studying mechanical engineering with a concentration in motor sports. 
[00:15:16] kerly: How did you get into that field? 
[00:15:17] Vincent: So I grew up like my family would watch NASCAR on Sundays and, they'd also watch football, but, at a certain point. My mom always tells a story where it's my love for football was here and my love for racing was here. And then she could like visibly see it like overtake football.
Jeff Gordon Farewell Spark
[00:15:32] Vincent: and it gotta the point where I was watching racing on Sunday instead of instead of football. And in 2015 my favorite driver growing up was Jeff Gordon.
[00:15:40] Vincent: And he was retiring, so it was his last year, and I knew that it was my last opportunity to to see him race. So I just dove like headfirst into it. I was watching all, like the pre-show during the week. I was watching like every little detail of the race I was watching, the post race, I was watching, whatever I could get my hands on, really.
[00:15:57] Vincent: And it really just developed into a passion and I, I learned a [00:16:00] lot throughout that period. And, even when Jeff retired. My love for the sport is still there. Like that passion, that commitment, that dive had first it's just, it just stayed. And I knew that's what I wanted.
[00:16:09] Vincent: I loved being around the sport so much that it, when it came time to try to figure out what I was gonna do, I was like, I don't really know, but I wanna be around the sport. 
 Discovering Sim Racing
[00:16:18] Vincent: So in 2018, I guess my high school was, I was an hour away from my house, so a lot of the friends that I made in high school, they lived really far.
[00:16:28] Vincent: So a lot of the times on the weekend I wouldn't really do too much. I played football. So we normally have a game on a Friday or a Saturday, so that took most of my social time when everybody else was going out. So I started sim racing on an online racing simulator called iRacing in 2018.
[00:16:43] Vincent: So that's what I would do on the weekends. And my parents really never understood it, my mom at one point she was just like, you know what? You seem really interested in this. I would talk about it. She's you seem really interested in this, let's just open it up ' cause everybody else thinks it's just a silly video game or whatnot.
[00:16:57] Vincent: And but my mom was like, you know what? You're really interested in this. Tell me about [00:17:00] it. Tell me what you got going on. Let me, let me learn. She was a big proponent of it and allowed me to really do it. And I just, I fell in love with the driving aspect of it and I still watched the races on the weekend. And, I made it pretty high up not having any connections on the eSports side of things. 
Esports Team Breakthrough
[00:17:14] Vincent: And then I was contacted by Travis Manning and at the time he owned. I think it was, I can't remember the name of the team. We, it went on shortly after I joined and they got rebranded. But he reached out and was like, Hey, I'm the owner of this eSports team we're looking for a new driver and we've had our eyes on you for a little while.
[00:17:30] Vincent: Would you like to come aboard? And I didn't even know that world existed. And I was like, you know what? Yeah, let's do it. And then that team went under, but it got rebranded to Great Lakes Motorsports, which is now triad Racing Enterprises. And, we just went to work.
[00:17:42] Vincent: I got teamed up with some really smart people, some really accomplished people who knew what they were doing in terms of, set up building race plans, all that other stuff that you would traditionally see in a real life race team. But it was on the the simulator.
[00:17:54] Vincent: So I started, building setups and racing the open leagues and then the Road to Pro and the professional series. And, I made it [00:18:00] pro in 2020. Thanks to the help of everybody at Great Lakes and now Triad. And it's very humbling to look back and to think about where I started versus where I'm at now.
COVID Era Big Names
[00:18:08] Vincent: COVID did a lot for it actually. I think that's one of the good things to come out of COVID was when everything shut down, a lot of the racers, they started racing online. Very regularly I was racing against, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
[00:18:21] Vincent: And like the biggest names within nascar, like I was racing on week and week out. And so that was really cool for me as a fan to be like, Hey, I'm racing against these, I grew up working, or that I grew up like watching on tv. So that was really cool. And I know NASCAR is not huge in Europe, but like one of the, one of the guys that I raced with that I didn't even know I was racing with him until after the race was Fernando Alonso.
[00:18:38] Vincent: And after that I was like, you know that, that's pretty damn cool to race with a Formula one world champion. But yeah, so that did a lot. 
 
Engineering Path To NASCAR
[00:18:55] Vincent: And then, when it came time, when school started back up and it came time to, to choose a [00:19:00] college, I me and my mom had sat down there were and we realized there were two ways into the sport.
[00:19:04] Vincent: You either grew up around it or you went and got your engineering degree and then you went in that way. Obviously I didn't grow up around it. There wasn't a lot of racing where I was from asphalt racing. At least there was a lot of dirt racing. But it's just not something I ever really got into.
[00:19:17] Vincent: So we researched colleges with a mechanical engineering degree with the motor sports concentration. And, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte was a big one that came up. We, the college has had a lot of people graduate with a engineering degree and go into the sport.
[00:19:31] Vincent: We figured might as well get down into the area, get my degree and then see what, what can come about. And, I always wanted to be a driver, but I didn't really have the funding to be able to go do it 'cause it's very expensive. But I, I had the pedigree online, but it took a while for people to, to equate the two.
[00:19:46] Vincent: So I went down to Charlotte for college. And I think it was my sophomore year in the spring of my sophomore year. My dad actually who is still up in Maryland, he went to the gym one morning and he was wearing a Charlotte sweatshirt and this big guy walks up [00:20:00] to him and he is Hey, what's your connection?
[00:20:01] Vincent: And my dad thought like he stole his equipment or something. So like he wasn't, he was a little like off edge and was like, oh, I didn't expect you to ask that, but he was like, oh, my son goes there for engineering. And the guy's oh, that's cool. What's he wanna do? And my dad's oh, he wants to be a, he wants to be a NASCAR crew chief.
[00:20:15] Vincent: And the guy who walked up to him just happened to be the former CFO of rain Brothers Racing, which is a NASCAR craftsman Truck series team. And so he was like, Hey give him my number, have him reach out and we'll set something up. We'll see what we can do. So then, my dad calls me and he sends me his number and whatnot, and I, I give him a call. And, two weeks later got an engineering internship with the NASCAR team. 
[00:20:35] Vincent: Wow. 
[00:20:35] Vincent: Yeah, so that was it, I'm pretty strong in faith, but, that's my testimony. 
[00:20:39] kerly: That's squad right there is just literally, 
[00:20:41] kerly: Divine intervention, just kicking everything together. 
[00:20:44] Vincent: A lot had to happen for that. One scenario. It wasn't my dad's normal time going to the gym. Like a lot of things had to align and then luckily it did. So then, I got the internship with him or with them, and then I started going to the races and whatnot and my boss at the time he started [00:21:00] to see he understood the online racing pedigree.
[00:21:02] Vincent: So he started. He realized what I was able to do on the sim. So then he was like, okay, like you're gonna be our SIM guy. So I started, I'd set up all the simulators. I'd work with the drivers I'd plug our setups as close as I could into to iRacing so that our drivers to get laps.
[00:21:17] Vincent: And then, I had mentioned to him that I wanted to go late model racing which I guess is like Formula four if I'm equating the. To, to European racing. But I was like, I want to go late model racing. And he is oh, okay. And then two weeks later, a late model, like fully raced ready, just showed up in the shop.
[00:21:32] Vincent: So then I asked my boss one day and we were racing up in Pocono. I was like, Hey, like I know we're running that late model in a couple weeks. Do you mind if I like, could I drive it? And he is yeah, no, absolutely. I got to go and test that. A couple weeks a couple weeks after the race was over.
[00:21:46] Vincent: And I did really well on that task enough that, one of the team owners who was there like, walked up to me and was like, Hey, if you find some funding, let me know. Like you got like surprise viewers if you want it. So you know, it, it took me a while to find the partners to be able to put together the [00:22:00] money to go do this past season, I started the. I started a partnership with Wake of Narcolepsy for all of my eSports stuff. And I also started, piecing together like actual sponsors to go racing. And we were able to do it and we we've been pretty successful especially for a guy who's never been in a real race car, prior to the test and prior to the race
[00:22:17] kerly: how did they feel about you racing? Like when you told them that you had narcolepsy, now that you wouldn't be on the Sims and you were gonna be in person in real life car situation? 
[00:22:28] Vincent: I guess it's one of those things where I didn't really tell them necessarily like obviously Wake Up narcolepsy was a partner, so they were on the car.
[00:22:34] Vincent: But in terms of like me telling them that I had narcolepsy, it's one of those things where I didn't really wanna say too much, cause I didn't want, the crash clause or like any of the liability stuff to like up the price and then, now I can't race. Because I know for me, narcolepsy's super super misunderstood.
[00:22:48] Vincent: So whenever I told people I go I raced, they were like. But don't you like fall asleep? Like how can you do that with narcolepsy? And I'm like, that's what I'm trying to break. That's the stigma that I'm trying to break by going and doing this. Just 'cause for [00:23:00] me that's not I don't have issues with driving.
[00:23:02] Vincent: And, when I'm in a race car, it's like running a marathon. It's I don't really think I could fall asleep if I wanted to. My heart rate just like stays at one 90 the whole time. So it's one of those things I didn't mention until like afterwards and then they're like, oh, okay.
[00:23:14] Vincent: Then they don't have that stigma anymore because it's oh, I didn't know this kid had narcolepsy. He just went out and did a full day of running and then ran a race and did well. 
[00:23:22] kerly: It's like he 
[00:23:22] Vincent: didn't fall asleep once or doze off or whatever. It's oh, okay. That's not something that I should be attributing to narcolepsy anymore.
Work Life And Coping
[00:23:28] kerly: So do they give you any accommodations at work? 
[00:23:32] Vincent: No. 
[00:23:33] kerly: If you needed to have a nap or anything like that. 
[00:23:35] Vincent: Not really. Nothing that I go outta my way for. The Ray Brothers racing. I was with 'em up until a couple weeks ago. And then I actually this past week. This past week, 
[00:23:45] Vincent: This past week on the seventh I started a new job with Tricon Garage, which is, they're, they compete for a championship in the nascar craftsman Truck series. And it's I get these opportunities and where I was at with Rayan Brothers they were a small team. So we worked a lot of really [00:24:00] long hours. So I always make the comment, I did not choose a very accommodating profession for somebody with a sleep disorder. Cause they were oftentimes where I was working 7:00 AM to 4:00 AM or 3:00 AM 2:00 AM.
[00:24:10] Vincent: So like I was working really long hours. And at that point, I would just do what I could. I just fight through it as much as I can. Energy drinks, make sure I'm on my feet, just doing what I can to still be useful and productive and everything like that.
[00:24:23] Vincent: But I think the one thing that I do that I think helps is my trouble area is like early afternoon, we start at seven. So once you hit 1 32 o'clock to about three or four. That's a really like rough area where it can get like really hard to concentrate and and keep working. So during my lunch, sometimes I'll take a 10, 15 minute nap, just little bit of a refresh, just, take the edge off of the afternoon. And then that'll keep me going through the afternoon and I don't have that like lull anymore. So I think as far as naps, I think that's the only really thing that I will do whenever I have the opportunity.
[00:24:56] kerly: I know there's lots of people who have narcolepsy who can drive [00:25:00] and people who don't have sometimes find that a bit confusing, but it is a very individual thing. The symptoms when it comes to driving, some people are so alert once they're behind the wheel and then they other people like myself who just. Getting into a car just makes you super sleepy. But it's the opposite with other people. And so driving hasn't been an issue for them. 
[00:25:21] Vincent: Like I find myself more comfortable behind the wheel than I do like on my feet.
[00:25:24] kerly: Oh wow. That's very cool. You had said that wake up, narcolepsy had sponsored you. So what did that entail and do you think did help with raising awareness? 
[00:25:32] Vincent: Yeah, I think it absolutely did. So I had reached out to them over the off season. So like last, I think it was this last December, or maybe late November. And I was like, Hey, my name is Vincent Arthur, I'm a race car driver. I was diagnosed with narcolepsy type two earlier this year. I think I have a platform that hasn't really been tapped in to raise awareness for narcolepsy. I think we could really do something cool here. And they reached out and they were like, yeah, absolutely. Let's set up a meeting, let's, introduce you to, to everybody here. Let's figure out [00:26:00] what we can do. They're still building up as an organization, so they were like, we can't like fully, we can't fund too much, but, we really wanna make sure that, we help each other grow our bases.
[00:26:10] Vincent: And then, maybe we'll have some extra partners that hop on and then, we can get wake up narcolepsy as like the full primary sponsor. So we, we sat down and we were like, okay, how can we do this? And then I have a pretty big platform through sim racing still we worked out a deal where they're, they're my primary sponsor over there for a majority of the raises this season.
[00:26:27] Vincent: I think we've had, we have six or seven wins on the year. You, so we've been able to have a lot of success with them, which has been great. And when we were putting together the late model deal, I still knew that as far as like funding wise they weren't gonna be able to do much. So for me it was just super important to get them on the car because that in and of itself, that's gonna be, that's gonna be the motivating factor. That's gonna be the thing where people are like, look at this guy. We want to help, we want to help wake up narcolepsy and we wanna help, Vincent in his racing career.
[00:26:52] Vincent: So for me it was just really important to get them on the car. Just to get the story out there, because if I never race again, at least that's [00:27:00] out there. Hey, this guy is narcolepsy and he drove like he drives race cars. That's what he does. 
[00:27:04] kerly: It'll go down in history.
[00:27:05] Vincent: Yeah, exactly. That's like the biggest thing I wanna do is just be like, you have narcolepsy. Don't think don't let this limit you. Like you can do whatever you want, including driving race cars if you wanted to. So that race in and of itself. The publicity we got out of that, and, the people who saw it that's it's done a lot.
[00:27:21] Vincent: It's done a lot for bringing attention to the company and also to my career. So I think it's, it was a really good first step into raising awareness and I think there's a very bright future for the two of us within the motorsports industry. 
[00:27:33] kerly: That's good. I like that. And I like that message, because when I, you were, you had a picture with Joshua? And oh, for people who don't know who I'm talking about, I'm talking about Joshua, the football player and, he recently retired. And so I saw either at a gala or something or a dinner after. Then the caption was nice to meet enough, an narcoleptic, and I was like, huh. And then I put, click into your page. And then it says about race contract. I was like, no way. He's no way. He can have narcolepsy [00:28:00] and be erase. Maybe he just likes Josh that just, sure, that's what it is. And then I looked some more and stuff and then I was like, oh, wow.
[00:28:07] kerly: I was like, oh my gosh. I was like, I didn't realize you could do that. I have narcolepsy. I didn't know that. They would accept or that would be okay and therefore, no, I need to speak to this person. That's like really fascinating and good for anyone out there who has type two and would like to try something different. Race car it's not out of the cards for you.
[00:28:26] Vincent: Absolutely. 
 
 
Final Message And Sign Off
[00:28:32] kerly: So is there anything else you'd like people to know about you or about advocacy like a takeaway that you wanna share? 
[00:28:41] Vincent: I think the biggest takeaway that I want people to hold onto is narcolepsy is not a limiting factor in your life. Like it's. It's something we have. And sometimes it could be, hard to manage, but it's not something that's gonna dictate what you can and can't do in life. So if you wanna be a lawyer, go be a lawyer. If you wanna be an engineer, go be an engineer. If [00:29:00] you wanna be like an astronaut or race car driver, like a doctor, like whatever you wanna do, narcolepsy's not gonna limit you.
[00:29:05] Vincent: Work hard, do what you can. Do whatever you need to do to be able to, live your life to the fullest. But don't let narcolepsy be a limiter. ' cause at the end of the day, you can do whatever you want. 
[00:29:16] kerly: It might take you longer. But yes, or you might have to go in a different path.
[00:29:20] kerly: I always say to people, they always say think out the I always encourage people to do that, say, things might take you longer, or it might be more difficult, but sometimes you really have to think completely out of the box, and then you find the easier paths than if you're following like the standard way of doing things. You could be making life harder than if you like, really broaden your horizon and think differently. You'll see more opportunities open up. 
[00:29:46] Vincent: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:29:47] kerly: It was really nice talking to you Vincent, and learning about your story. I see you have a bright future ahead of you and I'm glad that you've started advocating so early in your career. I think that's really amazing. [00:30:00] And you gonna give a lot of young kids hope that they can do something different in their life.
[00:30:05] kerly: And I think that's really special. So when we end, we like to say happy napping, everyone. To as the thing at the end. So we wish you all the best in your uni and your engineering degree and also in your racing. Can you tell people where they can find you, like on socials and stuff? 
[00:30:25] Vincent: Absolutely.
[00:30:25] Vincent: First I just wanna thank you for having me on the show. It's my first podcast it was really cool to be in, invited to one. So you can find me on Instagram at Vincent A 55. You also find me on Twitter, same handle. If I'm on Facebook, really whatever social media I try to keep the same username, just Vincent a 55.
[00:30:43] Vincent: All of my information will be there. And all of my updates for whatever I'm doing and whatever announcements I have they'll be on there. 
[00:30:49] kerly: That's cool. Thank you. Happy napping. Everyone 
[00:30:52] Vincent: napping. 
[00:30:52] kerly: Narcolepsy Navigators is excited to announce our new Patreon and merch store. You can choose to [00:31:00] support us monthly via Patreon and receive bonus content from our advocacy and medical series, as well as a shout out on the shelf. Subscribing to our Patreon will allow you to have access to narcolepsy, navigators, discord server, where you can chat with other navigators, find support, and ask questions.
[00:31:21] kerly: To be featured in future bonus episodes. Higher tier supporters can also receive Patron merch, or if a monthly subscription is not in your budget, you can check out even more merch on our website, www naps four life.com.
[00:31:41] kerly: Narcolepsy Navigators is produced by a team of volunteers working for the Naps for Life, CIC, which is a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lives of people with sleep disorders through [00:32:00] community action. You can help grow our podcast and join our sleep disorder support group by visiting the website www.napsforlife.com.
[00:32:11] kerly: If you or someone you know. Has a sleep disorder and would like to share your story on narcolepsy navigators. Please email us at narcolepsy navigators@gmail.com. You can also support us by donating at the websites. Happy napping everyone.