XXXXXXX marks spot for parking tickets

? “Racer X’s” vanity plate just does not compute in city computers — and it’s helped him rack up about $19,000 in tickets in Birmingham, Ala.

Scottie Roberson bought a vanity plate with seven X’s to pay homage to his racer nickname. But that causes a bit of a snafu when parking patrols put the plate into the system. Officials usually put seven X’s in place of the number for cars without license plates.

Roberson says the mix-up has led him to get as many as 10 tickets in a day.

Birmingham Traffic Engineer Gregory Dawkins says the city may change the system to keep Roberson from receiving more tickets.