Motocross, rally racing legend Travis Pastrana qualifies for NASCAR's Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH — Travis Pastrana woke up giggling Wednesday morning. For the motocross and rally racing superstar, the day to achieve a lifelong dream had arrived.
Hours later, he seized the opportunity.
Pastrana cracked the 40-car starting grid for the Daytona 500, topping out at 179.254 mph in 23XI Racing's No. 67 Toyota. The 39-year-old finished second among the six open cars, behind only seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, and 25th overall.
That leaves Chandler Smith, Zane Smith, Austin Hill and Conor Daly to battle for the two remaining positions in Thursday's Bluegreen Vacations Duel races.
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"I was like, 'Man, this is really happening,' " Pastrana said. "I've had to pinch myself quite a few times."
For a man who has jumped out of an airplane without a parachute, and cleared the fountain at famed Las Vegas casino Caesars Palace on a motorcycle, Pastrana admitted to having his fair share of nerves about getting back into a stock car.
Those concerns stem from a lack of practice time, and a less-than-ideal run on Toyota Racing's simulator.
"I'll find out in that first turn exactly what the challenge is like, but it sure would be nice to have more than one turn to figure it out. Unfortunately, we're not going to have that luxury," Pastrana said before qualifying during Daytona 500 media day. "The launches on the sim, I'm hoping, aren't accurate. If they are, I'm in big trouble.
"You have to have fear, but fear comes from not being prepared. And I've done as much homework as I possibly can, and I'm not going to let myself worry about stuff I can't control."
Has Travis Pastrana run in NASCAR?
Though he's never started a Cup Series race, Pastrana made 42 starts in the Xfinity Series between the 2012 and '13 seasons, and five Truck Series starts, most recently in 2020. He notched four top-10 Xfinity finishes in 2013, placed ninth at Richmond and won the pole at Talladega.
Pastrana will have plenty of support this week — from his wife and two daughters, from some within the action sports community, from the family of the late rally driving legend Ken Block and from a number of Cup Series regulars.
"He’ll probably bring a different group of fans and eyeballs to our race this weekend," Brad Keselowski said. "Good dude, had a lot of fun getting to know him the last five, 10 years. I’m sure he knows the 500 is going to be a big challenge, but I’m happy for it."
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Three-time Daytona 500 champion and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin, however, is arguably Pastrana's biggest advocate within NASCAR. Not only does it grant a "bucket list" opportunity for a friend, but Hamlin sees the value in beginning preparations for a third team should Kurt Busch return for spot-duty this season — he retired from full-time racing after last season due to concussion symptoms.
"We were honored for him to choose us to go on this endeavor," Hamlin told Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass last month. "Obviously, he's been in NASCAR before and been a NASCAR fan for a long time.
"If Kurt decides he wants to run races, we have to be prepared to field a very competitive race car. It allows us, as a race team, to build that depth. We've been very lean on our personnel … since our inception. Now we're starting to build some depth. You always have crew members out because of family reasons or health reasons."
There is one rule, Pastrana said, that 23XI Racing has made clear: You wreck it, you pay for it.
"I've got some sponsors … and they are covering everything up to the point where I crash anything," Pastrana said. "My wife's just really hoping we get through this race clean."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Travis Pastrana makes the Daytona 500 field after Wednesday qualifying
