(Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Extreme motorsports legend Travis Pastrana finished 11th in his first Daytona 500, saying the result exceeded his expectations.
“It was an honor to be on the track with these guys,” Pastrana said after the race. “It was amazing that we were able to put it in the top 20. I’m proud of everyone involved and so thankful to be here.
“We weren’t in the hunt for the win, but to be in the top-10 on that last restart, this exceeded all my expectations.”
As an open car, Pastrana needed to qualify into the Daytona 500. He locked into the race on speed during Wednesday’s time trials and used Thursday’s duel race as a practice session.
Pastrana restarted in the top 10 on the final restart and was fourth on the top going into Turn 1 on the final lap. He didn’t want to overthink anything.
“I know how to drive a car so just drive. No expectations,” Pastrana said on the final restart. “I really wanted to give my teammate more help, but once he locked on the bumper of whoever was in front of him and I wasn’t on his bumper, I kind of left him so that was disappointing, but still made a pretty good run coming across the white flag. When that top started going, I thought, we might be top-five here.”
But in between turns 1 and 2, Pastrana and Aric Almirola made contact, triggering a big crash that claimed Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and others.
Pastrana suffered minimal damage, all things considered, as he said he’ll have to pay the final bill.
(Photo: Cornnell Chu | The Podium Finish)
“It’s tough just because you can’t really see what’s going on in front of you so when the two cars in front of you connect, they really take off quick,” Pastrana said. “But when you’re pushing them, you’re worried about having happen what happened to me where you kind of spin the guy in front of you. My car had been pretty tight even off of (turn) four so I was super surprised that it got as loose as it did and we’d been a little loose on the top and we were all the way up on the top.”
Pastrana had a busy few weeks down in Florida. He went dirt racing at Volusia Speedway Park before making his way over to Daytona. The 39-year-old also participated in Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race for Niece Motorsports, where he finished 13th.
“This was one of the greatest if not the greatest weeks or couple of weeks of my life,” Pastrana said. “Just coming here and even to go down to Volusia and camping with (Matt) Crafton and all the fans that came down there. Then realizing there were three guys that did the Clash and flew the red eye. These guys just love to drive. The [Ken Block family] came here just to watch me qualify and I’ve got all my friends and family here.
“As excited as I am right now, I might sleep for the next week. I am mentally and physically completely drained. Even the Truck race, my heart rate was 170 in a three-wide pack. 182 was my high. That’s just on adrenaline. So, anyone that says NASCAR is boring, they’re full of crap. They’ve definitely never been in a car because this was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done.”
Would Pastrana do another Daytona 500?
The simple answer: no.
But he didn’t rule out more NASCAR starts.
“One and done,” Pastrana said. “Now if Cody (Efaw) from Niece Motorsports calls me up and says, ‘Hey, what are you doing this weekend?’ I’ll jump in, but I’m not good enough to be the best at this sport with my skill set. The amount of time that this would take right now and I’m trying to slow down. The reason I’m here right now is because I feel like this is the best I’ve ever been as a driver. We’ve been winning championships on the dirt, and I just wanted to experience the whole Daytona Speedweeks.”
