DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — He started last, finished just outside of the top 10 in 11th place, but extreme sports star Travis Pastrana leaves the 65th Daytona 500 feeling as good as when he won gold medals in the X Games.
“Honestly, just to be in the hunt at the end, 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,” said Pastrana, one of the most famous Extreme Sports athletes in the world. “Obviously, it’s disappointing now because you want to do the best you can.
“I was really trying not to crash and unfortunately when things got tight in there, I wasn’t able to control it on the top with the push.”
Pastrana started the No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota for 23XI Racing last in the 40-car field. But he dug down and was a quick learning, racing his way through the field and being in position to actually leading two laps when the cars in front of his Toyota had made their pit stops.
Pastrana led laps 39 and 40 before he pitted.
“I led a lap, but it was by mistake,” Pastrana said. “They said, ‘Come in, no stay out.’ I’m like, ‘I’m already out.’
“I led a lap at the Daytona 500 and finished top-20. The car is not a complete write off, so the kid’s college fund is intact. It was a win, and it was awesome.”
Pastrana was in the top 10 for the second restart in overtime, which would be the final restart of the race. He was determined to finish the race with the car in one piece.
“It’s funny, I know how to drive a car so just drive,” he recalled. “No expectations. Let’s see how far we can get up.
“I really wanted to give my teammate (Bubba Wallace) 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.’”
Before he could get to the finish, however, he had to avoid the big, nine-car crash in turn three that determined the winner of the race. Because the field had already taken the white flag, per NASCAR rules it was the final lap.
But only a few cars made it out of turn two as sparks flew and flames erupted from the nine cars involved.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in the lead when the caution light was turned on and he was the winner of the 65th Daytona 500.
“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 (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. Just disappointing.”
Pastrana came, he saw, he competed and nearly finished in the top 10.
It was an experience that he will forever remember because of the unique challenge that he had to face.
“This exceeded all of my expectations as far as results,” Pastrana said. “These are the best drivers in the world. I’m not a great rear-wheel driver, I’m not a great pavement driver. “Restrictor plate racing is a little different. We had a great team with this 23XI Toyota team, and it was an honor to be on the track with these guys. 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.”
Pastrana called it, “One and Done” in terms of the Daytona 500.
But he remains open for offers.
“I’m not good enough to be the best at this sport with my skillset,” he said. “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.”
It was one of the most emotional days of Pastrana’s career. This from a driver who has earned acclaim in action sports and as a stunt driver, able to perform daring moves with ease.
“As excited as I am right now, I might sleep for the next week,” he said. “I am mentally and physically completely drained.
Even the truck race, my heart rate was 170 in a three-wide pack. My high is 182. 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.
“This was one of the greatest if not the greatest weeks or couple of weeks of my life.”