JAY, Okla. — On Tuesday at MidAmerica Outdoors, Travis Pastrana performed his first double flip on a dirt bike in five years.
The last time he executed the stunt was prior to an injury he sustained in 2017, when he broke his left wrist in a fall and had to have it fused.
But simply being at the Oklahoma motorsports playground — which is hosting the season opener for Pastrana’s Nitrocross series in conjunction with Visions Off-Road, which began Monday and runs through Sunday, has rejuvenated the action sports star and coaxed him back into the game.
“Something about this place is infectious and you want to have fun,” said the 39-year-old Pastrana.
Later in the afternoon, Pastrana made a chaotic test lap around his newly-built Nitrocross course with Lia Block, Ken Block’s daughter, riding as passenger.
As he drove the car into the first corner off the drop-down start, the car flipped, taking Pastrana and Block for a wild ride as the Vermont SportsCar entry rolled into the dirt.
Both walked away unharmed.
“I got a little too much air on the inside, we were trying to make the outsides the same speed as the insides,” Pastrana explained. “I went a little big with Lia and we did a double flip in the car. But we’ll be back.”
Friday holds the next event on Pastrana’s busy schedule, as he’ll be at the Nitro Pit Bike Races, throwing it back to his days of racing AMA Pro Motocross in the 2000s.
“I got signed up for the pit bike race, I don’t know how,” Pastrana said with a laugh.
On Saturday, the six-time national rally champion will be rolling back onto the Nitrocross track for the season opener — this time, with co-driver Connor Martell by his side. The pair will race in Group E, which is the series’ electric car class.
To conclude Pastrana’s busy week in Oklahoma, he plans to appear in Saturday night’s Nitro Circus show in the freestyle division.
However, Pastrana’s stay at MidAmerica Outdoors extends well beyond the weeklong Visions Off-Road event. Prior to event kickoff on June 12, he’s been staying at a house on the property for the past two months to assist with each step of the track building process.
“To have the opportunity to do whatever you want to do, it’s never happened to me before,” Pastrana said.
He previously attempted to create a rallycross course in his home state of Maryland, but wasn’t able to bring the project to life. So, when presented with a blank slate of land from Jason Robinett, owner of MidAmerica Outdoors, Pastrana was giddy with excitement.
The finished course features 150 feet of elevation drop, a 45-degree banked corner, a series of tight turns and a triple jump, among other obstacles Pastrana has thrown in.
The Nitrocross field — including drivers such as Block, Conor Daly and defending champion Robin Larsson — will put Pastrana’s vision to the test on Saturday during the season opener.
But even if it doesn’t work how Pastrana hopes it will, there’s always next year.
“This is not a one-year plan. This is a three-year and five-year plan,” Pastrana said. “It’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
The Ultra4 USA and MidAmerica Outdoors events this week at Visions can be seen on American Outdoor Events TV (Aoe.tv).