Travis Pastrana, No. 99 Boost Mobile Phoenix Preview

CORNELIUS, N.C. — Eleven-time X Games Gold medal winner Travis Pastrana will drive the No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota in Thursday’s K&N Pro Series West race at Phoenix International Raceway. Bill McAnally Racing and Pastrana-Waltrip Racing will field the Toyota for the 27-year-old action sports star.

Pastrana finished sixth in his Jan. 29 NASCAR debut in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway. The Maryland native plans to make several appearances in K&N East and West Series before his July 30 Nationwide Series debut in Indianapolis. That weekend he will also compete in the ESPN X Games in Los Angeles. Longtime NASCAR truck series driver Matt Crafton has served as a tutor for Pastrana since beginning the NASCAR program.

Media Availability: Travis Pastrana will hold a media availability Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the Phoenix International Raceway media center.

PASTRANA QUOTES

ON RACING AT PHOENIX: “I can’t wait to get back in the race car this week. We had a very successful debut at Irwindale last month and I learned a lot during the race. I don’t think our goals have change from our debut. We want to go out there and make laps and learn as much as we can. I am really confident in the race car I will have this weekend. It used to be an old PWR Nationwide car that Bill McAnally purchased. I haven’t been able to test at Phoenix so I am going to have to spend most of the practice time just learning the best way around the track.

Hopefully, we will be able to have another successful race this week.”

ON MATT CRAFTON: “Matt Crafton has been a tremendous amount of help. He is kind of like my security blanket. He educates me on the best way to get around the race track. In Irwindale he was also my spotter and that was so much help. He told me when I was over driving the corners or when a lap looked pretty good. He also helped me stay out of a bunch of wrecks. Matt and I just clicked from the time we meet at New Smyrna Speedway.”

CREW CHIEF MIKE GRECI: “Obviously, we are in the same situation as Irwindale. Every race track will be a new experience for him. Our goal is to get him use to the one-mile race tracks as quickly as we can. We want him to be able to go out there and race competitively with the West Series drivers. I think Matt Crafton will play a big part in making him comfortable at Phoenix. Matt has learned to work with Travis very well. Travis seems to really rely on Matt a lot when it comes to driving a race car. They have joined in a bonded and they work very well together right now. I think Travis trusts Matt a lot.”

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Pastrana’s Nationwide schedule includes: July 30 at Indianapolis, Sept. 9 in Richmond, Va., Oct. 1 in Dover, Del., Oct. 8 in Kansas, Nov. 5 in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 12 in Phoenix and Nov. 19 in Homestead-Miami.

• The Michael Waltrip Racing K&N Pro Series East team has won two consecutive championships with Ryan Truex. The team has captured five wins, two poles, 15 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in just 21 races. Brett Moffitt will drive MWR’s East car in 2011.

• Bill McAnally Racing won the K&N Pro Series West championship last year with driver Eric Holmes. Holmes scored five victories, eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 12 starts.

• Pastrana spent the past several weeks performing his Nitro Circus live tour in front of sold out crowds in New Zealand.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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