After a successful rookie season finishing third in points and winning Rookie of the Year, hopes were high for success for Davey Terry coming into this season. However, it hasn’t gone as well as the Erin, Ontario native would have hoped for.
“It’s been a really up and down season,” Terry said on Sunday at Kawartha Speedway. “We’ve fought handling issues and motor issues and a couple wrecks here and there.”
From dirt getting in the carburetor at Sunset to a hard wreck on Sunset’s front stretch to motor issues taking him out of the running at Peterborough Speedway, just to name a few of the nights, Terry has experienced everything this year. This past weekend at Kawartha, Terry had a solid run, finishing sixth in the feature.
One of the lessons that Terry learned in his rookie year was to “make sure you take care of your equipment and everything else falls into place” as per stated earlier this year at the Canadian Motorsports Expo as part of the Younggun Panel. Terry has done that, able to finish most of the races despite the problems, putting himself third in points, behind Gary and Brent McLean.
(C)Ashley McCubbin
Going into the second half of the season, there is one goal that is still on the mind of the driver of the No. 14 Wasteco Modified and that’s to score his career Modified feature victory.
“That’s proving to be a little tougher than what I expected it to be,” he said. “This year there’s been a lot of really fast cars but we have a lot of new tires saved up. We’re going to come out with them at the end of the year and put them to use.”
The competition in the OSCAAR Modified Series has been close this year with multiple drivers getting to victory lane, including some first time winners. However, even with gaining cars, there is always room for improvement.
“The rules, they need a little bit of an adjustment just to allow a little more diverse field and equally easy for others to bring cars out,” Terry said. “We could do with a lighter season with less races and more crate motors, with more emphasis on the crate motors to keep costs down to bring cars out as well.”
Like other young drivers, Terry got his start in the Waterloo Regional Karting Club, starting at the age of 13. He then moved up to the Mini Stock division for four years before joining the Modifieds last year.
After a wild weekend of turning left and right at the fast road course at Watkins Glen, the three national NASCAR series head their separate ways this weekend with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Michigan to take on the 2 mile Michigan International Speedway and the Nationwide Series heading to their second road course race in a row for their inaugural race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway
With only four races left until the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at Chicago, the battle between those fighting for a spot in the 12 driver playoff keeps ratcheting up with only 31 points separating the drivers between 10th and 17th in the standings. From this point on every race, every position, and every point matters that much more. Drivers at Michigan will have a balancing act between playing it safe for points or gambling for a win and putting themselves in position for a Wild Card Chase berth.
Driver
Races
Win
Top 5
Top 10
Pole
Laps Led
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
Carl Edwards
18
2
9
14
1
291
19.9
8.2
Matt Kenseth
28
2
12
18
0
284
17.9
9.4
Greg Biffle
21
4
10
13
1
565
13.5
11.3
Jeff Gordon
41
2
18
25
5
954
11.5
12.4
Danica Patrick
1
0
0
0
0
0
37.0
13.0
Mark Martin
55
5
18
31
1
965
11.9
14.2
Kevin Harvick
25
1
4
9
0
149
18.2
14.3
Denny Hamlin
15
2
5
7
0
149
14.3
14.7
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
28
2
6
10
2
327
14.9
15.6
Kyle Busch
17
1
4
6
0
169
14.6
15.6
Who To Watch: Coming off of an eighth place finish in the first race at Michigan in June, Carl Edwards boasts the best statistics in the Sprint Cup Series at the track with two wins, nine top fives, 14 top tens, one pole, 291 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2 in 18 races.
Matt Kenseth comes up next with two wins, 12 top fives, 18 top tens, 284 laps led, and an average finish of 9.4 in 28 starts. Kenseth finished in sixth in June in his first race at Michigan for new car owner Joe Gibbs.
Others who run well at the track include: Greg Biffle, who won in June and has a total of four wins at the track, along with 10 top fives, 13 top tens, one pole, 565 laps led, and an average finish of 11.3 in 21 starts; Jeff Gordon, with two wins, 18 top fives, 25 top tens, five poles, 954 laps led, and an average finish of 12.4 in 41 starts; and Danica Patrick, who finished in 13th in her first start at the track in June.
The remainder of the top ten statistically (Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kyle Busch) also run well at Michigan and have a total of 11 wins between them.
NASCAR Nationwide Series – Inaugural Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
Since there have been no Nationwide Series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, there are obviously no statistics to pull from to see who will run well at the track. So, the best bet for Saturday’s race will be to go with drivers who run well on road courses. Drivers such as Ron Fellows in the JR Motorsports No. 5, Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 for Richard Petty Motorsports, A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 22 for Penske Racing, and Max Papis in the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing should find themselves up front along with Nationwide regulars Sam Hornish Jr. and Justin Allgaier.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Michigan National Guard 200 at Michigan
After a few weeks off since last racing at Pocono, the Camping World Truck Series makes their return at Michigan with points leader Matt Crafton holding onto a commanding 52 point lead over rookie Jeb Burton in the standings. The race also marks the return of the Truck Series for consecutive weekends and the debut of Fox Sports 1 for the broadcast of the Truck Series race on Saturday.
Driver
Races
Win
Top 5
Top 10
Pole
Laps Led
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
Ty Dillon
1
0
0
1
0
3
5.0
6.0
Miguel Paludo
2
0
1
2
0
3
6.0
6.5
Kyle Busch
6
0
4
5
1
149
5.8
6.8
Brendan Gaughan
7
1
3
4
0
48
18.4
8.9
Joey Coulter
2
0
0
1
1
7
10.5
12.5
Ron Hornaday, Jr.
9
0
1
6
0
15
10.3
12.7
Dakoda Armstrong
2
0
1
1
0
0
20.5
13.5
Johnny Sauter
4
0
0
0
0
1
8.0
13.5
James Buescher
4
0
2
2
0
5
7.8
14.5
Timothy Peters
6
0
1
3
0
0
16.7
14.8
Who To Watch: Championship contender Ty Dillon leads all active drivers at Michigan with three laps led and a sixth place finish in his lone start at the track last season.
A driver who has been running strong as of late is Miguel Paludo and he falls in second statistically at Michigan. Paludo has two starts at the track and in the two starts has one top five, two top tens, 3 laps led and an average finish of 6.5.
Others who could find their way to Victory Lane include: Kyle Busch, who has six starts at the track, and in those six starts has four top fives, five top tens, one pole, 149 laps led and an average finish of 6.8; Brendan Gaughan, who has one win, three top fives, four top tens, 48 laps led and an average finish of 8.9 in seven starts; and Joey Coulter, who has one top ten, one pole, seven laps led and an average finish of 12.5 in two starts.
Last, but certainly not least would be the promising crop of rookies in the series this year (Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace, Jr.), who are giving the veterans a run for their money. It certainly would not be a surprise to see one of those drivers win either.
Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the 2000 Indianapolis 500 among eight CART victories, winner of the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix among seven Formula One triumphs, but a winner of a single Cup race at Sonoma and another at the Glen in 239 starts. That, in a nutshell, is why Montoya was hired and why he will soon be fired as the driver of the #42 Target team of Chip Ganassi.
Montoya already had a heady resume to his credit when he arrived in NASCAR’s top division at the end of 2006 as a 31-year old. I mean, his Monaco win marked the start of eight straight podium finishes and twice he finished third in the season F-1 points standings. Like Tony Stewart before him, he has a CART season title to his credit, but unlike Stewart it is Montoya who owns the biggest Indianapolis victory.
You might get the idea that Juan Pablo Montoya is a damn good driver. He finished fifth last weekend at the Glen. Sadly, his average career finish is 20th and it seems evident that without a few rights on the track, he is left struggling even in this, his seventh full campaign.
So, is it Montoya or is it Earnhardt Ganassi Racing that has the bigger problem? Well, since 2001 Chip Ganassi has been able to celebrate a dozen times in Victory Lane. Sterling Marlin gave him two in 2001 and two more in 2002. Jamie McMurray had his first the same year, while he and Montoya each had one in 2007. Jamie added one more in 2009, then three more in 2010, including the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, while Juan Pablo took Watkins Glen the same season.
There are teams who would be happy with that record, but not if they are owned by folks named Hendrick, Roush, Childress, Gibbs or Penske. I don’t think Stewart or Waltrip would be terribly satisfied, either. So, I guess a winner of four Indianapolis 500 races, 89 CART/IndyCar events, and nine CART/IndyCar season crowns might seek to be better, You might also get the idea that Chip Ganassi is a damn good owner of racing teams.
I expected more from Montoya. I expect more from McMurray. I expect more from Chip Ganassi. I do not know what to expect from any of them in 2014.
Michigan is next on the dance card for this Sunday. It was the track that essentially ended Ganassi’s own driving career in a 1984 wreck. As an owner, he has won there three times, with the last coming in the 2000 Michigan 500 CART race. His driver? Juan Pablo Montoya.
With his win at the Glen, Kyle Busch moves into a close second to Jimmie Johnson among those who have been hot as of late. Brad Keselowski’s runner-up run jumps him six spots on this chart, while Tony Stewart begins his fade to black. Four drivers seeking a Chase place, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, and Jeff Gordon, are all heating up at the right time. Greg Biffle has won the past two races at the venue and he will seek the fifth of his career on the weekend.
How can NASCAR turn the yawn fest that has become Nationwide Series Racing into something the fans will enjoy again? My twitter and Facebook time lines both blow up when Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, or even Matt Kenseth take the lead at any point in the race. It quickly becomes a stream of “Anybody but……(fill in Cup Regulars name here).
For the longest time I defended allowing the cup regulars racing in the lower series, mainly because my favorite driver was still doing it from time to time and ran well in that series at points. I even defended it more when NASCAR made the rule that drivers had to declare which series they were going to race for a championship in before the season really began.
The excuse that I often used was, “Well it helps the track promoters out by getting butts in the seats to see their favorite drivers one more time during the race weekend.” Granted this was back before the Cup regulars truly dominated the lower series. Would they win often? Yes, but they would not go on an eight race winning streak, or in the case of this year’s races, winning sixteen of twenty-one races, or a winning percentage of 1.3125 percent of the time. Now, honestly it is keeping people OUT of the seats more than it is putting butts in seats.
I have also heard and understand the argument that having the Cup drivers in the lower series gives the lower series guys a chance to see what they will be up against when they get into the Cup series. For the longest time, I really didn’t have a comeback for this statement, now I do. While the younger driver may learn something about driver etiquette on the track, they are not learning anything else for the most part. The Cup cars are not the same cars the Nationwide series cars are, and therefore the driver in the NNS isn’t learning very much that will help them once they graduate into the Cup series. About the only thing it shows them is that if they want to be successful in the Cup series they will need to land at a top tier team or their hopes of challenging for a win each week is out the window.
The cars in the Nationwide series are great, they look incredible on T.V. and on the track. They afford for some nice side by side racing. Only when the cars that are being raced aren’t from an over funded team with an over talented driver, holding off someone who is simply trying to get a handle on the series. I could actually understand a lower talented Cup driver trying to get extra seat time to try and improve their performance for their main sponsor on Sunday. Take Bliss, Blaney, Stremme, or any other driver, hell even take Danica and put her in the Nationwide series and allow them more seat time to improve the racing on Sunday, and I would get it much better than I do these days.
These days unless the series is split like it is this weekend with the Cup cars in Michigan and the Nationwide cars in Ohio; it basically takes a catastrophic incident or failure by the Cup regulars team or car for the Nationwide series drivers to even stand a chance to win the race. Which is what leads to my timeline being blown up with people changing the channel, going to the pool, or horror of all horrors heading to the store or mall to get some last minute shopping done.
My solution is a relatively simple and painless one to implement and simply builds upon the declaring which series a driver is running for a championship. Limit the number of starts that a Cup regular can have in the lower series, to five. Which would mean that the track promoters would still be able to promote the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr will be running both Daytona and Talladega races, without stacking the deck at the races against the Nationwide drivers. It would allow the drivers like Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski to race the Nationwide and Camping World Series trucks, but on a limited basis. Let’s just call it the Mark Martin schedule for simplification purposes.
Let’s face facts, drivers in the Cup series retire, where will that leave fans that still love the sport but don’t have a driver to root for? In my case I know that in the next year to two my driver Jeff Burton will be retiring. I have followed Jeff’s career since I attended my first Cup race and Jeff won for the first time in Texas. I know that I will have to find someone else to root for week in and week out. Are there drivers suitable enough for me to start cheering for already in the Cup series? Of course there are, but I do not want to have to repeat this cycle in another five to ten years. I would much rather have a driver that I can cheer for week in and week out in the Trucks or Nationwide series, see him or her grow into the next series and root for them when they finally reach the Cup series.
Can I realistically do that now? Yes, but I honestly do not get to “KNOW” the driver these days in the lower series. The main focus by main stream media is either how well the cup drivers or doing, or when things are going wrong for them, how badly things are going. I will gladly put a large portion of the blame for the Cup regulars doing double duty on the shoulders of main stream media since it is these same media members that focus so greatly on the Cup drivers. Aside from Kyle Busch I honestly do not think that the other regular drivers would run as many races, of course this isn’t taking into account sponsorship obligations, as they do now if they weren’t almost guaranteed almost unfettered T.V. time each week. Kyle is the lone amalgam in this situation; he in a lot of ways is the same as Tony Stewart.
Tony is a racers racer, and so is Kyle. They both see seating behind the wheel of a vehicle and trying to get something out of it that no one else can as therapeutic. It is their weekend golf game, or shooting hoops with the guys. The difference is this, while Tony does it in a series that doesn’t directly impact the potential for up and coming drivers; Kyle almost relishes in the fact that he is potentially holding back a future driver in the Cup series.
With the limited number of races it would be an excuse for people like Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch to actually MENTOR potential drivers on a weekly basis. Especially when you take into account that two of the five drivers I named own a lower series team. To mentor someone, means teaching not showing someone how to do something, allowing them to fail in their own unique way, and being there to pat them on the back when they succeed. It does not mean, “Step out of my way, let me show you how this is done, and oh by the way don’t even THINK about passing me late to steal a victory away from me,”
We worry about the future of the NASCAR sport, and trying to fix so many things that are wrong with it, how about we start looking at what truly IS the future of the sport in the lower series and attempt to give them something to hope for on their own?
It’s only mid-week and already a few big stories have hit. First there was the surprise YouTube video of Humpy Wheeler, the legendary promoter who put Charlotte Motor Speedway on the map, giving a critical analysis of what is wrong with NASCAR followed closely by Brian Vickers getting the full time ride in the No.55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota and the dismissal of Juan Pablo Montoya from the No. 42 Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet. Interesting moves, no doubt, so let’s start with Wheeler’s comments.
Wheeler was regarded as the number one promoter in racing until his abrupt firing by Speedway Motorsports in 2008. He now owns a consulting company, but his comments on the sport ring true most of the time. I first heard his ideas on the health of the sport on SiriusXM satellite radio last week, but seeing them in print was a real eye opener.
When considering the lack of attendance and the diminishing TV ratings, Wheeler has many ideas on why this has happened, firstly the corpatizement, as he calls it, of the sport. This rings true. Wheeler contends that the huge sums of money collected by the sport’s teams was good, it also upped the cost of what teams could spend on their teams, leaving a gap of the haves and have-nots in the sport, as well as multi-car super teams, reducing competition. His story about Firestone asking him to help in getting Richard Petty to take diction instruction to do commercials rings true. Today’s drivers tend to be corporate darlings, easily mentioning each sponsor in rote fashion and even taking gulps of their sport’s beverage on cue. Wheeler, to his credit, refused Firestone saying a better speaking King would not be the King. It was what enamored him to his fans.
Wheeler’s ideas are legendary. Lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the big military shows before the Coke 600, and turning the speedway built in 1960 into the crown jewel of the sport are just a few of his accomplishments, but his other ideas may be considered radical..
Wheeler’s main points are that the sport got too fancy, didn’t emphasize winning and passing enough, and didn’t give a reason for fans to come back after a race. How would Wheeler solve this? Give points for re-passing on the track. Give extra bonuses for winning and passing in a race, and do away with some of the new rules. He didn’t mention them specifically, but one can only surmise he meant the “Luck Dog,” the wave around and the double file restart. That’s what I thought he meant anyway. Maybe Wheeler will expound on this later. One thing is certain; he feels he knows what happened to the popularity of the sport.
Since about 1990, NASCAR was in power curve that played out about 2001. It was coincidentally the same year Dale Earnhardt lost his life in the Daytona 500. Wheeler calls him the working man’s driver. From that point on, NASCAR started waning in popularity. He says that guys like Richard Petty, Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, and David Pearson were drivers that the working man could identify with. That is missing today, and I agree. Fans still flock to the tracks with No. 3 flags and stickers on their campers and cars. When asked who their favorite driver is, they are stumped for an answer. As Wheeler articulated so well, we do not have that driver anymore. Wheeler mentioned Clint Bowyer and then said he had been corpatized. We seem to have turned our drivers into walking and driving extensions of their sponsors, refusing to be themselves except in a moment of rage or weakness when they apologize to the sponsor and the fans for being themselves. Makes no sense. The motto is “ye must be a corporate spokesman.” Racing is secondary, and that’s the problem in Humpy’s mind. In my mind, we’ve gotten too fancy. Humpy would be proud. What will bring NASCAR back to the growth they saw in the 10-12 year growth spurt? Excitement and competition across the board and drivers people can relate to in today’s world. Let’s see if anyone is listening.
Brian Vickers is getting the full time gig in the Aaron’s Toyota in 2014, leaving Mark Martin, who only wants a part-time ride without a car to drive. Where will he go? Some say back to Roush-Fenway for a few races in the legendary No. 6, and others say the same thing in the Wood Brothers No.21. To be honest, where else could he go for a part-time ride? With drivers like Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and now Juan Montoya looking, pickings will be slim. If Martin could bring some sponsorship along, all bets are off, of course.
The dismissal of Montoya was a total surprise. I don’t think Montoya will accept an uncompetitive ride, so only the RCR No.29, the Phoenix Racing No. 51, and the possible 4th car at RCR seem to be in play. Then, you have to consider Newman, who will be in big demand, and what Richard Childress will do with his grandsons. It’s not much of a market out there for displaced drivers. My guess is that Montoya will go back to what he did before coming to NASCAR. I could be wrong, but I don’t see a place for him in 2014. Silly Season should be lots of fun this fall.
It’s something fans dream of. Being in victory lane at a NASCAR Race. It’s an exclusive club for winners. Victory lane is symbolic in our sport as a place of triumph and it’s where drivers can turn into legends. Being in a place that powerful seems impossible. I never imagined being there, but a magical Sunday at Watkins Glen left me there. That’s one Sunday I won’t soon forget.
The whole day led up to victory lane. It started on pit road prior to the running of the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen. Following driver introductions, I made my way down the grid to catch up with one of my most famous friends. Samantha Busch. As usual, we chatted for a long time, but while I we were chatting, I was lost in conversation. Somehow, the talk led to Samantha saying that if Kyle won the race, I was going to come to victory lane with them. That statement put me in awe and eventually, my awe turned into a sweet reality.
As the race wound down, Kyle was doing exceptionally well and he was leading. A few late restarts bunched the field up creating another chance for the lead to exchange hands. Kyle seemed to have a handle on the restarts, assuring me that maybe he could pull this off. I made my way from turn 2 to the infield with about 10 laps to go, waiting to see how the ending would play out.
With no TV monitors around, I had no way of watching the end of the race so I pulled out my phone to listen to MRN‘s coverage. The ending had me on pins and needles, was Kyle really going to win? Was I really going to be in victory lane? Those questions were answered when he crossed the line first, claiming the victory and making my hopes a reality.
Once I headed for victory lane, I saw Samantha heading that way as well. She put her hand out for me and led me into victory lane. That in itself is incredible. The driver’s wife bringing me into one of the most restricted places to fans at the track, what could be cooler than that? Not much.
Once an ecstatic Kyle climbed out of his car, he and his team celebrated a victory that they could have had in the race during the last two years. The whole team was pumped up and everyone had a smile on their face. The faces of Joe Gibbs Racing started to pour into victory lane eventually and it was quite an honor to stand next to Mr. Gibbs himself while one of his team celebrated.
Lots of people came in and congratulated the team. One person I can clearly remember is Ty Norris of Michael Waltrip Racing who said to someone that “If it’s not us, I’m glad it’s you.” That shows how much respect most teams have for each other in the garage area.
Pictures were taken all around for awhile and I stood there soaking this incredible experience in. I woke up on Sunday morning with no vision of standing in victory lane at the end of the day and it was amazing how fast that thought entered my head and eventually played out.
Overall, being in victory lane was breathtaking. The celebration was neat to see and being sprayed with champagne was an incredible thing to experience. To be inside the place where few can go is one remarkable feeling and every second was worth it. This article wouldn’t be possible without the help of Samantha Busch so I thank her a million times for making something I dreamed of come true.
Travis Pastrana holds twelve world records, eleven X Games gold medals, has won championships in Rally and Motocross but he’s now trying to conquer something completely different than what he’s ever experienced before; he’s trying to make a name for himself in NASCAR. There is no doubt that this racing phenom has the talent and the tenacity to make his way in the most popular motorsport in North America but even a racing ace like Travis Pastrana must work for it if he wants to one day hold his own against the best NASCAR has to offer.
Travis joined up with Roush-Fenway Racing for the 2013 season which happens to be one of the most successful teams in NASCAR history. They have earned over 300 national touring wins and have won seven championships. Despite all of his incredible accomplishments in other disciplines, NASCAR has been a challenge for Travis to adapt to but he’s already shown promise in his short career winning a pole at Talladega and posting a handful of top 10’s this year.
At Watkins Glen, I got the chance to interview Travis; the first major motorsport interview of my professional career by the way. Before I was a member of the media, I was a fan of Travis Pastrana and I remember sitting shocked on my couch as a 13 year old when I watched him perform a double back flip at the 2006 X Games. I cheered him on in Rally and followed him from his early days of motocross back when he was just a teenage kid like myself.
Now, I got the chance to finally shake his hand and talk to the man behind all these incredible feats. I was also soaking wet because I forgot to bring an umbrella to the track….great foresight on my part! Here’s what he had to say about the transition to NASCAR, his season thus far and his plans for the future…
Who in the garage has been the biggest help to you as you try to adapt to racing in NASCAR?
When I first started in NASCAR, Matt Crafton was just awesome, he’s still really taking me under his wing but now with the Roush-Fenway team when we go to test, it’s probably Trevor Bayne just because he’s my Nationwide teammate. When we go to the restrictor plate races, he’s worked with me which is something a lot of people wouldn’t be willing to do…so that’s been really an honor and has been super cool. Carl Edwards has been great at the tests as well. He jumps into me car because we have the same seat. We’re pretty much the same height, same build. At the track, it’s been Stenhouse so really everyone at the Roush-Fenway team.
What, if anything can you take from your experience racing rally cars and apply to driving one of these big, heavy stock cars? Is there anything?
Photo Credit: vtcar.com
I would have liked to have thought that there was a lot more but definitely car control. I’m really comfortable sliding around but the problem is, that’s not necessarily the fastest way. Especially at road racing; I was thinking, this is gonna be great! In rally, you charge in really, really deep and get back on the gas really, really early.
With these cars, they’re heavier, they’re bigger. They really don’t behave as well. They flat spot the tires real easy. As soon as you start turning in, you got to be off the brakes so you got to get all your braking done in a straight line and then roll it around the corner with as much roll speed as you can but then point it before you get on the gas. So it’s the patience thing. I just want to charge in hard, lock up the tires, get on the gas and slide it off the corners and its just not faster.
Kind of like the old adage; go slower to go faster?
Yeah, it’s just that when you’re not the fastest one on the track, you want to go faster.
You obviously have the talent to race in NASCAR…you don’t just luck into 11 X-Games gold medals and you’ve already had three or four front row starts this year (in NASCAR). What would a win in NASCAR mean to you? Would it be the biggest win of your career?
I think it would be the most difficult from where I came from. My whole life has been geared to motorcycles and then to rally; all dirt stuff pretty much. Even with rallycross, I haven’t done as well as the rally when it was just all dirt. If I can figure out a pavement sport, it would be the biggest success and surprise if you will.
Now that you brought up dirt…would you ever consider running that truck race at Eldora in the future?
The truck race looked like a lot of fun but again, it’s not the dirt I’m used to. I’m used to charging in hard…that’s a patience track. I would have been spun everywhere like come on; I want to go faster and then I’m in the wall! (Laughs) So probably not my forte even though it is dirt.
What do you think you need to improve on personally and your team needs to improve on to take you to that next level? You seem like a solid top 15 driver but what do you need to do to get to be a solid top 5 or top 10 driver?
That’s a great question…you know, the team is working really hard. They’ve got great stuff. I have a lot of notes from past champions…I mean we are the winningest Nationwide team of all-time and I need to get that win. At the beginning of the season, we worked on consistency. We got that; we had the three top 10’s in the first six races or seven races.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Then we got to Richmond and I said okay, I’m not fast enough. I’m not qualifying well enough. So we started pushing and I could get that single lap to fire off. I was getting faster in practice, we got to where I could get the car to run one lap quick. We were fastest in practice for a couple races, got a couple 2nd’s in qualifying…a 5th, a pole. Like we were doing good but I couldn’t race the car setup like that. Now I know what the speed’s like; how how can I keep that speed and figure out how to race it.
Most drivers have a time table of where they want to be five or ten years from now in their career. What’s your time table, like where do you want to be in five years, 10 years; you want to be racing in Cup?
My bucket list; why I even started was to try to race Cup in the Daytona 500. That and the Indy 500 are pretty much the two biggest races that as a American, you could just be a part of. Now that I started racing, you don’t just want to be a part of it, you want to do well in it. You have to figure out how to get better, get faster.
If you’re looking five years down the road, I need to look at what I need to do to speed up this learning curve whether its racing more ARCA races and Late Models or spending more time in the shop and learning more about the car. We’re kind of in that spot now where I’ve got Rally, I’ve got Nitro; I’ve got all this other stuff going on and I’ve always been able to balance that.
You hate to say its a job, it’s an awesome job but I got to be in the shop more. We got to figure out what I need to do to structure the rest of my life and now with a kid on the way and to be a good friend to my friends at Nitro but to really, focus on this.If we’re going to do this full-time, if I want to be here in five years, I need to figure out what it’s going to take and I need to do it now.
Now that you brought up the Indy 500….I know you’re focused on the task at hand but would you ever consider running Indycars or doing some more endurance races in sports cars?
All that stuff is awesome but for now, I got to figure out NASCAR.
Fan Question – Laura from Vancouver, Canada Asks: What has been the most challenging track for you this year?
A lot of them, I thought I was going to do well like Iowa; it’s my best K&N track and I don’t know the difference between K&N and Nationwide. Even last year in Nationwide, we didn’t have a great setup but I felt like we were competitive and this year, we were just well off. I think the biggest challenge hasn’t necessarily been a single track but it’s figuring out what I need in practice to race well. I mean, the team can do exactly what I say and I’m wrong 90% of the time. (Laughs)
What is something interesting about you that most fans don’t know?
What most of the fans don’t know is that everything about me and even stuff I don’t know about me is on the internet. (Laughs)
And that’s not necessarily a good thing! (Laughs)
No! (Laughs) If I want to know what I’m doing this weekend, I just look on the websites and see what they say. Oh, he’s probably doing this and I’m like oh, that’s a good idea!
After taking a step back, how would you assess your first full-time season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series so far?
At the beginning, we started off better than I thought…we found more speed in the middle that I thought we were going to find. At this point, slower than I anticipated. I was hoping to be consistently top 10 driver and working on some top 5’s but it hasn’t been the case.
Photo Credit: Amanda Weis
Travis Pastrana may not have a win in NASCAR yet but he’s got three big things going for him right now and that’s a great team behind him, a great attitude and the most important attribute of all; he’s got the raw talent to get the job done. All he’s lacking is experience in NASCAR and that will come with time.
I believe that we will see Travis in victory lane by this time, next year and his dream of racing in the Daytona 500 will one day come to fruition as long as he keeps fighting to make it a reality. We all know Travis isn’t a quitter, it took a broken leg to finally stop him from attempting the Rodeo 720 at the 2011 X Games and I don’t see him giving up on NASCAR until he accomplishes what he came here to do and that’s win.
He’s led laps, won a pole, and finished in the top 10 on multiple occasions in just his first full-time season in the Nationwide Series which is really impressive for someone with little stock car experience. There is another guy that came to NASCAR with little stock car experience and with a background primarily based on dirt and with dirt bikes…he posted six top 10’s, no top fives and failed to win a race in his first full-time Nationwide season which is almost identical to how Pastrana’s season is going. His name is Jimmie Johnson.
