Travis Pastrana Still Embracing Learning Curve
With a solid team in Roush Fenway Racing and a full season ahead in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, Travis Pastrana is still embracing the learning curve when it comes to stock car racing.
Unfortunately, Pastrana, behind the wheel of his most colorful No. 60 Roush Fenway Ford Mustang, did not even get a chance to go to school in the Dollar General 200 Advance at Phoenix International Raceway. He was involved in an early crash, relegating him to a 28th place finish.
“They started crashing in front of me,” Pastrana said. “I thought I could get to the inside and I just wanted to try to get down, so once I got in the marbles the first lap and was loose, the second lap came in and I saw them crashing in front of me.”
“I kind of let off, but I just got in the marbles again, so unfortunately, it was a pretty useless day for learning.”
Pastrana qualified in the 12th position for the Nationwide race, with a speed of 131.200 mph and a time of 27.439 seconds. But that was not good enough to sustain him in race conditions, having to utilize his teammate’s set up instead.
“We knew that we had a good qualifying run compared to where we practiced,” Pastrana said. “We thought we were pretty good at the end of practice, but we were so far off from where Trevor (Bayne) was, so we went with Trevor’s stuff just to see if it would work.”
“I think we were on the right track, but there’s not a lot we could pick up because I didn’t get one single lap,” Pastrana continued. “The front wheel was busted out and the splitter was off the right-front tire.”
“We just drove around all day,” Pastrana said. “If you see the front tire, it’s folded over completely, so I don’t know how the car survived.”
“The team earned their money today.”
Although frustrated with the early crash and poor finish, Pastrana did learn at least one tidbit. After following teammate Bayne’s line on the track, he at least picked up some knowledge for the future about where to run for maximum speed.
“I knew where his line was and I knew where my line was,” Pastrana said. “So, just learning where you can run the car was good.”
“But with this car, we never knew because we never had a chance.”
Pastrana’s Phoenix run was especially tough since he had had a great outing at Daytona, finishing in the tenth position. The former extreme sport star turned NASCAR racer felt that he really learned a great deal about restrictor plate racing, again with a little help from teammate and former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne.
“Daytona was awesome,” Pastrana said “A top-10 finish was exactly what we had hoped for.”
“I knew we had a great car coming into the race,” Pastrana continued. “Trevor pushed me around a few laps.”
“I kind of gained confidence and really just started pushing a little bit and started to be pushed more and those guys gained confidence with me.”
Unfortunately, Pastrana’s confidence was short-lived in the waning laps of the race, with the horrific crash that sent debris raining into the stands as well as all over the track.
“We were running three-wide and I didn’t know what to do,” Pastrana said. “All hell broke loose like it always does.”
“But I still learned a lot.”
Pastrana also broke the news in Phoenix that he will have some learning to do off the track as well, which may involve entirely new skills sets such as diaper changing. He and his wife announced that they are expecting their first child.
“It’s just really exciting,” Pastrana said. “I got married about a year-and-a-half ago and having a kid is going to be awesome.”
Will Pastrana teach his youngster about all of his daredevil ways, including racing in its many forms?
“I definitely feel for my parents now with everything I’ve put them through,” Pastrana said. “But we’ll encourage whatever we have – a boy or girl – to follow their passion.”
“But I’m hoping their passion is golf, maybe.”
As Pastrana leaves Phoenix, now 15th in the point standings, he is no doubt looking forward to more learning at the next venue, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. But he is also anticipating going to another track as well, the Monster Mile, later in the season.
“For me, my hometown track was always Dover,” Pastrana said. “I’ve never gotten to drive anything around Dover and they say it’s like dropping into a roller coaster every corner and jumping coming out.”
“It doesn’t look like a jump when you’re watching,” Pastrana continued. “But all the drivers say it is.”
“I’m looking forward to that.”
NASCAR is asking the Hard Questions
Daytona Speedweeks heralds in the NASCAR season each year. It is generally a fun-filled couple of weeks leading up to one of the most anticipated races of the year, the Daytona 500.
This year the celebration came to a grinding halt after a violent crash in the Nationwide Series race. Kyle Larson’s car went airborne in a last lap wreck that involved 12 cars. His engine ended up in the catchfence. A wheel assembly, pieces of the car and debris, went flying into the grandstands, injuring more than 30 people.
The NASCAR community responded immediately with concern for those injured amid vows by NASCAR to determine how this happened.
But I soon noticed a disturbing trend.
Those who asked how this could happen were met with an almost frenzied response by many. ‘This is not NASCAR’s fault,’ they said.’ Read the back of your ticket,’ they shouted. ‘Racing is a dangerous sport and fans accept that fact every time they attend a race.’
Tony Stewart, who won the race, was somber in victory lane and offered a different perspective.
“We always know that this is a dangerous sport. We assume that risk but it’s hard when fans get caught up in it,” Stewart said. “My concern is for the fans right now.”
When it was learned that a few of the injured individuals had contacted an attorney to explore legal options, some reacted with a verbal attack. ‘They aren’t true fans,’ many proclaimed. ‘Real fans accept the risks.’
Suddenly, in their eyes, being a NASCAR fan meant that you must pledge your unwavering support. I disagree.
I’m a huge proponent of NASCAR and I believe that safety is one of their primary concerns. They are constantly striving to make it as safe as possible, both for the drivers and the fans. Sometimes that means asking the hard questions.
Race enthusiasts know that the sport has inherent risks. There is no way to prepare for all of the things that can go wrong. When you attend a race, you do so realizing that there is an element of danger. But you also attend an event with the expectation that NASCAR has done everything possible to keep you safe.
When something goes horribly wrong as it did in the Nationwide Series race, it is not only proper but necessary to ask questions. Why did the engine separate from the car? Are the cars going too fast? Did the catch fence perform as it was intended? Does the crossover gate need to be redesigned or eliminated? What can we do to make sure this type of accident never happens again?
NASCAR began asking these questions immediately and I feel certain they will not rest until they have the answers. As fans, you should encourage them to do so.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR senior vice president, met with the media Saturday, March 2nd, to give an update on their progress.
“As everybody knows,” he said, “safety is first and foremost not only for NASCAR and our racetracks, but getting that right and making sure our fans can enjoy the most safe and entertaining environment possible. I think our history speaks to that.”
“Moving forward,” he continued, “based on what happened in Daytona, we met immediately with the folks at Daytona International Speedway. We’ve had multiple meetings this week. It’s been a truly collaborative effort with the goal of doing two things: obviously looking at what happened in this incident, but more importantly the go-forward plan of what we can learn and what we want to implement as we go forward.
Asking questions does not mean that you are assigning blame. It means that as a reasonable individual you realize that it is almost impossible to foresee every possible contingency. That is why it is so important to examine this particular occurrence to learn from it and make the necessary adjustments.
Asking questions does not mean that you challenge NASCAR’s intentions or that you are any less of a fan. It simply means that you want NASCAR to be the best it can be. It’s reassuring to realize that NASCAR has the same goal.
