many reports out there that Travis Pastrana will leave Subaru Rally Team USA and head to NASCAR, supposedly siging with Michael Waltrip Racing / Diamond Waltrip Racing, supposedly running either the NASCAR K&N Racing Series or Nationwide Series in 2011. Supposedly Pastrana posted an image on his Twitter [but has since removed it] and an announcement could come as soon as Thursday. A few sites reporting this ‘news’ include: CBS Sports, NASCAR Examiner, AutoBlog.com [with an image of the car], SpeedFreaks and AutoWeekRacing.(11-10-2010)
UPDATE: Travis Pastrana is coming to NASCAR in 2011. After mining gold medals in the X Games, shattering jump records on both motorcycles and automobiles and starring as a cultural icon for the action sports world, the star of MTVs Nitro Circus is ready to turn his attention to Americas most popular form of motorsports NASCAR. Michael Waltrip Racing, Gary and Blake Bechtel and Pastrana announced the creation of Pastrana-Waltrip Racing that will field cars in the NASCAR Nationwide Series beginning in 2011. Pastrana-Waltrip Racing will focus on creating programs that expose the action sports worlds fans and participants to NASCAR and develop youth marketing initiatives designed to create greater awareness of both sports. Initial plans are for Pastrana to compete in seven NASCAR Nationwide races in 2011 and twenty races in 2012.(PanstranaWaltrip.com)(11-11-2010)
UPDATE 2: The car’s number has not yet been determined. Waltrip owns the #99, and Pastrana’s longtime racing number is 199. Exactly which event he debuts in Nationwide is yet to be determined, but sources said the hope is Phoenix International Raceway in February. Before he can compete, Pastrana must go through NASCAR’s approval process. NASCAR officials said Thursday that Pastrana is not yet approved for NASCAR competition. Basically, that means submitting a resume to NASCAR, which then determines whether the driver is capable of NASCAR competition. Red Bull, a longtime partner of Pastrana’s in myriad racing exploits, will remain a personal sponsor but will not be the primary sponsor on his NASCAR machines.(ESPN.com)(11-11-2010)
