NASCAR CUP SERIES: BUSCH LIGHT POLE QUALIFYING

February 15, 2023

Travis Pastrana

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by driver of the No. 67 23IX Racing Toyota, Travis Pastrana.

We'll take questions for Travis.

Q. You said it was your dream just to say you started the Daytona 500. You're going to start the Daytona 500. Now what is your dream?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: I mean, every driver obviously wants to do the best they can. Every driver in the field believes they can win the race. In restrictor plate races, anything can happen.

Having said that, I'm just so fortunate to have sponsors that came from Rally, Black Rifle coffee and Dixon, to give me an opportunity to get in there with the 23XI team that gave me a car that was capable to get in on time.

It was funny because everyone was celebrating and excited. Kurt Busch came right up to me at the end and said, Okay, now we get to work. It's cool.

When Denny brought me on to the team, he was the first one that didn't just say, Oh, yeah, bring your money, we'll try to get you a charter. He goes, You're going to have to work your way in. We don't have a charter for you. We can give you a car that I believe you can be capable of helping our team to win, whether that's Bubba, Tyler, Denny, a Toyota.

To have the opportunity now to try to start learning and try to figure out how to do the best that I can as a teammate to get up there, starting next to this guy right over here in the Duel.

Q. You were like a car apart on pit road which gave you a chance to talk. What were you talking about? Did he give you any tips?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: We were talking, he said his daughters are riding horses down in Florida, not too far. My daughters are doing a competition in Pennsylvania. Both of our families said if we qualified for the 500, they'd come watch. Pretty excited about that.

Q. That's what you were talking about?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: No, no, not at all. Well a little bit earlier. Some of it, yeah.

No, I mean, this has been a dream come true. It's something that actually, when Jimmie had won out in California Speedway, that was one of my first dates with my wife. Hey, I want to do it. Poor wife was pregnant. I had a few drinks during the race, we were keeping him up late at night. Man, I want to do the 500. After that I talked to Trevor Bayne, got in with Waltrip. I got lost believing that I could actually race and be competitive.

I'm not as good as these guys at rear wheel drive or pavement. But restrictor plate race. I made friends along the way. I've been driving more than I've ever driven. More seat time.

I said to my wife, Look, I want to spend more time home. I want to step back a little bit. But right now this is the best chance I have, the best success I've had in vehicles to put my best foot forward.

When Denny said, Hey, let's come on, I believe that you can drive a car sideways, when we come down to the end, I'll push you.

I said, That's all I need, let's go.

Q. This is special for you on two levels. With the two-wheel side first. You've done a lot of things in motorsports. One that comes to mind, Paul Goldsmith comes to mind as one of the greats. What does this mean to you to be able to follow on and put your own stamp on this?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: You know, it's pretty cool. There's a lot of guys that came from two wheels, including that guy right over there.

But I got my first win in the pro ranks here at Daytona, the 125 class. It was a great track for me there. We qualified front row here in what used to be the Nationwide Series, finished 10th backwards across the grass down the front straightaway. I've spent a lot of time in the grass out there. Hopefully won't be doing that this weekend.

At the end of the day we've had good success here. We've had great vehicles, great teams. At the end of the day I have a lot of friends on the track. I'm really hoping to still have friends at the end of this week.

The drivers have all been amazing, every single driver on every team, even all the teams to help me put my best foot forward here. I want to hopefully make sure the NASCAR fans, when they leave here, they are not like, What an idiot. He drove very considerate and smart, was able to get it to the finish line at the end.

If I can get this car on the lead lap to the finish line, I never said that before about anything but winning, but that will be a win.

Q. I know Ken Block was one of those inspiration people for you. He was part of the spark for you to do this now. What he meant to your racing career...

TRAVIS PASTRANA: Ken's wife Lucy and two of his kids came down. They watched their first NASCAR qualifying. They came out, flew out this morning. They're flying back tomorrow morning. They just wanted to be here to support.

For me, I was pretty emotional at the end of this, just that they came out for me. Everything that I'm able to do right now, the pavement experience, is because Ken Block was able to build a sport around having fun, sliding cars, to allow me to be part of that series, to build Rally the way it is, I'm forever thankful.

Could not be more thankful and happy that his family's here. I can't wait to help do anything that I can to get Leah and his other kids, but she's a phenomenal driver, I bet she'll be here racing the 500 at some point. She's definitely going to be one of the top Rally drivers of all time in the U.S. here.

Q. Jimmie probably knew exactly where he needed to be on time and points, making the show. I heard Bubba say they were hazing you, left you hanging. What was going through your head?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: They didn't really tell me anything. I assumed it's probably P3. We'll wait till the car behind finishes. I thought that meant I was P3 already. Oh, you got him by a couple car lengths. Congratulations. We're in?

To be a part of The Great American Race, even looking at the little pass I got today that said 'Cup Driver'. This is cool. I'm a motorcrosser. I've done a lot of fun things. We've dabbled a little bit in NASCAR. I got chewed up and spit out by these guys really fast.

At the end of the day they're the best drivers I believe in the entire world. It's an honor to be able to race with these guys. To be able to line up in the 500 on Sunday will be a dream come true no matter what the outcome is. I'm just going to try to be as smart as I possibly can, make as few mistakes as I possibly can.

Honestly, Kurt Busch said it the best, Now the homework starts, let's get to work.

Q. A brief experience on the racetrack, but can you describe what the lap was like behind the wheel.

TRAVIS PASTRANA: Not using expletives you can use (laughter).

You get in the simulator, right? I always forget. It's been a while. You kind of get to grooving a little bit. I'm getting up to speed and I'm watching the tach. It's got no suspension on the car because they put it on the ground. It's hitting all the bumps, basically vibrating your teeth out of place.

Trying to hit my marks, missed my second shift. Oh, man. Didn't step off the gas enough. Double pulled in the backstretch. I just blew it.

They said, Whatever you do, don't touch the brake.

I just wanted to put my foot over the top of the brake pedal as a security blanket. At 180, however fast you're going, you don't feel that in a simulator. People say it's a restrictor plate race. 99.9% the car. You're still going around the corner at 180 miles an hour with no suspension and the teeth vibrating out. You're going, Here we go. So it was pretty cool.

Q. Do you set any expectations for tomorrow at this point or does that start in meetings tomorrow morning?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: So I've got some awesome sponsors, awesome car. I took the money for this race and I put it into racing the Truck Series and racing the dirt car nationals last week. We didn't quite have enough money to cover it.

All the damage that's done is on me. It's my kids' college education fund. You will be seeing a very mellow race tomorrow. We got Hedlesky in there. I'll do whatever I can to learn as much as I can. But looking at Noah Gragson last year, he was three laps down, and I would be perfectly fine with that if that gets us in the show, we can start from there.

Having said that, I go into tomorrow as any racer does, trying to learn what we can. If Hedlesky tells me to go, start pushing, start learning, well, it is what it is and we'll try to make the smart decisions all the way through.

Q. You have to pay for your crash damage?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: Yes. I'm not known for doing great here. Tend to get a couple people caught off guard.

No, I'm so very fortunate to be here. This is something that's not about the money, it's not about anything. It's about trying to be a part of The Great American Race. To have an opportunity to qualify with such a great team, to be brought on with so many people around me, they're helping me to do the best I possibly can.

At the end of the day we're in it to do the best that we can. Damage or no damage, my goal is to obviously not be the cause of any of it, try to do the best we can.

Hey, I'm going for it. We'll see what happens.

Q. (No microphone.)

TRAVIS PASTRANA: Doesn't matter whose fault it is.

Q. (No microphone.)

TRAVIS PASTRANA: I'm hoping (laughter).

Q. You've made a career out of extreme sports, but is this as nervous as you've ever been to try to make an event?

TRAVIS PASTRANA: You know, I don't think I've ever gone to an event before where I haven't been thinking about winning. This is definitely the first time I went to an event really concerned I wouldn't qualify.

It definitely goes to show you just the level of everything. The level of the teams, the level of the competition, the excitement to strap in having never been out of second gear in a Cup car other than doing a pit practice, getting to fifth on the backstretch here going, Here we go. It's been pretty cool.

Q. You making the Daytona 500, what does this do for the extreme sports community? Shows they can make the Daytona 500 if they set their mind to it.

TRAVIS PASTRANA: Yeah, I mean, I've been driving go-karts since I was two like every other driver out there. Competitive in Rally for the last, shoot, almost 20 years. Racing and driving has been my passion.

It's interesting, a lot of the guys that follow NASCAR, just the fans, they know me as a TV personality or a stuntman. Really in my heart, racer, motorcross racer, built the reputation as a race car driver as well.

Having said that, it's been really cool. When I announced I was going to come over here, the action sports community jumped onboard 110%. So many people are, Man, I'm watching the 500. I haven't been excited since I was a kid for our industry to see this...

The dirt car crew, when we were able to go out there and get a win at Volusia was definitely not the quickest out there, but just to be able to pull that off, just have some fun with the grassroots fans I think went a long way.

Qualifying here is one thing. Definitely a lot to do with the car. If I can put together a good performance, maybe not even result-wise, but just prove that I can be a good teammate for the 23XI team, not cause any trouble, I think that will be a huge win for me.