Travis Pastrana in NASCAR

[Francisco]

Travis Pastrana Leaves Rally to race in NASCAR

The writing was on the wall. Pastrana has been hinting at a departure from rally since mid-season and has also said that Nitro Circus is becoming more of a priority for him. Pastrana will not be running RallyCar's Rally America or U.S. Rallycross championships fulltime in 2011, but we may still see him compete in select rally events when his schedule permits.

Check out some of the links below to trace the build-up of Pastrana's move to NASCAR....

http://www.worldrallysport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=288&d=1289448234

LINKS:

Pastrana in a Stock Car? [Prelude to the Dream] (http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Article/Pastrana-in-a-Stock-Car--021242855947373)

Pastrana Could Breathe Life into NASCAR (by ESPN) (http://espn.go.com/racing/blog/_/name/smith_marty/id/5767704/pastrana-breathe-life-nascar?campaign=rss&source=RPMHeadlines)

Pastrana drops NASCAR deal hints on SpeedFreaks (http://www.speedfreaks.tv/gallery/display.sd?iid=5025)

Subaru Bids Farewell to Travis Pastrana; Driver Departs After 5 Seasons (http://www.worldrallysport.com/node/6813)

Travis Pastrana Answers Rumors and His Plans for 2011 on THS Talk Radio (http://www.bybillwood.com/online/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1466:travis-pastrana-answers-rumors-and-his-plans&catid=54:ths-radio&Itemid=106)

Pastrana Waltrip on Twitter (@pwr99) (http://twitter.com/#!/pwr99)

Pastrana Waltrip Racing Website (Coming Soon) (http://www.pastranawaltrip.com/)

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[Francisco]

Subaru Bids Farewell to Travis Pastrana; Driver Departs After Five Seasons

Cherry Hill, NJ, USA -- Subaru of America, Inc. today bid farewell to Travis Pastrana as the company's lead driver. Travis began his relationship Subaru in 2004 from the world of supercross and freestyle motorcross and officially joined Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) in 2006 having run abbreviated development seasons with Subaru in 2004-2005.

During his career as an SRT USA driver, Travis piloted his Subaru Impreza WRX STI to 150+ stage wins, 40 podiums, and 22 event victories en route to earning four consecutive Rally America National Championship titles (2006-2009) and becoming the youngest-ever U.S. Rally champion in history....

Read FULL Story: CLICK HERE (http://www.worldrallysport.com/node/6813)

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[Francisco]

POLL: Who Will Replace Travis Pastrana as SRT USA's Top Driver?

Vote Now: CLICK HERE (http://bit.ly/cItPdi)

Antoine L'Estage - L'Estage is the current Rally America Champ, North American Champ, and leading the Canadian Championship going into the final round. The Mitsu driver is a consistent finisher, knows how to win rallies, and is one of the fastest drivers in North America.

Ramana Lagemann - Lagemann is an ex-factory driver for SRT USA that has the potential to win the American Championship if sitting in the right car. Lagemann is looking for a deal for 2011 and could challenge the top guys in an Open Class car.

Chris Atkinson - Atkinson knows his way around a Subaru and has WRC and international rallying experience. Despite trying to join Ken Block's MWRT, Atko is not yet committed to a program for 2011 and is exploring his options.

Tommi Makinen - A proven champion, Makinen dominated the WRC from 1996-1999 and now runs a rally preparation shop specializing in Subarus. He was spotted with Subaru at SEMA recently and spent the past weekend with SRT USA camp at NJMP for U.S. Rallycross rounds 3 & 4.

Ricky Carmichael - Carmichael has professional auto racing experience through NASCAR and has expressed interest in rallying before. He was spotted at the Team O'Neill Rally School a few months ago and owns a rally car, but does not run it in active competition.

Bucky Lasek - Like Carmichael, Lasek has expressed an interest in rallying and fits the action-sports athlete mold SRT USA usually seeks in its drivers. Although Bucky has never run in X Games Rally, he's been considered for an invitation before. He may even own his own rally car...

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Vote Now: CLICK HERE (http://bit.ly/cItPdi)

[Francisco]

TRAVIS PASTRANA COMING TO NASCAR

Creates Pastrana-Waltrip Racing To Own & Drive Nationwide Toyotas

TRAVIS PASTRANA COMING TO NASCAR
Creates Pastrana-Waltrip Racing To Own & Drive Nationwide Toyotas

CORNELIUS, N.C. - 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 MTV's "Nitro Circus" is ready to turn his attention to America's most popular form of motorsports – NASCAR.

Michael Waltrip Racing, Gary and Blake Bechtel and Pastrana announced today 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 world's 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.
"I've been following NASCAR closely for years as a fan of the sport with competing in the sport a life-long dream," Pastrana said. "I decided it was time to try and turn that dream into reality and with the help of the Bechtel family, Michael Waltrip Racing and Wasserman media group I'm now one step closer!"
Pastrana-Waltrip Racing will field Toyotas out of the Michael Waltrip Racing shop in Cornelius, N.C. Waltrip noted the importance of the youth demographic Pastrana brings to NASCAR.

"Travis has built an enormous and unique following all over the world," said Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 champion. "As a race team owner, we are always looking for ways to deliver to our partners and engage our fans better. This is an opportunity to showcase our company and our sport to a new generation of young fans. We're also looking for that next big star. Travis already is one and action sports is full of talented athletes. Having Travis as a part of our program adds another great dimension to our team and NASCAR."

Travis Pastrana is one of the most recognized and celebrated athletes in the world. An action sports icon, Pastrana owns 16 X Games gold medals along with multiple supercross, motocross and rally championships in his career. Pastrana also created the Nitro Circus empire, which includes a television show, live tours and a soon-to-be-released feature film.

Watch Pastrana announce his NASCAR arrival at www.pastranawaltrip.com and www.facebook.com/pastranawaltrip and follow us on Twitter at @pwr99. Expect more Pastrana-Waltrip Racing news on schedule, sponsors and youth initiatives in January in Los Angeles.

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Watch the Official VIDEO Announcement (CLICK HERE) (http://www.worldrallysport.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5870#post5870)

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