I’ve been getting a lot of people asking WHY NASCAR? The answer is simple. My passion is competition. I need a challenge and I’m tired of being hurt. 2 days before my first attempt to enter the ranks of NASCAR, I had one of the most substantial injuries of my life. Coming into this year, my shoulder is finally stable, my ankle is fused but strong and my knee is solid. I’m still a few surgeries and a year of rehabilitation away from where I would like to be for two wheels, but I’m finally healthy enough to drive without restriction. With NASCAR, I have an opportunity to race at the highest level in American motorsport.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m in over my head with a sport that is a far cry from my 2 wheel / dirt roots. There’s a good chance I will fail. Most of my sponsors aren’t sure what to think about NASCAR and most of the NASCAR sponsors aren’t sure what to think about me. Fact of the matter is that I’m putting a good deal of my own money into my racing program this year. Why? Because I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t take this opportunity to see if I have what it takes to be a Champion again. I love to race and I believe I can be successful.

I’ve been in this situation before. When I switched my focus from motocross racing to freestyle, I caught a lot of criticism. But I followed my passion and went on to win 11 gold medals at the X Games. When I took a few years off to race rally cars, everyone said I was an idiot. After two years of crashing and blowing through a lot of my own money, I followed my passion to 4 consecutive Rally America national championships.

A lot of people say NASCAR is boring. Personally, I fail to see how playing bumper cars at 200mph while drifting a 650hp vehicle is boring, but I can understand that Nitro Circus looks like a better deal. It’s pretty much the definition of every kids dream.

NITRO CIRCUS has been and will continue to be a big part of my life. I may be the headlining name but my friends all stepped up big and stole the show in the Nitro Circus movie. The live shows continue to blow my mind and it’s growing globally beyond my wildest expectations. We are in the process of building a NITRO CIRCUS training ground with some cutting edge ramps and safety features for helping to keep our Nitro family safe as they continue to progress action sport.

I have awesome fans and great sponsors that have stuck with me, but to be honest, my injuries finally caught up to me. Over the past three years, my video parts and race results have been relegated to mediocre at best. In Freestyle, doing the same routine in an effort to work around injuries is dangerous for me and a let down for my fans. I’m not retired from motorcycles but for now, It’s time to go race some cars..

I am still very passionate about racing rallycross.. The Dart is a kick ass car that goes zero to sixty in under 2 seconds. Not much on earth is more fun then sliding and jumping your way through an event. That’s why I’ll be racing as many GRC events as I can this year.

Last year was rough. I entered 5 races and only finished 1.. But the race I finished, I won. We had a new car and a new team. I’m experienced in Rally but GRC was a new deal for me. This year I am scheduled to race 6 of the rounds and our team is expecting to be in the hunt to win at every event we enter.

For those of you who say “pick a sport and stick with it!” I agree! I have prioritized NASCAR to come first but I also believe everything I drive will bring me closer to my goal of becoming a NASCAR champion. When I’m not learning how to go faster in a stock car, you can bet I’ll either be testing with my rally team, at the go kart track, racing a late model, on my IRacing Simulator, doing pit stop training or in the shop talking about how we can improve. Everything I do this year I want to do with passion. I know the competition is doing the same, and even if I do everything right, it doesn’t mean I’ll win. My goal this year is to do less, but do it better.

I’m the underdog again. The rookie. I feel like I did when I was 16 and about to turn pro in moto. Hoping I can be a champion but only having a slight grasp of what it’s going to take to get there. I just took 4th in qualifying here at Daytona.. Game on for the year!

- Travis

PS. As soon as the season is done, I’m passionate about making a video to challenge Block’s “Gymkhana” and Maddo’s ”Aircraft”. Those are so much fun to watch and get me excited to go do rowdy stuff. I’m ready to step up the bar!

Action sports legend Travis Pastrana will make the move to full-time NASCAR racing in 2013, driving Roush Fenway’s historic No. 60 Ford Mustang in all 33 events on the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule.

“I am extremely excited about making the move into full-time NASCAR competition in 2013 and equally thrilled to have the opportunity to make that move with Jack Roush and the team at Roush Fenway Racing,” said Pastrana, a four-time rally champion, motocross champion and multiple X Games gold medal winner.

“I am very serious about making this move, running competitively and ultimately winning races in NASCAR,” added Pastrana. “No team can claim the success in the Nationwide Series that Roush Fenway has, and I know driving an RFR Ford will provide me with the maximum opportunity to develop my skills behind the wheel of a stock car.”

Pastrana has made nine career Nationwide Series starts, including one for Roush Fenway last September at Richmond, where he qualified a career-high fifth and ran top-10 for much of the race en route to a 17th-place finish.

Pastrana will team up with veteran NASCAR crew chief Chad Norris and will be partnered with a variety of sponsors during the season.

“Travis is a champion,” said Roush Fenway co-owner Jack Roush. “It takes a great deal of drive and determination to reach that level of greatness in any field. He is serious about this move to NASCAR and we are committed to doing everything we can to see his career develop in NASCAR. We would certainly expect to see a great level of excitement brought to the table as he progresses within our sport.”

The No. 60 will be one of two full-time RFR Nationwide Series entries in 2013, with Pastrana being paired with Roush Fenway teammate and 2010 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 Ford Mustang.

Coming off of back-to-back Nationwide Series Championships in 2011 and 2012, RFR’s 131 wins are the most in NNS history. In addition, the No. 60 captured the NNS owners’ championship in 2011.

Roush Fenway’s No. 60 entry boasts the most wins in NNS history, having been driven to victory lane a grand total of 90 times by celebrated drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin.

Travis Pastrana, who won the previous GRC round in New Hampshire, had "really a disappointing day." Just a couple hours after finishing 15th in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, Pastrana mistakenly took the joker lap twice during Heat 3 and was given a 30-second penalty. Drivers are allowed just one shortcut per race, so Pastrana dropped to fifth [the top two of each heat advance to the final race].

"I completely blew it," he said, before earning his way to the final by finishing in the top four of the last chance qualifier heat.

But in the final Pastrana was racing hard in third while chasing Foust and Deegan when mechanical troubles ended his race.

"I tried to turn it up a little bit and ended up blowing a turbo," Pastrana said.

Read More at ESPN.com

Global RallyCross driver Travis Pastrana will make his NASCAR Camping World series debut Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, driving ThorSport Racing's No. 98 Toyota truck.

Pastrana's new ride means he will be pulling double duty by following up the truck race with the fifth round of the GRC season slated to start at 11:30 p.m. ET (live on ESPN3).

"I'm really excited," Pastrana said at a news conference Wednesday, according to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "The GRC program has been awesome. I'm really looking forward to great racing. I'm trying to get my future more into NASCAR and I always wanted to race here. I watched last year's Smith's 350 race here from the grandstands."

Read more on ESPN.com

Roush Fenway Racing announced on Monday that Travis Pastrana will drive the team's No. 60 Ford entry in the NASCARNationwide Series race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on Friday night. Pastrana has been racing part-time in the Nationwide Series, driving the No. 99 Toyota for RAB Racing through a partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing.

"It's a truly awesome opportunity to get behind the wheel of the Roush Fenway No. 60 Ford Mustang," Pastrana said. "Roush Fenway Racing has a strong background as the most successful team in the history of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and I'm pleased to be driving for a legend like Jack Roush this weekend at Richmond."

Roush Fenway's No. 60 car is the winningest car in series history with 90 trips to victory lane. Drivers who have won in the car include Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin. Edwards piloted the No. 60 full-time most recently last year. He has also driven the No. 60 once this season on the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. That start produced a win.

The No. 60 has been fielded sparingly by RFR in 2012. Pastrana's teammate at Richmond will be reigning series champion Ricky Stenhouse, who races in the series full-time for Roush Fenway, driving a No. 6 Ford.

Pastrana has made eight series starts, with a best finish of 13th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August.

"There is a tough learning curve in NASCAR, for sure," Pastrana said. "But I have been happy with the gradual improvement. We had our best finish at Indy and led our first laps this weekend in Atlanta, so I'm excited to get back to Richmond and build on that success and see what I can do behind the wheel of a Roush Fenway Ford."

It just so happens that Richmond was the site of Pastrana's Nationwide Series debut earlier this season. Original plans had him making his series debut late in 2011, but an X Games injury postponed those plans to 2012.

NITRO CIRCUS THE MOVIE 3D is in theaters now! Travis Pastrana and his tight-knit, highly-skilled, adrenaline-addicted friends bring their impossible, ridiculous, insane and hysterical adventures to the big screen for the first time! Dreaming up the most dangerous stunts in the world of action sports -- whether they are trying to back flip a bike over a building 60-stories high or landing a death defying jump while playing Angry Birds -- Pastrana and his gang are always at it. High Risk. High Octane. And No Safety Nets Allowed.

Using the innovation of 3D cinematography and the latest compact camera rigs, the filmmakers provide moviegoers with a groundbreaking experience in 3D cinema that puts the audience in the shotgun with the crew as they pilot motorcycles, rally cars, parachutes, mountain bikes, monster trucks and more.

Official Trailer: http://youtu.be/QnjWfBAI-PE

Find a Theater HERE

Travis Pastrana said he couldn't remember the last time he won - anything. His impressive run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday night in the inaugural SYLVANIA SilverStar zXe Global RallyCross will certainly make things a lot less fuzzy. Pastrana won his heat earlier in the night and drifted into Victory Lane during the four-lap, 10-car finale.

"It's been so long I almost forget what it’s like to win," said Pastrana. "It is absolutely awesome to get out here and get on top. It has been a heck of a rough season.”

Pastrana beat Samuel Hubinette to the Granite Stripe by 1.431 seconds, finishing the course in 3 minutes, 40.274 seconds. Brian Deegan, Tanner Foust and Ken Block finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The circuit involved a chicane, moguls, dirt, a tabletop jump, a 180-degree hairpin turn and a 70-foot gap jump. It also had a Joker Lap (turn) that required each driver to take a longer route at least once.

Pastrana had three disappointing finishes in GRC’s first three events of the season. He placed ninth in Charlotte, 15th at Texas and was taken out on the first turn of the first lap at last weekend’s X Games in Los Angeles.

Saturday night at “The Magic Mile” might be just the break he was looking for. Earlier in the day, during the NASCAR Nationwide Series F.W. Webb 200, Pastrana crashed before the race was even half over. He was obviously disappointed by the crash, saying so in a post-race interview – but his elation in Victory Lane following the SYLVANIA SilverStar zXe Global RallyCross comforted those ill feelings.

Deegan appeared to get a good start to the four-lap finale, filing in behind Pastrana after the opening chicane. But a gamble midway through the race was the difference in turning that good start into a victory.

“The race was cool,” said Deegan. “I hit the Joker Lap in the middle of the race and took a big risk. By then, Travis was just gone.”

Getting out front was the key throughout the three heats and Last-Chance Qualifier race. The twists, turns and jumps took a bruising toll on the cars that lagged at the start as they tried to wedge themselves back into contention. Every race left carnage in its wake, as a number of drivers failed to finish.

Hubinette and Pastrana had a terrific battle in their heat race, so it was no surprise that he was Pastrana’s biggest challenger in the finale. Hubinette took the Joker Lap on the second to last lap and nearly caught Pastrana during the final lap. But Pastrana beat Hubinette back to the final turn and screamed down the front stretch and across the Granite Stripe with fireworks decorating the sky above.

The world's most well known action sports athlete - Travis Pastrana - will put his formidable driving skills to the test in a Traxxas TORC Series, presented by AMSOIL, short course off-road truck when TORC stops for rounds 7 & 8 at Chicagoland Speedway's Route 66 Raceway, July 19 and 20.

"Travis' resume is second-to-none in American motorsports history in terms of diversity at the highest levels of competition. His transition to a TORC Series PRO 2WD truck in Chicago next week will be seamless - tailor-made for his motocross and rally racing skills," said Kevin Miller, President of TORC/USAC.

Pastrana will pilot a Menzies Racing Red Bull/Ram/KMC Wheels TORC PRO 2 truck for the first time in his career. And though the 900-horsepower, 4,000 pound off-road behemoth is a bit beyond what Pastrana's raced in the past (his #199 USHRA Monster Truck notwithstanding), his Menzie's Racing teammate and motocross kindred spirit Ricky Johnson is equally confident that the former motocross champ will have no problem adjusting to TORC's mash-'em-up short course racing action.

"Anyone that's won an overall national motocross title knows what it's like to bang bar-to-bar from one end of a track to the other. Travis is no stranger to that," said Johnson. "Add to that the fact he's an accomplished rally car racer, along with the advantage of a Menzies Racing-built PRO 2 truck, and Travis will be a strong contender for a podium spot next week in Chicago."

Two nights of racing action under the lights at Route 66 Raceway's dirt oval feature four PRO classes in the fastest, most punishing short course truck racing series on the planet. TORC features legendary off-road heavyweights in defending TORC PRO 4x4 class champion and five-time AMA Motocross champion Ricky Johnson battling former class champion Johnny Greaves from nearby Green Bay, Wisc. A series of bodywork-tearing, truck-flipping battles throughout the three-hour race program, TORC racing at Route 66 Raceway's dirt oval will again have the massive crowd on their feet hollering at the non-stop action!

What: Traxxas TORC Series

Where: Chicagoland Speedway's Route 66 Raceway

When: Thursday and Friday, July 19 & 20

Time: Gates open at 2 p.m., qualifying begins at 4 p.m., main event opening ceremonies begin at 7 p.m.

For more information, please visit: www.torcseries.com

Motorcycle daredevil Travis Pastrana, who has signed up to compete in the Rowdy 251, a 251-lap ARCA/Championship Racing Association Super Late Model race, likely has Kyle Busch topped when it comes to crazy.

“They have a dirt pile off of turn two,” Busch said. “We told (Pastrana) that’s for him, that he has to do a barrel roll. He sounded like he was up for it. But we will see what he can do.

“But no, Travis is good. He’ s a pretty cool cat. He does a nice job when he is racing in the K & N stuff and the Nationwide stuff, so he is getting better and better in what I call the NASCAR realm. This is certainly going to be a new test for what he has been learning the last few years.”

Busch and Pastrana arrived at Berlin Monday afternoon and participated in a press conference before taking to the track. Berlin hosted a test session for the Super Late Model field Monday, and nearly 40 cars participated in the practice.

The dirt pile will be used for a race in September when officials plan to cover the asphalt surface with dirt and host the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. That race and Tuesday’s Rowdy 251 are expected to be Berlin’s biggest races of the year.

Pastrana is a multi-time X Games Gold Medal winner, stunt performer and rally racer who began dabbling in NASCAR sanctioned stock car races a year ago. He is making his first trip to Berlin, and he will be teaming up with veteran Berlin driver Brian Campbell of Wyoming, who is one of the race favorites.

Tuesday’s race will be Pastrana’s first at Berlin.

“Brian took me around the track for a few laps today, and then Kyle took me around for a few laps, and they both had completely opposite lines,” Pastrana said. “I think somewhere between the two, I should be OK.

“We are pretty much racing any cars now, whether it’s rally cars, K & N or Nationwide, so pretty much all of our weekends are taken. Basically, I put the word out to anybody that if there is a Tuesday that has drivers I can learn from, and basically, I can learn from anybody, then I’m interested. I heard Kyle is going to be out here, so we put out the word.”

Tickets for Tuesday’s races are $22 for adults, while children 11-and-younger are free. There will be an autograph session at 6 p.m. Tuesday’s program includes the Modified class.

It’s been a long and difficult road but we finally have a theatrical release date for Nitro Circus, the 3-D movie! August 10th!

No one was willing to risk funding our film because the possibility of “Injury and Death” on the stunts was too great. So we funded it ourselves. Everyone always assumes Nitro Circus is big budget filming but it was as it always is, building our own jumps and jerry rigging our own vehicles. Buying cars on the side of the road for 500 bucks and making them fly! High risk and low pay! A dream come true for a group of friends to travel the world and have a lot of fun scaring the crap out of ourselves!

As it turns out, funding and making a movie is actually the easy part... We all survived the filming but even with that liability put to rest, no studios could understand how we would link the carnage into a motion picture. So we edited it ourselves. They couldn’t understand how the 3-D was going to add to the action, so we finished the film ourselves. We took it to the distribution companies and they said “it’s not like jack ass and there isn’t precedence for a stunt based action sports film”. So we took it to a non-bias ratings company ourselves. As we had expected, Nitro Circus tested off the charts. Unfortunately, the number one thing people said was “it’s so much better then I had expected!” The second thing people said was “it’s so much different then jack ass.”

Now, I love Jack Ass and without Knoxville in our corner, we would have never been able to sell Nitro Circus to MTV. We all have a lot of respect for our friends at Dickhouse entertainment. They paved the road for an entirely different genre of film. The similarity is that it’s a feature film based on a bunch of short stories that are tied together with really good friends. The difference however is huge. Jack ass is bad idea + injury + Balls (figuratively and literally) = entertainment. Nitro Circus is ‘try a skilled stunt to push personal boundaries but with the intent of success’... Epic Make or Epic Fail = entertainment.

Anyway, with the reviews as a tool, we finally found a distributor who gets the Nitro Circus and understands this movie. We will be circulating a formal press release very soon with more details but I can tell you that Nitro Circus 3D will release nationwide in the U.S. on Aug 10 (Stay tuned for information on the release in other countries). It’s important for us to get good support during the first week of the films release because that will determine how broad the film will ultimately go. So, spread the wod!