Q&A: Rolex 24 Debut

Action sports superstar Travis Pastrana is in the midst of developing his car racing career, and this weekend races in a Ferrari 458 with Michael Waltrip, Rob Kauffman and Rui Aguas in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. He's done rallying in America and was slated to make his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut last season before crushing his ankle at the X Games. While Pastrana is a megastar to most of the sporting world, he's merely a rookie at Daytona and in sports car racing. RACER web editor Tony DiZinno caught up with Pastrana during the AF Waltrip's team driver change practice to see how he is taking to this experience.

R: Where does sports car racing fit in on your ?cool list? among all the things you've done?

TP: It's so much fun! The funny thing is, if you're asked that you could choose just one thing, I'd be like, ?Well, I'd like to not have to choose!? You definitely have to have a focus here, but what's really cool about endurance racing is that you almost always seem to get one celebrity, one gentleman driver and maybe two professionals. There's so many different groups of people here, and you know the top teams will go all-pro 100 percent of the time. This has been a lot of fun so far, and ranks pretty high.

R: How's the chemistry with your co-drivers?

TP: It's awesome and great to be talking with them. Rui has helped with advice and how to handle the other cars. You have to be so careful with the Daytona Prototypes passing. A lot of times you can see one car, but you really want to make sure that the car doesn't drop to the inside and another one following them comes through without you seeing them.

Check what else Travis had to say at RACER.com

01.30.2012