Travis Pastrana will return to NASCAR for the first time since 2017 this weekend, he has revealed in an Instagram post.
The five-time US rally champion will compete in Saturday’s third-tier Truck series race at Kansas, driving the #40 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. Last year’s title runner-up Ross Chastain will race the same machine on Friday night.
“Got a chance to drive Ross Chastain’s truck this Saturday,” Pastrana said. “So as long as you don’t crash that, Ross, on Friday…”
“Cody Efaw, [the] car chief, called up and said ‘I want you to come drive’. I don’t know why, I wasn’t very good at turning left.”
Pastrana’s surprise return to oval racing comes a week after his Subaru WRX STI burned to the ground in his first American Rally Association National series start of the year in the Southern Ohio Forest Rally.
Pastrana was on the second stage of the night-time event when it’s believed an oil hose came into contact with the turbo, causing it to ignite.
While Pastrana’s stage rally record is impressive, he hasn’t been able to enjoy the same level of success in stock car racing.
In 45 starts across the second-tier Xfinity and Truck series, Pastrana’s best result has been a ninth place finish at Richmond during the 2013 Xfinity series season – the only year he ran full-time in stock cars. He finished 14th in the points, with three other top-10 finishes.
In his four Truck starts, his best result stands as the 15th place he achieved on his debut at Las Vegas in 2012. This will mark the first time he has raced in the series at a different track.
