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Tag: Pastrana-Waltrip Racing

  • Ryan Truex to make 100th Xfinity start at Bristol

    Ryan Truex to make 100th Xfinity start at Bristol

    Ryan Truex is set to achieve a milestone start in his ninth season with at least one start in the NACAR Xfinity Series division. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Bristol Motor Speedway, the part-time competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Mayetta, New Jersey, Truex made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at World Wide Technology Raceway in July 2010. By then, he had achieved the 2009 ARCA Menards Series East championship and was still contending in the series full-time to defend his title. Driving the No. 00 Toyota Camry for Diamond Waltrip Racing, Truex started 19th and finished 28th in his Xfinity debut after being involved in a single-car incident with nearly 20 laps remaining.

    Following his Xfinity debut, Truex would make six additional starts in the Xfinity circuit throughout the remaining 16 events on the schedule. During the schedule, he split driving duties between Diamond-Waltrip Racing’s Nos. 00 and 99 Toyota entries. Within the six-race stretch, Truex notched a season-best 12th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August. He also recorded two 15th-place results at Kansas Speedway and at Gateway in October.

    The following season, Truex, who had claimed his second consecutive ARCA East title in 2010 and was initially attempting to campaign for the 2011 Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title with Pastrana-Waltrip Racing, ended up competing in 10 of the 14-scheduled events with the team, where he piloted the No. 99 entry to eight top-20 results, including an eighth-place run at Richmond Raceway in late April. Then after finishing 20th at Chicagoland Speedway in June, he was released by Pastrana-Waltrip Racing due to a lack of sponsorship.

    Three months later, he returned at Atlanta Motor Speedway behind the wheel of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry, where he finished 11th before notching a strong fourth-place result at Richmond during the following event. He would proceed to finish 13th, eighth and 10th, respectively, during his next three starts with the Gibbs organization before making a brief return to Diamond-Waltrip Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, where he ended up in 34th place after being involved in an accident during the second half of the event. Truex’s 17th and final Xfinity start of the season occurred at Phoenix Raceway in November with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he ended up in eighth place. In total, Truex notched a total of five top-10 results throughout his 17-race schedule.

    The 2012 Xfinity season was an eventful one for Truex, who made a total of 11 Xfinity starts in five entries between three organizations. He commenced the season by making his first series start at Daytona International Speedway with Tommy Baldwin Racing in February, where he ended up in 31st place after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. He then finished in the top 11 in two starts with Joe Gibbs Racing and ended up in 32nd place with RAB Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in April during his next three series starts.

    Then at Dover Motor Speedway in June, Truex, who started on the pole for the first time in his career and had led 43 of 200 laps, was within striking distance of achieving his first Xfinity career victory. However, he was pinned behind the lapped competitors of Jamie Dick and Brad Teague, allowing teammate Joey Logano to quickly narrow the deficit and overtake Truex with five laps remaining, thus resulting in the latter settling in a career-best runner-up result. Making six additional starts in the remaining 19 events on the schedule between Joe Gibbs Racing and RAB Racing, Truex racked up two additional top-10 results before the season’s conclusion.

    After qualifying the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Mustang entry for Marcos Ambrose at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2013 while being a development competitor for the Petty organization, Truex, who did not compete in a single Xfinity event during the 2013 and 2014 seasons, returned to the Xfinity circuit for four events in 2015. Driving the No. 98 Ford Mustang for Biagi-DenBeste Racing, he managed to secure a season-best 17th-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.

    In 2018, Truex inked a full-time ride in the Xfinity circuit for the first time in his career as he joined forces to pilot Kaulig Racing’s No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro entry. He commenced the season by finishing seventh at Daytona after contending for the victory amid five overtime shootouts before finishing in the top 15 during his next seven starts. Despite ending up in 38th place at Talladega in May after being involved in an early multi-car wreck, the New Jersey native proceeded to finish in the top 10 during his next 10 events before notching his first top-five result of the season at Mid-Ohio in August.

    Despite finishing no higher than eighth during the final four regular-season events on the schedule, he managed to secure a spot in the 2018 Xfinity Series Playoffs. After finishing 11th, 16th and 10th, respectively, throughout the Round of 12, he was eliminated from title contention. Managing three top-15 runs during the final four events on the schedule, Truex settled in 12th place in the final driver’s standings. Overall, he racked up a total of 11 top-10 results, 26 top-15 results and an average-finishing result of 14.0 in his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series.

    After losing his Kaulig Racing ride to Justin Haley following the 2018 season, Truex inked a part-time Xfinity campaign with JR Motorsports for the 2019 season. He commenced his part-time campaign on a strong note by finishing in the runner-up spot for the second time in his career at Phoenix Raceway in March behind Kyle Busch. He proceeded to finish eighth at Kentucky Speedway and seventh at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July before settling in 14th at Las Vegas in September and 10th at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October. He then ended up in 38th place in his sixth and final Xfinity start of the season at Kansas Speedway in October following an early retirement due to an engine issue.

    Three years later, Truex returned to the Xfinity Series for another part-time campaign, this time for the season opener at Daytona with Sam Hunt Racing before returning to Joe Gibbs Racing for a five-race campaign in the No. 18 Toyota Supra. He commenced the season by finishing 12th at Daytona with SHR before ending up in 30th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after being involved in a late accident during his first start of the season with Gibbs. He would then proceed to finish seventh at Martinsville Speedway in April, 30th at Darlington Raceway in May and sixth at Texas Motor Speedway in June before capping off the season with a strong third-place run at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July.

    This past season, Truex achieved a breakthrough moment in his eventful career that started when he returned for a six-race campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing and in the team’s No. 19 Toyota Supra entry. He commenced his part-time campaign by finishing in the runner-up spot for the third time in his career at Phoenix in March before notching a third-place result at Atlanta the following weekend after avoiding a final lap accident.

    Then after finishing within the top 20 during his next two starts at Martinsville and Talladega, Truex achieved his first elusive career victory both in the Xfinity Series and across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Dover in April. The victory occurred in an event where he led a race-high 124 of 200 laps, swept both stages and beat runner-up Josh Berry by more than four seconds. He also got to cherish the victory with his older brother and former Cup Series champion, Martin Truex Jr. Ryan Truex would then end up in 35th place in his sixth and final Xfinity start of the season at Darlington after being swept up in an early multi-car wreck.

    Returning for a third consecutive part-time Xfinity campaign with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024, both in the organization’s Nos. 19 and 20 Toyota Supra entries, Truex commenced the season by finishing 21st at Daytona after getting collected in a final lap incident. He would proceed to finish ninth during the following weekend at Atlanta before finishing seventh and 34th, respectively, during his next two starts in April. 

    Then in the series’ return at Dover in late April, Truex persevered through two overtime attempts, including the last one as he muscled away from newcomer Carson Kvapil, to snatch his second Xfinity career win and his second in a row at the Monster Mile, this time while driving the No. 20 Toyota entry. Despite finishing no higher than 19th during his next two starts, the New Jersey native then elevated his racing status to a new height by scoring his third series victory at Daytona after fending off the field during an overtime attempt and claiming the checkered flag under caution. As a result, he notched the first Xfinity victory for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota at Daytona since Matt Kenseth made the last accomplishment in July 2013. During Truex’s recent Xfinity start at Atlanta, he finished 10th.

    Truex’s upcoming Xfinity Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway is set to mark his 10th start of the 2024 season and eighth in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry, which is set to contend for this year’s Xfinity owners’ championship on the strength of seven victories, two of which were made by Truex, and 17 top-10 results through 25 events. Meanwhile, Truex’s plans for the 2025 season remain to be determined despite his continuous goal to return to full-time NASCAR competition and contend for more victories and a championship.

    Through 99 career starts in the Xfinity Series, Truex has achieved three victories, one pole, 10 top-five results, 35 top-10 results, 222 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.6.

    Ryan Truex is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Friday, September 20, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Travis Pastrana says Richmond ‘a really good place to start’

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”222″][/media-credit]Travis Pastrana is finally here.

    This weekend at the Richmond International Raceway Pastrana won’t be sitting in the grandstands watching others race, waving the green flag to start the Sprint Cup Series race or talking about when he plans to be behind the wheel.

    No, Friday night Pastrana will finally make his long awaited Nationwide Series debut. Driving the No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota and thanks to an alliance with RAB Racing, he’ll be locked into the event.

    “We’re really excited,” said Pastrana last week. “We had a lot of support coming into NASCAR through Samsung, Boost Mobile, KMC and a lot of other sponsors that were from motocross background and had kind of planned on exiting the stage of motocross with the freestyle X-Games and switching over full-time to NASCAR,

    “Unfortunately, everyone pretty much knows with the ankle, I was unable to compete last year. So we started the whole process over again with Matt Crafton [served as a driver coach for Pastrana] and were really fortunate that the sponsors – Samsung, Boost Mobile and KMC – have stuck with me and agreed to do the same amount of races they agreed to do last year which is huge for me.

    “And pretty much a second chance to do the best we can. Starting with Richmond, which is close to my house, and race as we did last year, and the K&N Series, and we also will do it this year on the Thursday before the Nationwide debut, it’s a really good place to start.”

    Back in late 2010 Pastrana and Michael Waltrip Racing announced a partnership and the formation of Pastrana-Waltrip Racing. The deal would put Pastrana in seven NNS races in 2011 and then move to 20 this season.

    But a broken ankle during the X-Games in July of 2011 when Pastrana attempted a corked 720, right before his scheduled NNS debut. The injury forced the X-Games gold medalist to put his plans on hold and the waiting game began.

    Pastrana had hoped to make his debut in March at Phoenix but it was again pushed back as he continued to heal. Now though, he’s ready to go and put to good use all the learning and studying he’s done from the sidelines the last year.

    “For me, the biggest thing is trying to get out there,” said Pastrana on his long awaited debut. “It’s good that the interest has done away a little bit for me. It allows me to come in and focus on racing. But at the same time, it’s still NASCAR is 24/7 with everything else.

    “All I want to do is drive my car and be in the car. We’ve gone across a lot of media, and frankly, I’m tired of talking about it, I know the media’s tired of talking about it. And all the drivers are like, geez are you getting out here or not?

    “That ankle was horrible. But I’m finally getting started. I won’t know a lot of answers until I’m getting in the cars. So looking forward to this race.”

    How many races Pastrana runs this season is still to be determined. He still needs to be approved at certain tracks, but there’s no denying that he’s ready to race as much as he can.

    And don’t count on his ankle holding him back, saying that he’s been doing physical therapy and that while the ankle isn’t 100 percent for walking he’s 100 percent for driving. No worries for racing he says.

    Which is why on Friday night he plans to be as aggressive as he can. While he doesn’t want to crash or make a fool of himself, Pastrana doesn’t hide the fact that his goal is to finish on the lead lap.

    “If I end up crashing in the first quarter of the race, (A) I didn’t learn anything this round and (B) all the critics that have been saying I’m going to crash out all the time are going to be right,” Pastrana said.

    “So that first round is going to be even more stress going into the next one. I just hope I don’t hit a wall, don’t hit anybody else, don’t make anybody upset and hopefully we can end up on a lead lap and I think it will be a really strong goal for me.”

  • Cole Whitt Is Just Being Cole Whitt

    Cole Whitt Is Just Being Cole Whitt

    On the heels of the induction of the second class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, young up and coming driver Cole Whitt is just taking it all in and learning from the masters of the sport.

    [media-credit name=”Photo credit: redbullusa.com” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]But most of all, the soon to be twenty year old rookie who is now leading the point standings in the Camping World Truck Series is forging his own path. And yes, he is just being Cole Whitt.

    “Anyone that is going to be inducted in the Hall of Fame is going to be someone that I look up to for sure,” Whitt said. “I look up to all of them.”

    “But at the end of the day, you have to have your own style and your own way of doing things,” Whitt continued. “I’m really just pushing my own road and doing things the way I need to do them for myself.”

    “Cole Whitt is going to be who Cole Whitt is.”

    Right now Cole Whitt is currently the youngest points leader ever in the Truck Series. After his second consecutive top-three finish, the driver of the No. 60 Red Bull/ Fuel Doctor race truck leads veteran Johnny Sauter by a mere point.

    “It’s pretty amazing to think we did it, especially where the team has come from the beginning of the year,” Whitt said. “We really didn’t have that great of a Daytona outing but the team really turned things around.”

    “To come this far into the season and already grab the points lead, it’s been pretty cool,” Whitt said. “The team has really come together and things are clicking really well. It’s awesome to see this team come as far as we have.”

    While Cole Whitt preaches just being who he is, the young driver also credits his success solely with his race team. For him, the team is his main motivating source.

    “I think it’s just a matter of having a lot of good people,” Whitt said. “We’re not a big team, which makes it tough. But at the same time it’s easy to keep everyone on the same page.”

    “I try to keep the guys really motivated,” Whitt continued. “I’m at the shop every day and I try to put in as many hours as they do and work hard with them.”

    “I think the main thing is trying to keep everyone having fun,” Whitt said. “At the same time, we care about it a lot. When we don’t run good, we’re upset. But at the same time, we push each other to be better.”

    Whitt realizes that his team, with owner Stacy Compton, is one of those small team ‘Davids’ fighting some of the ‘Goliaths’ of the sport.

    “Stacy’s team has never been one of the biggest teams or one of the teams that is looked to as the one to beat but we’re trying to be that team,” Whitt said. “When everyone shows up at the track, we want them to say ‘We want to beat that team.’

    Whitt knows that it is just a matter of time until he and his team win a race this season. He currently is the only Truck Series driver to complete all 1,134 laps for the season, with five top-10s, finishing no lower than 14th to date.

    “So far, we haven’t really been the team to win races but we’ve been so consistent, driving up front,” Whitt said. “I think that win is just really going to come as long as we keep running as good as we have.”

    Whitt’s success in the Truck Series has also caught the eyes of others in the sport. He recently was offered the chance to run for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing in their No. 99 Nationwide car at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.

    “It came together pretty quick,” Whitt said. “Jay Frye (Red Bull Racing) had been talking to me before about doing some Nationwide stuff and I just wasn’t really sure where it was going to go from there. He called me up and asked if I wanted to do this one weekend deal.”

    “I’m really excited to run for Pastrana-Waltrip Racing and give that 99 car a good run,” Whitt continued. “I’m excited more than anything to go back to a track that I’ve already been on and made laps on where it’s a little more familiar.”

    Whitt is also excited to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday at the race track as well as at home, a real treat for any professional stock car driver.

    “More than anything, I’m looking forward to getting into that Nationwide car,” Whitt said. “That’s kind of like my celebration I guess you could say.”

    “I’m going to hang out around the house more than anything,” Whitt continued. “The best part about Charlotte is sleeping in your own bed.”

    While Whitt could not be more excited to take on the new Nationwide ride, he is realistic about his expectations. And that is just another way that the young driver is being true to himself.

    “I wouldn’t say I expect anything,” Whitt said. “At the beginning of the season, if you had asked me, I would have never thought we’d be leading the points.”

    “Would I have really thought it would be possible? Probably not,” Whitt continued. “But that’s cool. We pushed forward and we have a team that’s better than we expected to be.”

    “There’s so much to grasp and I’ve just been absorbing everything that’s been thrown at me,” Whitt said. “I’m so thankful for the chance to learn.”