Pastrana to leave NASCAR at the end of the year

AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 08: Travis Pastrana, driver of the #60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Nationwide Series ServiceMaster 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 8, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 08:  Travis Pastrana, driver of the #60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Nationwide Series ServiceMaster 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 8, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona.  (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ – NOVEMBER 08: Travis Pastrana, driver of the #60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Nationwide Series ServiceMaster 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 8, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

Action sports star Travis Pastrana will end his foray into NASCAR at the end of 2013. Pastrana has raced fulltime in the Nationwide series for Roush-Fenway Racing this season; his best finish was a ninth at Richmond in April. Overall he has four top-10 finishes and one pole in 41 starts over two years.

“This past season of NASCAR has been an awesome experience,” said Pastrana on his Facebook page. “I have made a lot of great friends, had a lot of fun and gained a new appreciation for all aspects of this sport. Jack Roush and everyone at Roush Fenway Racing have gone above and beyond to try and help me succeed and I am truly grateful for their support. I would like to thank them and all of the other people who stuck behind me during the last two years as I tried to learn how to make a successful career in NASCAR. Its tough to step back now and prove the critics were right, but unfortunately my results were not good enough to get the sponsors I needed to appropriately fund next season.”

Pastrana and his wife also recently had their first child and the 30-year old indicated that family matters factored into his decision. MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.