Travis Pastrana’s captivating and exuberant versatility – motorbikes, rally cars and, lately, power boats have been among his pursuits -- also is rooted in excellence.
The action sports superstar seemingly succeeds in virtually any form of racing he tries -- with a few notable exceptions.
NASCAR would be one. iRacing could be another.
“They’ve called me ‘piss poor Pastrana,’ ” Pastrana told NBC Sports with a laugh in a recent interview about his virtual racing ability. “I’m a midpack guy.”
Pastrana and some other fellow racers sidelined by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic found fun in celebrating their mediocrity as charter members of the “LCQ League.” Conor Daly, James Hinchcliffe, Ed Carpenter, Alexander Rossi, Chad Reed and Pastrana raced on three tracks and three series every Monday with Daly’s Twitch channel streaming the events.
“LCQ” stands for “Last Chance Qualifier.” It’s where the drivers and riders often landed while trying to get their racing fix through iRacing and other sim racing that boomed during the early stages of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Red Bull Homestretch was created as another offshoot of trying to make virtual racing a more carefree experience. Using Gran Turismo Sport on a PlayStation 4 as its platform, it pitted many of the same racing stars against unusual competition. The Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant; gamer Naomi Kyle; WNBA start Breanna Stewart; NBA slam dunk champion Zach LaVine were among the participants.
But with real-world racing – and sometimes just real life – intervening, the sim racing trend seems to have cooled. After three rounds in May, the Red Bull Homestretch has been on hiatus without a definitive return date.
Pastrana, though, sees the sim racing phenomenon having positive reverberations because bridges were built between racing worlds that never would have crossed over in the past.
“I think coming out of this quarantine, there’s going to be a lot of drivers racing the off-road trucks, or the NASCARs, or Rallycross, that are really going to put a big effort forward going that direction to at least try a race or two,” Pastrana said. “I think that’s great for the racing industry. And a lot of connections were made for all of us to jump into a different sport or at least if we have interest to go and watch it and make connections there. It’s been really eye-opening for a lot of us. Everyone has a genuine respect for the other racers.”
While creating some new ties across racing series, it also has reaffirmed the talent level at the top.
Pastrana, who made 42 Xfinity starts from 2012-13 with a best finish of ninth, is well aware of how difficult the transition is to stock cars, even for someone who honed their vehicle control on dirt.
“Despite what you might think or see on TV, where I know all my friends think that if they got a NASCAR drive they could definitely go out there and win every race Ricky Bobby style,” Pastrana said. “But they’re some of the best drivers on the face of the Earth with the most seat time. To beat a guy like Kyle Busch who’s a phenomenal talent and who’s driving a car four or five days a week.
“I think the guys that would do the best (in other racing series) are those guys. Both Busch brothers, even Logano and Chase Elliott. I think those guys would do very, very well. A guy like Scott Speed who jumps into Rallycross and wins his first race at X Games. The guys in the dirt, they have maybe the best car control, but I’ve found (NASCAR) racing, it’s not about car control as much as it is working with your team, understanding what the car is doing and how to make those miniscule adjustments.
“Everyone’s within a few 10ths of a second. And the easier the race looks, the more difficult it is to make up time. Those guys, that’s what their skill is just to be perfect every single lap. That is very different for a guy who’s used to dirt where it doesn’t matter if he misses a line by 2 or 3 feet, he’s just going to put more throttle in and more crossed up and let her eat. So I definitely struggled on the pavement.”
Pastrana will be staying active in sim racing Saturday when he will be racing at virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Torque Esports’ The Race All-Star Series powered by ROKiT Phones Legends Trophy.
He was invited to join the field by two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who is among several champions in the field. “It’s such an honor to even be considered to race with these guys, so of course I didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity,” Pastrana said in a release.
NBC Sports caught up with Pastrana a few weeks ago to talk sim racing, his more limited lifestyle during the pandemic and what else is ahead for him in the real world:
Q: How did the Red Bull Homestretch concept begin?
A: “With all the sim racing stuff going on, it got so competitive and professional, that Red Bull just said, ‘Man, let’s just have some fun.’ People just kind of want content. Let’s get some guys together that would never be racing together. It’s pretty cool to take top athletes from all across different sports.”
Q: So did sim racing become too serious during the pandemic, and racing on a console-based game such as this was a way of reintroducing the irreverence that’s somewhat inherent to gaming?
A: “I’m not saying it’s too serious. That’s why we race. That’s why we compete, but at the same time, for a lot of the drivers and stuff, (sim racing) actually became the job. Which has been awesome for sponsors like Subaru and Yokahama. You’re supposed to be driving, and now you’re actually getting on ESPN2 or NBC or Fox or wherever it is that they’re playing these sports. It gives the drivers a chance to get back out there with good entertainment.
“I found myself watching a lot more eNASCAR than maybe I ever even watched NASCAR, so definitely seeing Dale Jr. back up front was really cool. Obviously, you want to see sports going, but I think a lot of people had down time.
“With video games, it just brought it outside the sim realm where you could say, ‘OK, anyone can do this. This is just for fun.’ And it still gets competitive, but at least it’s not spending 50 hours a week on a sim working on the next track. Because Red Bull Homestretch, they don’t tell you what cars you run in, they don’t tell you what tracks you run. You’re learning the track on the fly. Catchup mode is in full effect. And when you know you can’t beat somebody, you just take them out. So it’s been pretty comical.”
Q: You were part of the “LCQ” group of racers who formed a weekly league. How did that become a thing?
A: “Yeah, we were getting on Conor Daly’s Twitch feed with Rossi, Daly and Hinch and Chad Reed. We were having so much fun, but we were always in the Last Chance Qualifier. We were fighting for that last spot on the grid against some of the top sim racers, so we kind of made a joke about it and just started having fun, and everybody was like, ‘Well, that is really entertaining. We’re not trying to be hilarious. We’re just not that good.’ ”
Q: How has it been to have sim racing while being stuck indoors for someone as active as you?
A: “I’m very fortunate. My wife Lyn-Z, she won the 2018 world championship for skateboarding, she’s grown up a lot. I have not (laughs). So I’m usually traveling quite a bit, and she’s usually at home, so now we can kind of get on a better schedule where it’s not like I’m interrupting what they’re doing. I’m kind of a part of it. I know it sucks what’s going on for the economy and all the people that are sick out there, definitely hearts out to them and everyone working the front lines. But at the same time, it’s been a really amazing time for me. And time that I would have not had with my family. It’s been really great for us as a family.
“Without (sim racing), I get too competitive. This sounds really bad, but I need someone to wake up in the morning to be like, ‘I’m going to kick some butt.’ It’s just better when it’s not my family (laughs). I meant that metaphorically, definitely not physically!”
Q: What are you plans for the rest of the year?
A: “I’m actually building a racetrack for Rallycross that’ll be with Nitro Circus and basically just kind of a place to have, especially with action sports going Olympics and my wife being a skater. Both of my young girls now love both go-karting, skateboarding and BMX, so I’m kind of getting an action sports facility together, but also more or less to show how great rallycross can be and set that sport for the future of what courses might look like, and that we can fly a car 150 feet safely. I know most people would say that seems ridiculous. But I know we can build a very safe but very exciting course. More to come on that.”
