Action sports superstar Travis Pastrana is expected to enter the 2023 Daytona 500 as the driver of a third car for 23XI Racing, according to a report by The Athletic. That report states that an official announcement is expected next week.
Pastrana, 39, will attempt to qualify for his Cup Series debut after previously having raced in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Pastrana has made 42 career Xfinity starts, including in 2013 when he ran the full season for RFK Racing. Pastrana won a pole at Talladega and earned four top 10 finishes with a career-best of ninth at Richmond on his way to a 14th-place finish in points. Pastrana also has five Truck Series starts, with his most recent coming in 2020 at Las Vegas.
On Friday evening, 23XI Racing's social media channels teased at an announcement.
𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀 is the magic number 👀🤫@DAYTONA #Daytona500#TeamToyota #ForwardTogether pic.twitter.com/yR5HVUdUkO
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) January 13, 2023
Pastrana will serve as a teammate to Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, but he will have to earn one of the four Open qualifying spots in the Daytona 500 field available to non-charter cars. Pastrana can qualify either by being one of the two fastest Open cars in time trial qualifying, or by being the highest-finishing Open car in his Duel qualifying race the next day. Other drivers seeking to qualify for the Daytona 500 in Open cars are expected to include Jimmie Johnson for Legacy Motor Club, Austin Hill for Beard Motorsports, and Zane Smith for Front Row Motorsports.
The majority of Pastrana's racing success has come in rallycross, as Pastrana has four Rally America titles, the 2017 American Rally Association championship, and the 2021 Nitro Rallycross title to his name. Pastrana also won championships in AMA motocross and supercross early in his career.
