Pastrana and the No. 60 team earn a top-15 in Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Roush Fenway Racing’s Travis Pastrana battled back from damage sustained during an on track incident to earn his seventh top-15 finish of the season Saturday in the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, crossing the finish line in 15th.

“I didn’t really do that well in practice and qualifying, but I thought we had a really, really good car,” said Pastrana. “I was just kind of smooth and steady in the beginning and moved up to 10th at one point. I got my lap times down where I wanted to be, but we bumped into a few people under braking, so it wasn’t the result that we had hoped for.

I felt like we learned a lot though, and we were a top-10 car at the end, for me, that’s still the primary goal.”

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) visited a road course for the second time this season, stopping at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International. Rain on Friday shortened the only practice session of the day for the NNS, but the weather cleared up for qualifying and the race on Saturday.

The No. 60 Ford Mustang started 20th for the 82 lap, 200.9-mile race. Pastrana held onto 18th for the opening 18 laps of the race, before visiting pit road under caution. Crew Chief Chad Norris radioed for four tires, fuel and no adjustments to the slightly tight-handling Ford Mustang.

Pastrana restarted 16th and began his march toward the top-10. The No. 60 Ford Mustang lined up 10th for a restart on Lap 29, and remained in the top-12 for the next green flag stint. Flat spotted tires brought the No. 60 Mustang back down pit road for the second time of the day under caution on Lap 43. The team took four tires, fuel and made a wedge adjustment.

When a car spun on the track, the No. 60 Ford Mustang received damage to the nose of the car as Pastrana navigated his way through the smoke. Shortly after, Pastrana made his way down pit road on Lap 51 for four tires and fuel.

A caution on Lap 57 brought Pastrana back down pit road to repair the damage to the nose of the car. He restarted in 26th on Lap 61. Pastrana spent the closing 20 laps of the race working his way back through the field, ultimately crossing the finish line in 15th.

Roush Fenway Racing