The No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing team battles to 17th

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Travis Pastrana and the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing (RFR) team overcame an early incident during Saturday’s Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) to bring home his No. 60 Ford Mustang in 17th.

Travis Pastrana

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

“I learned from last week and knew I was starting to spin so I locked it down,” said Pastrana. “Then we got cleaned out and hit, and hit into the wall. My crew did such an amazing job. The fact that we even salvaged what we did was amazing. Really I am disappointed for them because we had such a great car – such a great car.”

The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) took the green flag shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET under overcast skies and the threat of rain. In his first visit to the two-mile track, Pastrana qualified the No. 60 Ford Mustang 12th.

Unfortunately, the No. 60 would not complete two laps before a spin and contact with another competitor would force Pastrana to pit road for repairs. The crew visited pit road multiple times under caution to assess the damage and repair the car as quickly as possible.

Pastrana returned to the field on the lead lap in time for a Lap 5 restart. The caution flag flew for the second time on Lap 7, bringing Pastrana back down pit road for more repairs, this time to the toe of the car.

After multiple pit stops under the second caution flag of the day, the No. 60 restarted 34th and began to climb back into the mid-twenties. With severe damage to the car, Pastrana struggled with the handling of his Mustang for the remainder of the race. The No. 60 team battled all day, ultimately crossing the line in 17th.

“My dad always said that you create your own luck,” Pastrana said. “That is frustrating. I watched it from last year and saw that was going to happen. I kind of had the option to give up a lot and just drop in two wide behind, but I thought I would be clear behind the 16, three-wide on the outside. It looks like a wide track but once you get outside the groove there is just nothing there.”

Current points leader, Regan Smith took the checkered flag, with Kyle Larson, Paul Menard and Kyle Busch rounding out the top-four. RFR teammates Trevor Bayne and Chris Buescher finished fifth and seventh, respectively. Pastrana remains 15th in the NNS standings heading into the first road course race of the season next weekend at Road America.

RFR