Dodge Post Race Quotes With Winner Travis Pastrana - Global RallyCross Championship Round 4 Race

Travis Pastrana (No. 199 Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Dart) Race Winner

YOU HAND PICKED EVERYONE ON THIS RACE TEAM AND SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE EMOTIONAL WHEN YOU WON A RACE. WHAT'S THIS WIN LIKE? "It's even more emotional that I could imagine. We've had such a hard run. Everyone on this Dodge Dart team has worked so hard. We hand-picked this whole crew. We got this car, we got everything and we thought we were good. We've just been creamed and crushed every race. I was like, 'You know what, and I’m not being nice. We're going to win.’ Samuel Hubinette owes me one. Tanner Faust owes me one next time. You know what? We won. I have to thank everybody that has backed me and supported me. A really, rough, rough entire year. Hopefully, this is what we need to put us back.

“Well, this track was really cool, first one we really got some dirt in there. It was awesome. I was Mr. Nice Guy all year. This race Sam was Mr. Nice Guy. I’ve got one coming to me from Sam and from Tanner. I know that in the future. I tell you, these guys have been working too hard to get pushed around every race. I just can’t say enough about our whole team, all the crew. It’s absolutely awesome to get out here and get a win. We needed it ‘cause it’s been one heck of a rough season.”

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO WIN AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY? “It’s been so long I almost forgot what it felt like to win, man. It’s been a long time coming. I tell you, this Dodge Dart is an awesome car. These guys gave me what it took to win and I just want to thank each and every one of those guys standing back there with the big smiles. Thank you guys for believing in me and thanks to all the fans that kept backing me because I tell you what, it’s been tough. It has been a rough time.”

IT LOOKED LIKE YOU HAD A SMOOTH NIGHT IN THE HEAT RACE AND THE FEATURE. “It really comes down to qualifying and we were able to qualify third which put us front inside. We qualified second at X Games which should have had a smooth run like this but we had help in the first turn. We really didn’t have a lot of testing this season. I mean this is a brand new car. Dodge put so much behind this. Guys from every different branch of Dodge were coming out. The motor was actually strong here the whole time but it was just a matter of getting everything else in place. You know, we learned a little bit also on something that we need to improve during the practice just launching the flat. I think we had the best flying car. It flies the most flat because it’s the biggest, widest and the most stable car, which has been a challenge for the tighter stuff. But anytime we get a track like this that’s got some dirt, like X Games, I think we’re at a huge advantage. I just want to thank everyone for backing me. I know it’s only our fourth race in this brand-new car which, actually, if you think about it, it’s amazing to be on top of the podium. But for us, we had a lot of expectations coming into this season and we wanted to win. X Games was such a letdown this was a good way to bring it back.”

WHAT MAKES THIS COURSE HERE SO WELL RECEIVED BY THE DRIVERS? “This course because it actually is RallyCross. There’s an over-under cross jump, there’s pavement, dirt and there’s new challenging obstacles. You know we had a hard time in Charlotte because we couldn’t have any dirt and there were no jumps. Really, we were parking-lot racing. It’s fun, hey, I love parking lot racing but when we come out here to this big stage, you know we’ve got so many new obstacles that we’ve never seen before. Sliding around the dirt into the jump across the water hazard and we’ve got no wipers on these cars. Couldn’t see anything sliding
up the bank and then launching the tabletop, you know some of the guys going to flat. I don’t even know what that roundabout thing is after the finish, the U-turn. I tell you what, no one thought there was going to be passing done and there was lot of passing done. It was one of the places we were able to make a pass.”

HOW BIG IS THIS VICTORY FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM? “It’s bigger than you could ever imagine because you can only tell the guys ‘Hey, thanks for working 20 hours a day for the last month, it’s going to be worth it’ so many times before they’re like ‘Look, we’re doing our job buddy. Get out there and do yours’ (laughs). I feel like we had the best car, we have a great crew and we finally showed where this Dodge Dart should be.”