SRT Motorsports - Dodge Global Rallycross Race Recap and Final Quotes - Summer X Games 

August 3, 2013 , IRWINDALE, Calif. -  Action sports icon Travis Pastrana scored a top-five finish today at Summer X Games 2013 Los Angles in the No. 199 Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Dart in a rock-‘em, sock-‘em Main Event that saw half the 10-car field limp to the finish line.

“The Dodge Dart was great,” Pastrana said. “It was an awesome circuit. The track was great for racing with a lot of chances for passes. We need to do some homework, go back to the drawing board and continue to work on things. This Dodge Dart has a great foundation and what we’ve learned just this week from practice to the race was incredible. We were competitive today for a medal and just came up short.”

Rallycar racing is known for its physical nature and Round 6 of Sunday’s Global Rallycross event at Irwindale Event Center was true to its reputation. Survival was key in the 10-lap finale as multiple multi-car mishaps forced one red flag (race stoppage) sending the field back to the paddock battered and bruised.

Teammate Bryce Menzies look to be in prime position to earn a Main Event appearance in the No. 99 Dodge when he clipped a retaining wall, breaking the rear steering arm on his Dart during the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). Menzies was running third with two circuits remaining in the four-lap LCQ when he used the Joker Lap in his bid to overtake second and a transfer to the Main Event. His Dodge Dart briefly took the spot as it slid up the track and into the wall.

“We came out second, got pushed back to third and waited to the second to last lap to take the Joker,” Menzies said after his LCQ setback. “I thought I had made the pass for second but I slid out too much, clipped the wall and broke something (rear steering arm) in the rear end and got shot right up into the wall. Just a bummer. We really wanted to get both Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Darts in the finals. We showed some really solid speed on a fast and technical course.”

The eight-turn course started with a long, sweeping two-turn tarmac that ducked into the infield and a very tight dirt section. The 60-percent asphalt, 40-percent dirt track was arguably the fastest circuit all season, challenging the 600-hp to their racing limits.

Early afternoon Heat racing saw different outcomes for the Pastrana Racing duo. The hard-charging Pastrana used a slick late-race pass on Scott Speed in Heat 1C to take second and earn the automatic Main Event transfer.

“A great job by everyone on this Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Dart team,” said Pastrana after his Heat Race runner-up finish. “We didn’t seed that well early in the day but we made some great changes to the Dodge Dart and it paid off. Just a great battle with Scott (Speed) from the midway part of the Heat and held him off late as we banged fenders.”

Toomas Heikkinen claimed the GRC victory to collect the gold medal, taking the win over Tanner Foust and Sverre Isachsen. Heikkinen led wire-to-wire en route to his fourth consecutive GRC win. The series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Round 7 next Saturday afternoon.

Race Results
Global Rallycross
Summer X Games 2013 Los Angeles
Irwindale Event Center
Sunday, Aug. 4

Main Event Results
(10 laps)
1. Toomas Heikkinen
2. Tanner Foust
3. Sverre Isachsen
4. Rhys Millen
5. TRAVIS PASTRANA
6. Ken Block
7. Brian Deegan
8. Patrik Sandell
9. Scott Speed (DNF)
10. Liam Doran (DNF)

Heat Race Results
Heat 1A
(6 laps, top 2 advance)
1. Sverre Isachsen
2. Brian Deegan
3. Dave Mirra
4. Steve Arpin (DNF)

Heat 1B
(6 laps, top 2 advance)
1. Liam Doran
2. Patrik Sandell
3. Rhys Millen
4. Anton Marklund (DNF)

Heat 1C
(6 laps, top 2 advance)
1. Toomas Heikkinen
2. TRAVIS PASTRANA
3. Scott Speed
4. David Sterckk
5. Stephan Verdier (DNF)

Heat 1D
(6 laps, top 2 advance)
1. Ken Block
2. Tanner Foust
3. BRYCE MENZIES
4. Timur Timerzyanov
5. Bucky Lasek (DNF)

Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
(4 laps, top 2 advance)
1. Rhys Millen
2. Scott Speed
3. Bucky Lasek
4. Stephan Verdier
3. BRYCE MENZIES (DNF)
7. Dave Mirra (DNF)
8. David Sterckx (DNF)
9. Anton Marklund (DNF)
10. Timur Timerzyanov (DNS)

Travis Pastrana (No. 199 Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Dart) Finished Fifth
YOU FINISHED FIFTH IN A WILD MAIN EVENT; TALK ABOUT THE FINALS: “There are really two strategies in GRC: if you’re not top-three at the end of the first lap it’s really difficult to catch the leaders and everybody has that mentality. I made the decision to follow Tanner (Foust) and he got a little bit of a jump on me on the race start. I went around the outside of Turn 1 and saw all the carnage in front of me and just tired to stay clear of it all. I kept the Dodge Dart out of trouble, I may have been able to force the issue a little bit and gone for the lead at the beginning but there was stuff all over the race track. I decided to keep the car clean and have something to race. We came out in third after the first lap. The course was tough. We didn’t have the flying speed but thought that we were strong enough to hold off the cars behind us and get a podium. We ended up overheating late in the race trying to get too much out of it and started to lose power. Once that happens, all the safeties kick in and saved the motor – we’ll still be able to use this motor next weekend in Atlanta.”

THIS COURSE WAS AN INTERESTING BALANCE BETWEEN TARMAC AND DIRT; HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THE DODGE DART ON THOSE CONDITIONS? “The Dodge Dart was great. It was an awesome circuit. The track was great for racing with a lot of chances for passes. We need to do some homework, go back to the drawing board and continue to work on things. This Dodge Dart is awesome. This car has a great foundation and what we’ve learned just this week from practice to the race was incredible. We were competitive today for a medal and just came up short.”

THIS CITY HAS BEEN SO INSTRUMENTAL TO YOUR CAREER; CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS BEING THE LAST SUMMER X GAMES IN LOS ANGELES? “It’s bittersweet. I’ve accomplished so much here and LA is the home base for X Games. At the same time, I’m proud to be a part of its growth and to see a city like Austin step up and take the reins is awesome. X Games is just a fantastic event and it’s nice to see a fresh approach and interest in action sports.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR HEAT RACE: “A great job by everyone on this Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Dart team. We didn’t seed that well early in the day but we made some great changes to the Dodge Dart and it paid off. Just a great battle with Scott (Speed) from the midway part of the Heat and held him of late as we banged fenders in a 180 (degree turn).”

Bryce Menzies (No. 99 Red Bull/Discount Tire Dodge Dart) DNQ (for Main Event)
BEFORE THE RED FLAG CAME OUT IN YOUR LCQ RACE YOU WERE SCORED SECOND CHARGING TOWARDS THE LEADER: “Yeah, our car really launched well in the LCQ. These Dodge Darts are just bullets off the starting line. We had a really good jump. I kind of fell behind Scott Speed and was just trying to get a top-two finish to make it in the final. When we came back around to the start-finish line they red-flagged the race and had to restart.

“We came out second, got pushed back to third and waited to the second to last lap to take the Joker Turn. I thought I had made the pass for second but I slid out too much, clipped the wall and broke something (rear steering arm) in the rear end and got shot right up into the wall. Just a bummer. We really wanted to get both Red Bull/Discount Tire/Dodge Darts in the finals. We showed some really solid speed on a fast and technical course.”