Pastrana gets another NASCAR start in Kaulig’s free agent program

Travis Pastrana will make a second start in the Craftsman Truck Series this season with a ride for Kaulig Racing in the free agent program.

Pastrana will drive the No. 25 Ram at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 22. He ran the season-opening race in Daytona with Niece Motorsports, finishing 15th.

“I love racing and competing at everything, and NASCAR is one of the biggest and most competitive stages on earth,” said Pastrana. “Having the opportunity to hop in the No. 25 Ram truck with Kaulig Racing through the Free Agent Program is an amazing opportunity. These Ram 1500s are so much fun to drive.

“We’re going to go out there, put on a show for the fans and see what we can do.”

The start will be Pastrana’s eighth in the series. A 13th-place finish in the 2023 race at Daytona is his career-best effort. And that was his most recent NASCAR start before returning this season.

It will be the first time Pastrana has competed at Charlotte in a truck. However, he has run on intermediate tracks before. In his previous seven starts, four were at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and one was at Kansas Speedway. The others were in Daytona.

The action sports star has also made 42 starts in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, with four top-10 finishes, and one start in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Pastrana will be the ninth different driver Kaulig Racing has put in the free agent truck. The program, for one of its five entries, is meant to bring in drivers from all disciplines to run a NASCAR race. It has also attracted former full-time NASCAR drivers.

The four other Kaulig Racing drivers that Pastrana will compete alongside are Brenden Queen, Corey LaJoie, Mini Tyrell, and Justin Haley.