Travis Pastrana checks off his 'bucket list' by qualifying for Daytona 500

Travis Pastrana has a bucket list and recently crossed off the #1 item on it. Pastrana is capable of achieving practically whatever a courageous soul could hope to achieve on two and four wheels, except for a race in which he's always wanted to compete.

Pastrana's bucket list is nearly complete as he has won titles on two and four-wheels, racing motocross, supercross, rally car, and off-road. He's jumped cars with Ken Block and climbed Pikes Peak and is not even new to NASCAR, having raced in both the Craftsman truck and Xfinity series.

Yet, for all of Pastrana's flips, spins, and burnouts, there's one event he's never had a chance to start: the Daytona 500. Pastrana said (via CBS Sports):

"NASCAR and pavement, it's a little bit more to do with … wind, aerodynamics, as well as rear-wheel drive and pavement. It's very difficult for me."

"So, I kind of took a step back and then had a lot more pavement experience with high speed stuff, with Gymkhana, with sliding cars at 130-140 miles per hour. Again, all-wheel drive."

Travis Pastrana's preparation and effort definitely paid off, as he set the 25th-fastest lap in the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota and qualified for the 2023 Daytona 500. With the 23rd-fastest lap, Jimmie Johnson took the other available berth. Pastrana and Johnson beat out four other competitors for the opportunity to race.

Before qualifying for his first Daytona 500 with 23XI Racing, the extreme sports celebrity chatted with CBS Sports and said:

"But really started thinking, I'm like, 'You know what, I never got to check that off my bucket list. I never raced The Great American Race."

Travis Pastrana will be driving the #67 Toyota for 23XI Racing, sponsored by Black Rifle Coffee, in this year's Daytona 500, after securing a spot on the grid in the time trial on Wednesday (February 15) night.

The Great American Race is Pastrana's ultimate aim in a mid-February event that also includes the DIRTcar Nationals, which he won despite having minimal expertise with dirt modifications.

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Travis Pastrana qualifies for the 2023 Daytona 500

After setting the second-fastest lap of the six open entries on Wednesday, Pastrana, a worldwide-famous racing icon, will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut on Sunday (February 19)'s Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway.

With a lap time of 50.208 seconds, the 39-year-old driver was only six-one-thousandths of a second slower than the fastest unchartered entry, Jimmie Johnson (179.254mph).

Travis Pastrana will be starting from the 40th position on the grid at the 2023 Daytona 500.