Travis Pastrana happy with 11th place finish in Daytona 500, has no more races planned

Travis Pastrana, one of the best "wheeled sports athletes" the world has ever known, was able to check off one more box on his career checklist: racing in the Daytona 500.

Pastrana, 39, has done virtually everything there is to do in wheeled sports, whether it's two wheels or four wheels, he has attempted to race in it and usually has succeeded.

As incredible as it was to see the living legend even attempt the Daytona 500, this was actually not his first go-round in NASCAR. 

Back in 2012, he made nine starts for RAB Racing and Roush Fenway Racing, finishing no higher than 13th, which is still an impressive feat for someone making their first appearances in this sport.

He then competed full-time in the then-Nationwide Series and earned four top-10 finishes on the season.

Pastrana has also made six Truck Series appearances spread out over the years. He made exactly one start in 2012, 2015 and 2017 before making two in 2020 and appearing in Friday night's Truck Series race at Daytona.

The man can do it all.

He shockingly ran a near-perfect race on Sunday for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing, piloting the No. 67 car. 

He managed to evade all of the "Big Ones" and kept himself out of trouble for the entire event, even leading a lap along the way after he elected to stay out when all other drivers pitted. That is, until the very last lap. 

Heading into Turn 1, Pastrana got turned loose by Aric Almirola and set off a huge wreck that ultimately ended the race before the leaders could even make it to the start-finish line.

Now that all is said and done, it didn't end up being a perfect race for Pastrana, but he came home 11th, and he is perfectly happy with that.

"I was really excited to potentially finish in the top-five coming up to the last lap", he told reporters after the race. "I can't say enough about this 23XI team and how all the guys worked with me through this. To be running top-10 on the last restart, this far exceeded my expectations".

Pastrana shot down a question in the post-race interviews about whether this experience made him want to return to the Cup Series in the future. 

"No, this exceeded all of my expectations. These guys are the best in the world and I am not a great pavement driver, let alone restrictor plate driver. It was an honor to be on the track with these guys"