NASCAR driver Travis Pastrana yesterday announced on his Facebook page that he "will leave NASCAR" after Saturday's season-ending Nationwide Series Ford Ecoboost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, according to Jeff Gluck of USA TODAY. He "cited a lack of sponsorship, disappointing results and the long NASCAR schedule as reasons for the decision." Pastrana wrote, "Unfortunately my results were not good enough to get the sponsors I needed to appropriately fund next season. ... I hate to quit and I hate to fail, but sometimes things work out as they should." Gluck writes Pastrana's departure will be a "disappointment for the sport after he arrived with high hopes that the 18-to-24-year-old male demographic would follow the 'Nitro Circus' star to NASCAR" (USA TODAY, 11/12). USA Today's Nate Ryan in a series of tweets this morning noted Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark said that "results mostly drove" Pastrana in his decision to leave the sport. Newmark said, "I don't view it as he failed. We view it as he had the talent, it was just a timing issue." He added that RFR believes Pastrana "could have become competitive in #nascar but just needed more time." Newmark added that Pastrana was "frustrated by rough late stretch and his struggle to maximize results as he did in other series" (TWITTER.com, 11/12).
CIRCUS ACT: Nitro Circus yesterday merged into one entity its two main businesses: the Nitro Circus Live touring company and Godfrey Entertainment, which owns the intellectual property of the action sports franchise. The transaction was facilitated by an investment from The Raine Group (Nitro Circus). In N.Y., David Gelles reported The Raine Group investment is valued at about $25M. Nitro Circus with a "unified team and a new infusion of capital ... hopes to extend its reach around the globe." The company is "planning a permanent live show in a still unknown site in Las Vegas, and another permanent live show in Macau" (NYTIMES.com, 11/10).
