Pastrana's wife wins charity race in Charlotte
Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins Pastrana showed her husband she can drive pretty well, too.
Pastrana, the wife of X-Games star Travis Pastrana, won the charity race held before Sprint Cup qualifying at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Better Half Dash pitted 12 wives and girlfriends of NASCAR drivers against each other in Bandolero cars in a 25-lap race benefiting Speedway Children's Charities and Motor Racing Outreach.
''She's pretty good with the wheeled stuff,'' Travis Pastrana said.
An eight-time X Games medalist in skateboarding, Pastrana and her husband are into just about anything with wheels, so perhaps her prowess shouldn't have come so unexpectedly.
''We do like to go karting,'' she said. ''If we see a track when we're driving we go there, for sure, and I'm just starting to figure out how to take the corners.''
Pastrana received $10,000 for the charity of her choice.
Defending champion Jacquelyn Butler, the fiancee of NASCAR driver David Ragan, finished second.
Pastrana looked like a seasoned veteran, in the corners and everywhere else.
After starting second, she began looking to pass leader and pole sitter Wendy Venturini, a motorsports analyst for SPEED Channel, on lap four but couldn't clear her. Pastrana patiently waited several laps before cleanly passing Venturini for the lead.
She held on to the lead for the remainder of the race, even as many of the other drivers tangled.
The racing got competitive with Adriene Pattie, the wife of Clint Bowyer crew chief Brian Pattie, flipping her car midway through the race.
Her car had to be towed off the course, but Pattie was fine.
After being tended to by fire and medical staff, Pattie popped out of the top of her Bandolero car with both fists in the air, much to the delight of the crowd.
''This is my third time in a (race) car,'' Pastrana said. ''The first time was an off-road buggy; the second time was two laps in a restrictor plate NASCAR celebrity race; and then this car. I skateboard for a living, but this is very different. I was so nervous I don't think I could do more than one a year. I was white-knuckled the whole time, sweat dripping down my visor.''
