Subaru Motorsports USA Drivers

Travis Pastrana

Gymkhana & Rally Driver
Subaru Motorsports USA
WRX #199

Travis Pastrana candidly refers to rallying as “motocross with a rollcage!” and has driven a Subaru rally car from day one of his career in the sport. He dominated rallying in the U.S. from 2006-2009, winning four consecutive championships with Subaru Rally Team USA after switching his focus from Freestyle Motocross (FMX). After a hiatus which included a stint in NASCAR, Pastrana rejoined Subaru in 2014 to compete in partial seasons as his busy schedule allowed.

In 2017 Pastrana returned to compete full-time in the inaugural American Rally Association (ARA) championship. He traded wins with teammate David Higgins over the six-round series and they battled closely through the last event at the Ojibwe Forest Rally. In the end, Pastrana edged out his longtime mentor and was crowned the 2017 ARA champion, sealing his fifth national rally title. 

In 2021, Pastrana partnered with Rhianon Gelsomino, a talented co-driver from Australia with extensive experience. Together the duo earned four event wins and two second place finishes. They mathematically sealed the championship at Ojibwe Forests Rally in Minnesota before the season ended at Oregon Trail Rally and were crowned 2021 ARA National Champions.

Fast, fearless and able to memorize complex sequences of corners, Pastrana also has excelled in hill climb competition. In 2017 he conquered New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington Hillclimb, setting a stunning new record in the process. The Mt. Washington Auto Road is one of the most challenging race venues in the country—steep, narrow, uneven and with precipitous drops—and offers a contrast to the wider, smoother roadway up Colorado’s Pikes Peak. Driving a 600-horsepower Vermont SportsCar-prepared WRX STI, Pastrana blitzed the 7.6-mile climb in 5 minutes 44 seconds and broke the previous record - held by his mentor David Higgins - by more than 20 seconds. For context - it takes an average driver approximately 30 minutes to drive the road. 

In 2021, he smashed his own record by 18 seconds with a time of 5 minutes 26 seconds in the fully bespoke, 862-horsepower Vermont SportsCar prepared Subaru WRX “Airslayer STI” that was originally built for the Gymkhana Video released in 2020. After his accomplishment in New Hampshire, Pastrana and the Airslayer were honorably invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and finished second place at the well-known Hillclimb at the estate in England.  

In 2025 Pastrana switched his focus to the burgeoning Limited 4WD class of the ARA series, where he campaigned the new Subaru WRX ARA25L. Pastrana and co-driver Rhi Gelsomino went on to win the class championship that year in ARA and have brought significant attention to the more budget-friendly Limited 4WD class of the ARA.

Before his successful career in stage rally, Travis Pastrana was already a legend in motocross. His two-wheeled career began at the age of four with a one-speed 50cc dirt bike, and before long Travis was hammering his way through a string of National Amateur Motocross titles culminating with the World Freestyle Championship at the age of 14, cementing his place as an icon in the world of motocross. Although Pastrana cut his teeth with motocross and supercross, he became legendary in the world of Freestyle Motocross (FMX). In addition to winning nine X Games gold medals in FMX, he is also credited with developing many of the sport’s most demanding tricks and continues to elevate the bar for the sport. 

Pastrana gained additional worldwide fame when he landed the first ever double-backflip at X Games 12 in 2006 – the day before he won the Games’ inaugural Rally Car gold medal. He has also performed multiple record-breaking stunts, including jumping a Subaru rally car 269 feet over water on New Year’s Eve 2009, and in 2018 replicating three of Evel Knievel’s most famous motorcycle jumps in Las Vegas. 

Travis is well known for his positive and unpretentious attitude, which has made him a media favorite and earned him millions of fans around the world. He is in constant demand from both corporate and endemic media and draws huge crowds wherever he goes. No matter the situation, Travis always makes time for his fans, and has been known to spend hours signing autographs in the hot sun, taking pictures with every last fan. 

Beyond his prowess as an athlete, Pastrana is the co-creator and superstar of the Nitro Circus action sports franchise which includes sold-out world tours, a successful MTV TV series, feature films and the Nitro World Games, including the burgeoning Nitrocross property. Pastrana also now captains his new YouTube channel, dubbed "Channel 199". Pastrana spends his time traveling the world with his wife, professional skateboarder Lyn-z Adams Hawkins and their two young daughters.