From a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway Public Relations:

MOTOCROSS STAR PASTRANA TO RACE PORSCHE SUPERCUP AT USGP

INDIANAPOLIS, Monday, Sept. 15, 2003 – Motocross superstar Travis Pastrana will drive one of the two guest cars in the Porsche Michelin Supercup races Sept. 27-28 during the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, series and Speedway officials announced Sept. 15.

Pastrana, from Annapolis, Md., will race the No. 1 Porsche 911 GT3 car fielded by the Porsche AG team. The Porsche Michelin Supercup series, the world’s fastest single-marque sports car series, will support the United States Grand Prix Formula One race for the fourth consecutive year on the 2.605-mile road course at Indianapolis.

Pastrana, 19, is one of the most exciting and diversified off-road riders in the world, excelling in both motocross racing and extreme motocross competitions.

He won the AMA Eastern Region Supercross title in 2001 with five victories in seven races and also recorded three podium finishes in the 250cc AMA Supercross series in 2002 with Team SoBe Suzuki before being sidelined by surgery. Pastrana turned pro in 2000 and won the AMA Chevy Trucks 125cc motocross championship with five victories.

Pastrana also won gold medals in the freestyle motocross competition at the Gravity Games in 1999, 2001 and 2002 and in the X Games in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Pastrana finished runner-up in the freestyle motocross competition Sept. 14 at the Gravity Games in Cleveland, hampered by a hard crash at the end of his first run.

As an amateur, Pastrana won the AMA national motocross championship in the 125cc and 250cc classes in 1999. He drew national headlines in 1999 when he jumped his bike into San Francisco Bay during the freestyle motocross competition at the X Games.

Pastrana has competed in a very limited schedule of events in 2003 for Team SoBe Suzuki due to injuries suffered in racing, training and in a traffic accident. Yet he still remains one of the most popular riders in the world, with his own action figure, a DVD of highlights and a bobblehead doll. Pastrana also has appeared on countless mainstream and sports television programs during his career, ranging from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” to “Real TV.”

Porsche Michelin Supercup races are scheduled for 4 p.m. (EST) Saturday, Sept. 27 and 10:40 a.m. (EST) Sunday, Sept. 28.