Travis Pastrana Quits NASCAR: Find Out Why Former ‘X Games’ Star Is Giving Up On The Dream

Travis Pastrana has quit NASCAR. The X Games superstar of Puerto Rican descent announced on his Facebook page Monday that he would not be competing in the 2014 NASCAR season. The 30-year-old driver cited disappointing results creating a lack of sufficient sponsorship as the reason for the decision. "It's tough to step back now and prove the critics were right, but unfortunately my results were not good enough to get the sponsors I needed to appropriately fund next season," he wrote. "... I hate to quit and I hate to fail, but sometimes things work out as they should."

Travis Pastrana began his NASCAR career back in 2011, driging races in the minor-league K&N Series. The Moto-X champion admitted that "I've never been able to figure out the finesse required in pavement racing and that is disappointing, but I'm looking forward to driving more rally and racing more off-road trucks. My wife is excited to get back to skating on the Nitro Circus Live Tour and I'm excited to spend some quality time with my girls." He is currently placed 14th overall: he was able to crack the top ten several times but never reached the podium.

Pastrana's departure will be a disappointment for many fans who have followed the prolific racer across his X-Games career and through his show "Nitro Circus." "Jack Roush and everyone at Roush Fenway Racing have gone above and beyond to try and help me succeed and I am truly grateful for their support," he wrote. "I would like to thank them and all of the other people who stuck behind me during the last two years as I tried to learn how to make a successful career in NASCAR."