Pastrana To Drive Miss GEICO In 2020 APBA Offshore Championship Series

A household name to anyone with even the most passing interest extreme motorsports from freestyle motocross to rally car racing, Travis Pastrana will join legendary, multi-time world champion throttleman Steve Curtis in the cockpit of the 47-foot, Victory-built Miss GEICO raceboat for the upcoming season. The team will compete in the Class ONE ranks of the six-race American Power Boat Association Offshore Championship Series, which kicks off May 14-17 in Cocoa Beach, Fla.

A proven pair of motorsports champions, Travis Pastrana and Steve Curtis will run the Miss GEICO raceboat this season. Photos courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

The news was announced in a press release from the Riviera Beach, Fla.-based team, this morning.

Pastrana drove his first—and only—offshore powerboat race last year at the inaugural APBA series season-opener in Cocoa Beach. He was slated to drive the new Super Vee-class Tug It raceboat, which is owned by his longtime friend Brit Lilly, with Lilly’s teammate/throttleman Kevin Smith. Engine issues sidelined the 40-footer, but Pastrana found a seat in the Pro Stock Vee-class JRA Boat Sales raceboat and reportedly loved the experience.

“Last year, I was introduced to the world of offshore racing,” Pastrana said in the release. “I am excited to learn from the best with the Miss GEICO team and see what running through the waves at 160 mph feels like.

“Challenging myself on the highest possible level while having fun with some of the most passionate people on earth has been the foundation of my racing career,” he added.

Coming off a difficult season that saw the Miss GEICO catamaran roll and sustain significant structural damage during the Sarasota Powerboat Grand Prix in Southwest Florida, the team is looking forward to a fresh start with its new and undeniably talented wheel-man. The team finished out the final three races of 2019 season in a back-up Victory cat while repairing its No. 1 boat. That project is slated to be finished three weeks before the Cocoa Beach season-opener, and then Pastrana and Curtis can begin testing together.

“I think there is no doubt Travis will be a very competent driver,” said Gary Stray, Miss GEICO’s crew chief. “He’s done everything you can on a motorcycle. Plus, we think bringing him on board will be good not just for us, but good for the sport.”

Pastrana drove the JRA Boat Sales raceboat last year in Cocoa Beach.

Curtis also expressed complete confidence in his new cockpit-mate.

“As an expert in off-road motorcycle racing, Travis’ ability to adjust to changes in the terrain will translate perfectly as the driver for the Miss GEICO team,” he said in the release. “With the increasing level of talent in the Class ONE race series, competition is at an all-time high. The 2020 season is guaranteed to showcase some of the best action ever seen in the sport of offshore racing.”

In the event Pastrana has to step out of Miss GEICO’s cockpit to meet other obligations, his friend Lilly will drive for the team. Lilly and Smith, who also throttles his LSB/Hurricane of Awesomeness raceboat, were recently inducted into the APBA Hall of Champions.

“What greater honor is there then getting to drive the baddest boat on the planet and also backing up my buddy and stunt legend Travis Pastrana?” said Lilly, who recently stepped into the boatbuilding world with his acquisition of the 29 Extreme V-bottom molds. “I see big things for offshore racing in 2020.”

Pastrana To Drive Miss GEICO In 2020 APBA Offshore Championship Series

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