Pastrana Wins, but McRae Has Hot Roll
World Rally Champion, successful video game franchise, and now, Colin McRae can claim on his resume that he upstaged Travis Pastrana.
In a rarity for an event that included Pastrana, it was McRae's silver medal that was the buzz of the inaugural rally car race Saturday at X Games 12. The leader after eight stages, McRae rolled his gold Subaru after entering the Home Depot Center stadium, probably 100 yards from winning gold.
He landed on four wheels and limped to the checkered flag, giving Pastrana his seventh X gold medal.
How often does Pastrana, who provided a signature X Games moment a night earlier with a double back flip in Moto X best trick, get one-upped in the showmanship category?
"Not often," he said. "If I didn't get upstaged by Colin McRae, I'd be completely in shock right now. He is my hero, an icon, and definitely a better, more experienced driver than I am, but I'm working on that."
McRae, who turned 38 on Saturday, was the first Brit and the youngest driver to win a World Rally Championship in 1995. He may well be the biggest worldwide personality at these Games, though largely unknown to the American public.
For comparison benefiting the X Games crowd, Pastrana, a 22-year-old from Annapolis, Md., compared McRae to seven-time supercross champion Jeremy McGrath.
"Is that a good thing?" McRae asked.
"Yes," Pastrana said. "That's a very good thing."
Scotsman McRae and English navigator Nicky Grist held the lead by one-tenth of a second over Pastrana and his navigator, Christian Edstrom, after eight stages held earlier in the week around Gorman, which is north of Santa Clarita.
The cumulative times for those stages were averaged in an effort to artificially close the field, allowing for the "Super Special" stage 9 at Home Depot Center to play a bigger role in the race's outcome.
Pastrana and Edstrom's final time was 12 minutes 2.19 seconds. McRae and Grist finished in 12:02.71, more than 18 seconds ahead of bronze medalists Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino in a Subaru sweep.
Pastrana raced through the Home Depot course that snaked through the parking lot and access roads, and included two tours through the stadium -- at the start and finish -- in 1:56.49.
It was upon re-entry that McRae tried to cut short a corner coming out of a jump. The car, sideways while in the air, dug into the ground, rolled and came to a complete stop before continuing on.
