Travis Pastrana On Working With Twisted Tea & Pit Viper, Future Career Goals, Music & More
Twisted Tea — the nation’s #1 hard iced tea brand –recently teamed up with the boldly unique sunglass makers at Pit Viper for the second year to drop some “XXX-clusive” merch. This merchandise line includes sunglasses, swimsuits and other items, and is reportedly a direct result of Twisted Tea fans’ love for Pit Viper sunglasses. To promote the new merch line, professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer Travis Pastrana made a 110-foot gap jump in a Twisted Tea-branded boat decked out in Twisted Tea x Pit Viper collaborative merch with a Twisted Tea in hand.
But being part of this collaboration with Twisted Tea and Pit Viper is hardly the first high-profile mainstream exposure experienced by Travis Pastrana. The winner of numerous world championships and X Games gold medals in multiple disciplines — including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross and rally racing — Pastrana notably runs a show called Nitro Circus and the rallycross racing series Nitro Rallycross. He has also driven in NASCAR, and has also raced in the Global RallyCross Championship, Monster Jam and Race Of Champions alike. He has also been a playable character in multiple video games and been part of multiple television shows centered on Nitro Circus.
In August 2022, I had the pleasure of doing Q&A with Travis Pastrana, and the highlights of that interview are below. More on Pastrana, Twisted Tea and Pit Viper can be found here, here and here.
How did the opportunity to work with Twisted Tea and Pit Viper come about?
Travis Pastrana: I’m good friends with the Pit Viper crew and we’ve done a lot of rad projects through the years. With Twisted Tea being the top drink choice for a lot of the Nitro Circus crew already, it was a perfect fit for everyone when those two companies came together to have some fun. Anytime we have an opportunity to do something fun and out of the box that brings our friends together and gives us a reason to celebrate after is no-brainer.
Last year, we jumped a hot tub limo 69’in the air to launch the first Pit Viper x Twisted Tea collab, so this year we went even bigger: jumping an old pickup truck with a boat attached over a 90’ gap. Jim York from Pit Viper and I have been racing the Twisted Vee — the Pit Viper x Twisted Tea pro stock vee boat — in Offshore Races all over the country. So, we figured, why not put Jim in the boat and jump it?
It’s always fun to take old vehicles without any modifications and do things they were never meant to do. I always wanted to have a picture on my wall of jumping a truck and a trailer and this launch gave us an opportunity to check off another item on my bucket list. Merch from this collaboration is available now on Twisted Tea’s Tea Store featuring limited-edition sunglasses, bathing suits, bucket hats and more.
Do you remember your first exposure to either Twisted Tea and/or Pit Viper?
Travis Pastrana: Ironically, my first exposure to both Pit Viper and Twisted Tea were similar. For Pit Viper, I had a mullet going and wanted some big 80s throwback glasses to wear at a pit bike race. I ordered some pit vipers off the internet as a joke. Then I wore them for the race and instantly they became my favorite glasses. Laugh all you want, but having fully safety rated glasses has come in handy on the daily for me! Similarly, I was racing dirt bikes at smagicals northern nightmare 5 years ago in Wisconsin.
After the race, all the coolers were filled with Twisted Tea and there wasn’t a “normal” beer in sight! Honestly, if it wasn’t for that day, I’m not sure I ever would have given the Twisted Teas a fair shot, but it’s been my go-to after-race beverage ever since. Getting to know the people behind these brands has made it even better. Twisted Tea and Pit Viper both know how to have fun. They aren’t afraid to push the boundaries and create cool moments and merch for their fans. I mean, just look at the stunts we’ve done together!
Do you have a favorite of the Twisted Tea varieties?
Travis Pastrana: It’s hot in Maryland in the summer and Twisted Tea Light has been my go-to, but I’m a big fan of Original and Half and Half, too.
Work with Twisted Tea and Pit Viper aside, what is coming up for you career-wise?
Travis Pastrana: I’ve had events almost every weekend since recovering from my broken back in January filming for the next gymkhana video. Jim and I are currently third in the offshore powerboat championship driving the Twisted Vee. Leading the class one championship in the 2200hp husky racing boat, second in the American rally championship in my Subaru. Got off to a slow start with a crash in the first round of Nitro Rallycross over in England, but hoping to pick up where we left off last year and repeat as champion but in the new electric group E class.
We’ve got the Nitro Circus North America Tour 2022 going on right now and we’re hitting some great cities across the country. We just did a pit bike race at my house that we filmed for FS1. It was an even cooler event because Black Rifle brought in a bunch of injured veterans to come watch and we gave ride-alongs on the Can Am track to the guys who weren’t able to ride and drive themselves. We also brought in a Make-A-Wish family for the event which is always special. I’ll be announcing the Nitro World Games in Australia later this year and then heading to the Dominican Republic in November for Terra Inferno in Cap Cana, which is going to be amazing. Other than that, just trying to get some days at home to spend with my wife and two little girls.
To me, you are an innovator and industry-leader within the sports world. How much of the success you have now was planned for?
Travis Pastrana: I always dreamed of riding dirt bikes and racing cars from the time I can remember. I’ve just been fortunate enough to have made it into my 30s without having to grow up yet. I’ve been really lucky to have been surrounded by some amazing people and supported by rad companies willing to get behind so many fun shenanigans over the years.
Is there a career accomplishment you are proudest of?
Travis Pastrana: Being able to continually do what I love and travel the world alongside my family — my wife is a 3-time X Games gold medalist and 2-time world champion in skateboarding — and friends.
What are you still hoping to accomplish career-wise?
Travis Pastrana: I would love to win the world championship in offshore powerboats with the Twisted Vee! And to continue to grow the sport of Nitro Rallycross.
When you have control of the radio or speaker in the midst of exercise or a demo, what is your music go-to?
Travis Pastrana: I love listening to Tim Montana because a lot of the songs are based around our crazy shenanigans and the adventures we have along the way!
Speaking of music, I recall that you were part of a Puddle Of Mudd music video. Was that your music video debut?
Travis Pastrana: Ha! That’s a great question. It was indeed my music video debut, and we had a few members of the Nitro Circus team involved in the shoot. They’re one of my favorite bands, so it was awesome to get to work with them and film the video. It was great to meet Damien Starkey and we have continued our relationship well beyond that original music video. Starkey has helped us with soundtracks for almost all our Nitro Circus movies since then.
Finally, Travis, any last words for the kids?
Travis Pastrana: Work hard so you can play harder.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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