Pastrana returns to the track this weekend for the 24 Hours of Glen Helen photo: Matt Ware

Racer X: Hey Travis, what's going on?

Travis Pastrana: We're just out here in California driving to a go-kart track.

What's this I hear about you doing the 24 Hours at Glen Helen?

[Laughs] I don't know, man. We're gonna go out there and give it a shot. It's Ryan Morais, Brian Deegan, Gregg Godfrey, and me.

Have you been riding a lot?

Umm.... Well, yesterday was the first day riding in two months, other than the Supermoto. So yeah, I've been riding a real lot.

Are you healthy?

Yeah, pretty well. I separated my shoulder right before X Games and then tore my rotator cuff three weeks ago, so yeah, I'm doing pretty good.

[Laughs] So that's "pretty good" for you?

I'm just now healthy, so I haven't had a lot of bike time, but I'm feeling pretty good!

So now that you're fairly healthy, you figured, Let's go and do a 24-hour race?

Of course! I'll be in good shape by the time that ends. My hands are gonna be raw, horrible, shredded, you know. It's gonna be good!

Do you think your knees are going to hold up?

Yeah, sure! The only thing that kills them are the whoops and the really rutted corners. It's a long race, so I'll just avoid both of those.

What's the format of the race? I don't really know a whole lot about it.

That's goes for both you and our whole team! Basically, I bought a Suzuki RM-Z450 and then turned it over to my Team199.com Manager, Ron Meredith, and the guys at Yoshimura. So it went from a small little project to a full factory team pretty quickly. But, no, no one really knows what we're doing, so it should be interesting.

Is the Team 199 rig going to be there?

Nope. I think that Deegan is bringing a motor home, and maybe Godfrey will bring something. But I will have my factory Suzuki mechanic, James Coy. And my factory redneck mechanic, Hubert, will be coming out.

Okay, gotcha. It still sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.

It should be really good. You know, the original team was going to be [Davi] Millsaps, [Robbie] Reynard, Godfrey, and me. Then DeCoster released Millsaps early from his contract, which was good for Davi so he can start testing, but it kind of killed us. Then Reynard, he got surgery on his hand, and it hasn't healed to the point where he's ready to ride. So after that I called Deegan, and Brian was like, "Heck yeah, man, I'm in!" Deegan is pumped. He's really, really pumped up. He's been riding every day, and he's really excited. He's been calling around trying to get us another team member. We had Rodney Smith, but then he had to back out because he's sponsored by FMF, so that sucked. When it comes to speed, I'm definitely there, but when it comes down to the endurance part, it's basically going to come down to Ryan and I riding a majority of the race, and I'm gonna be just toast. Ryan, though, he's in awesome shape. He's looking good. I don't know, we'll see what happens.

The original word on the internet was that Jason Lawrence was going to be on your team. What happened to him?

Yeah, originally that was the plan. But Jason said that he had to go and do testing. And [Ivan] Tedesco came up with some excuse - I don't really think anyone wants to do the 24 Hours!

So what's the strategy for the race? Are you going to switch off at scheduled intervals or just ride as long as you can?

I think it's going to be about 20-minute laps, so realistically we'll each get in about two laps - three if we're feeling good - but it'll probably be two laps apiece and then we'll switch. Our strategy is basically for each guy to ride his 20 minutes and then we'll see where we are. If it has to be Ryan and I that end up riding the rest of it, or Ryan that has to ride the rest of it ... we're going to have to make do for whatever ends up being the fastest. I don't know if we have a shot at winning, but we always think that we do!

Sounds like you're going to have to master the power nap!

No way, dude, I'm sponsored by Red Bull!

Last thing: I can't let you go without asking about the double backflip.

You know, it was just one of things that I wanted to do on my terms. ESPN called up afterwards and asked why I wouldn't do it at the X Games. There was only, like, 10 guys out there and a couple of photographers. It was just something that I wanted to do. I got tired of all the kids coming up to me and asking if I had done the double yet.

All right, Travis, I'll let you get going. Good luck out there!

Okay, thanks, Hoop!