Pastrana to drive Dodge dart in RallyCross

The 2013 Dodge Dart will be making its racing debut this summer in the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) series, and car will be piloted by a familiar name in the extreme-sports world. On Monday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit, Chrysler announced that the Dart will be driven by four-time Rally America champion and 17-time X Games gold-medalist Travis Pastrana. “At Dodge, racing is an integral part of our heritage and embodies our competitive spirit, so we’re very excited to announce the next chapter in racing for Dodge with our all-new Dodge Dart,” said Reid Bigland, president and CEO of the Dodge brand. Pastrana is also very excited to be in the driver’s seat of the new Dart. “I picked Dodge because I like the brand and I like the people,” he said. “NASCAR was a huge focus, and then this came along, and it’s something you can’t pass up. I want to be with a company that has something exciting to offer. I hope everything goes as well as we think it’s going to go.” The Dart rally car, which has been custom-built to race in the GRC, is powered by a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder, 16-valve, turbocharged 600-hp engine. According to officials, on the road, the car can get from 0 to 60 mph in less than three seconds. Pastrana will pilot the car in six races, which will coincide with a variety of races in other series, including NASCAR and Izod IndyCar as well as the X Games. 2012 Global RallyCross race schedule: May 26: Charlotte Motor Speedway with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series June 10: Texas Motor Speedway with Izod IndyCar Series June 30-July 1: X Games, Los Angeles July 14: New Hampshire Motor Speedway with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sept. 1: TBA Sept. 29: Las Vegas Motor Speedway with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series