Travis Pastrana 1st in Class and 2nd Overall 2023 and 1st in Fan Pleasing at Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb

Ewing Subaru of Plano is proud and even a bit amused to announce that Travis Pastrana took a class win and second overall in the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb shootout. The amusement comes from the fact that Travis was driving a 40-year-old Subaru GL station wagon.

Legend Ken Block Remembered

Though heavy rains disrupted much of the events from Wednesday through Sunday, Pastrana periodically entertained the larger-than-expected crowd with donuts and burnouts both in front of the stands and once on a run up the hill while a video tribute to Pastrana’s friend, the late legendary “Hoonigan” Ken Block was playing for the crowd. Block earned much of his reputation from videos of his driving, drifting, and stunt driving in a modified Subaru WRX Sti. 

Though Pastrana is now best known as a four-time rally champion driving for Subaru and has also driven in NASCAR, he is no stranger to stunt performing himself. Already competing in motocross racing at 13, he won his first of many World Freestyle Motocross Championships at 14 and received a gold medal at the 1999 X Games, which prizes showmanship. 

The Family Huckster

Travis’s ride, known as the Family Huckster, wasn’t exactly stock. The 1983 Subaru Wagon was pumped up to 862 horsepower and has a heavily modified chassis. Most of the vehicles competing in the 1.16 hillclimb were what you would expect: modified versions of Formula 1 racing cars, and customized exotic cars. Indeed, the overall winner was a last-minute entry by a $4-million F1-car-based McLaren’s Solus GT concept. Thus Pastrana’s Subaru wagon, which only lost to the McLaren by one second, couldn’t help but be a crowd favorite.

Said Pastrana after the event, “I thought we couldn’t be more sideways than we were last year! I think I had more fun than anyone possibly could have. We couldn’t leave anything on the table — we’re here for Ken Block, in tribute to Ken. It’s just an honor to be driving that car up this hill. You couldn’t ask for more.” 

After the first-in-class and second-place overall Hillclimb Shootout finish, autograph lines stretched around the pits, marking another great Goodwood Festival for Subaru Motorsports USA, Travis Pastrana, and The Family Huckster.

Admittedly, you won’t find any 862 horsepower station wagons, but you will find plenty of models with the same engineering trusted by Pastrana, Block, and plenty of your neighbors here at Ewing Subaru of Plano.

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