One of the most interesting side stories of the 2018 Motocross of Nations was the partnership of action sports legend Travis Pastrana, supercross favorite Kevin Windham, and off-road jack-of-all-trades Ryan Sipes to race as Team Puerto Rico. Not merely an outlandish publicity stunt, Team Puerto Rico was a charity project in the aftermath of the destructive Hurricane Maria the year before. Race To Rebuild is a new documentary that chronicles Team Puerto Rico’s efforts.
Pastrana has a personal attachment to Puerto Rico, as his grandfather is from the Caribbean island and Travis had spent time in the U.S. territory. Upset by the damage done to Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria, Pastrana enlisted supercross and motocross legend Ricky Johnson to manage Team Puerto Rico at the 2018 MXoN.
“This was an incredible opportunity, not only for Kevin, Ryan, and myself to be a part of motocross’ biggest race but also for us to raise funding and awareness that made such a positive impact,” Pastrana said. “It’s been such an honor to represent Puerto Rico during this project. Our original goal was to help fix up the motocross tracks in hopes of bringing back that outlet for family fun in the community. Through the amazing success of this project with the full support of the motocross community, we were able to do so much more than we ever expected. It’s truly awesome to be a part of something like this.”
Race To Rebuild debuts on ESPN2 on Sunday, June 14, at 5 p.m. EDT, and runs 90 minutes. That means it ends 30 minutes before Round 15 of the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship Series starts, so the timing couldn’t be better. If you miss it, it airs again on June 15 at 8 p.m. EDT.
Pastrana is the producer of Race To Rebuild, and it is part of the Nitro Circus brand. “I am so excited for Nitro Circus to team up with ESPN on Race to Rebuild,” the charismatic Pastrana said enthusiastically. “ESPN has been such a big supporter of action sports over the years, and they have given athletes a great platform to elevate their disciplines, show their talents, and bring their stories to a global audience.”
“We are thrilled to premiere this project on ESPN,” Joe Carr, CEO of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of Nitro Circus, noted. “ESPN has championed the best in sports filmmaking with their excellent 30 for 30 series and The Last Dance documentary. Race to Rebuild shares these amazing films’ wider themes and human-interest storytelling.”