A NIGHT TO REMEMBER; Travis Pastrana was just one highlight of the Race of Champions.(Motorsports)

Byline: Curt Cavin

Not too many people imagined that the star of the 19th-annual Race of Champions would be a U.S. motocross rider.

But Travis Pastrana, a 23-year-old newcomer to car racing, nearly stole the show in Paris all by himself.

Left to represent his country alone when three other potential teammates couldn't make it, Pastrana was the surprising runner-up in the Nations Cup team competition. He lost because he couldn't whip Heikki Kovalainen, the driver Renault picked to replace two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso.

In a best-of-three-races format, Pastrana beat the Germans (Bernd Schneider and Armin Schwarz) and the Scots (David Coulthard and Colin McRae) before running into the Finnish team led by Kovalainen. It should be noted that Kovalainen's better half, rally ace Marcus Gronholm, the 2002 ROC winner, was no match for the young American.

"He was Superman,'' said Gronholm of Pastrana.

Pastrana was humbled as much by the praise as the performance.