X Games champ Travis Pastrana looks to break 2 historic Evel Knievel records
Partially due to his prowess as a stuntman and partially due just to his awesome name, Evel Knievel is a true legend among daredevils and inspires them even half a century after Knievel’s exploits riled the imaginations of young baby boomers in his heyday.
One of those daredevils, X Games champion Travis Pastrana, will attempt to surpass the legend of Knievel at Caesars Palace on July 8.
On Dec. 31, 1967, Knievel jumped his motorcycle over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, successfully clearing the jets of water but failing to stick the landing, wiping out on live television as a bit of foreshadowing to one of the most tumultuous years in modern history.
Knievel suffered a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles, and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days.
The mere fact that Knievel died in 2007 and not January 1968 is testament to Commander Riker’s assertion on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” that “fate protects fools, small children, and ships named Enterprise.”
Any sensible person would look at the result for Knievel and think to himself, “No way am I doing that.”
Which, despite not being a small child or the signature starship of an iconic science-fiction franchise, means Pastrana is in good hands with fate.
Pastrana, who is 34, got a chance to meet Knievel before the legend’s death, and the effect on him was profound.
“I think the biggest impression on me was, if you believe you can do something, even if there’s no precedence set for it, kind of follow your heart and push the boundaries of what’s possible,” he told Cycle News.
Pastrana, who has earned the nickname “Pastrami” from his fans, has built a solid reputation of his own not just as one of the best motorcycle racers across several disciplines from supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross and rally racing, but also for his stuntman work.
And on July 8, on the History Channel’s “Evel Live,” “Pastrami” will serve a three-course deli meal of death-defying feats, a Dagwood sandwich’s worth of motorcycle madness.
For a starter, Pastrana will jump over 18 cars in a parabolic arc, the perfect warmup of something that both inspires “Hey look at that awe” in casual spectators and “That’s nice but what else you got?” from hardcore stunt fans.
Enter the main course, a leap over 16 buses, which will break by two buses Knievel’s longstanding distance record for that particular act of flight.
And finally, for a decadent dessert, Pastrana will re-enact Knievel’s leap from 51 years ago, hoping to succeed where Knievel nearly gave his life in failure and stick the landing.
Knievel is still a draw in Las Vegas, a city occasionally frozen in time when a motorcycle stuntman was jumping over casino fountains and a singer with a million modern-day impersonators sang “Viva Las Vegas” in the city’s nightclubs.
Evel’s son, Kelly Knievel, is a partner in Evel Pie, a pizza restaurant and ad hoc museum in downtown Las Vegas north of the Strip, and those who don’t want to get mashed into the Caesars Palace crowd can watch the stunt attempt there, eat some pizza and on some level spend a hot summer Vegas evening in 1967.
The event will be free and open to the public at Caesars and Planet Hollywood.
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