Travis Pastrana Surpasses Evil Knievel’s Records Honoring His Historic Jumps In Las Vegas [VIDEO]

Travis Pastrana, a daredevil and an X-Games legend, not only recreated Evil Knievel’s historic jumps but also surpassed his records.

Within three hours, Pastrana jumped over 52 cars, 16 buses and the Caesar Palace’s fountain in Las Vegas. The event was held in honor of the late stuntman, Evil Knievel. However, even Knievel never tried to land all three jumps in such a short period of time.

The first two jumps were staged behind Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Paris Las Vegas and Bally’s Las Vegas. Pastrana lept over 52 cars on a heavy, flat-track motorcycle on his first attempt, reaching a 143-foot distance. In 1973, Knievel only jumped 50 cars at 120 feet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

 

Notably, Pastrana normally only uses lightweight dirt bikes to make his jumps. The bike he used to tackle Knievel’s jumps was more than 100 pounds heavier than what he’s used to.

For the second jump, Pastrana made it over 16 buses clearing 192 feet, whereas Knievel only managed 14 buses and 133 feet. Each Greyhound bus Pastrana soared over was five inches taller and wider than what Knievel had to jump.

In 1967, Knievel tried to jump over the Caesars fountain and missed the landing. He crashed at 90 mph, breaking his left hip, right ankle, hands and wrists. However, the jump was recorded at 140 feet.

“This is the most iconic jump in stunt lore….because he never landed it,” said Pastrana, who has suffered over 200 fractures during his showman career.

However, Pastrana successfully made the jump, 149 feet, over the notorious fountain.

The stuntman said he was most inspired by Knievel’s unwavering mentality.

“Evel was never afraid to fail,” Pastrana said. “He never had a regret that I could see… He lived every day to the fullest.”

 

Pastrana won his first motocross title at 14-years-old, later nailing the first-ever dirt-bike double backflip, backflipping a motorcycle between two rooftops and skydiving without a parachute.

Watch all three jumps below: