Travis Pastrana beats Evel Knievel records with death-defying jumps

Travis Pastrana honored legendary daredevil Evel Knievel Sunday night when he attempted three of Knievel's most dangerous jumps, in a row, on Evel Live. However, he wasn't just setting out to complete the stunts. He was looking to break Knievel's records. Pastrana's epic stunt started with the "50 Car Jump," followed by the "Wembley Bus Jump," and ended with the infamous "Caesar's Palace Fountain" jump, which almost killed Knievel 50 years ago. "This is the most iconic jump in stunt lore. In the history of stunts, this is the one. It's the one because Evel never landed it," stated Pastrana. Riding a 340 pound Indian Scout FTR 750 with a V Twin engine, Pastrana cleared the first jump over 52 cars, as he flew over 143 feet, 23 feet farther than Knievel did in 1973. Pastrana then made history for the second time as he jumped 192 feet over 16 Greyhound buses. But it was the stunt that put Knievel in a coma for 29 days that blew everyone away. With less than 200 feet to get his bike up to about 70 miles an hour, Pastrana soared over the iconic Caesar's Palace fountains in Las Vegas, and made it look easy. In fact, after landing the jump that Knievel was never able to successfully pull off, Pastrana was still just his typical chill self as he told host Matt Iseman, "It's just such an honor to live a day in Evel's footsteps and, literally, his boots. Thank you all for coming out. To be here in Las Vegas, so much of my history is here. Proposed to my wife here. First Nitro Circus show here. Thank you for everyone watching, and the Evel Knievel family for coming out and making my dreams come true, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the show." And, in the end, Pastrana did what any of us would have done if we had just completed a deadly 149-foot jump over a water fountain on a 340 pound bike. He went for a swim.