Travis Pastrana has jumped into history in Las Vegas

In sweltering 40+ degree heat, the Nitro Circus star performed three record breaking jumps in tribute to the late Evel Knievel.

The three jumps were streamed live around the world on the History Channel as part of a special event called “Evel Live”. All the jumps were designed to beat past records of Knievels.

Pastrana, who was riding a 340 pound Indian Scout FTR750, performed three different jumps.

The first two were performed in an empty lot behind the Las Vegas strip.

The first jump was over 52 crushed cars, layered 13 abreast. Pastrana cleared the cars with a 143ft (43m) jump . Knievel’s previous record was 120ft (36m) over 50 cars from his 1973 Los Angeles Coliseum attempt.

The second jump was over 16 buses layed side to side, which he cleared with a 192ft (58m) jump. Knievel’s previous record was 14 buses at 133ft (40m) which he attempted at King’s Island, Ohio in 1975. An interesting side note, the buses Pastrana jumped were 5inches (12cm) wider and taller than the buses Evel jumped.

For his third and final jump, Pastrana headed over to Caesars Palace, via the Las Vegas Strip. He was given a full police escort along the way but made time during the trip to high five fans and even take a few selfies.

Over at Caesars, Pastrana was all set to attempt the jump that Evel could never complete. In 1975 on his attempt at jumping the famous hotels fountain, Knievel had a bad landing which resulted in him being flicked over the handle bars, breaking numerous bones and suffered a concussion.

This was toughest jump of the night for Pastrana, due to high temps effecting his bikes engine, the short ramp distance and the high speed he needed to make the jump.

But Pastrana the professional he is, made the jump distance with ease at 149 feet (45m). The only blip on his almost perfect day was that he suffered a hard landing and lost his footing which resulting in him suffering a heavy jolt forward. But he pulled the bike up with plenty of space and celebrated with a couple of burnouts for the crowd.

An impressive night of work for the extreme sports star.

So what will he do next?

Could we see a Grand Canyon jump in Travis’s future?

Check out the three jumps here. (Images Courtsey of The History Channel)

Are you a Travis Pastrana fan or an Evel Knievel fan? Do Travis’s jumps now put him in the same league as Evel? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Joel Strickland loves all things automotive, you can follow him on line @joelstrickphoto on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.