Pastrana hopes to clear Caesars Palace fountain

Fifty years after Evel Knievel so famously wiped out trying to jump the fountain at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, action sports wild man Travis Pastrana will try to nail the stunt Sunday night in the finale of a triple-header tribute to the late daredevil.

It’s a daunting proposition even for Pastrana, who is winding down a career in which he’s done some pretty crazy things.

If he sticks it, what a way to go out.

“For me, this is going to be really awesome,” Pastrana said in a phone interview. “All my family is coming out and so many of my friends are coming out. I literally get to live a day in Evel Knievel’s boots, if you will. I’m pretty nervous. It’s keeping me up a little bit at night.”

That’s a heck of an admission from Pastrana. But when the History Channel came to Nitro Circus, which Pastrana co-founded, looking for a live event that crossed a couple of generations, “it was pretty much a no-brainer. I thought, I definitely have to do something about the man who started action sports. He was the first one who showed that you could jump a motorcycle.”

Pastrana’s attempt to jump the fountain will cap “Evel Live,” a three-hour telecast on the History Channel.

Before he tries to become the first person to successfully clear the Caesars Palace fountain, the 34-year-old Pastrana will try to exceed two other famous jumps by Knievel. He’ll try to surpass Knievel’s jump over 50 crushed cars, done at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1973, and then beat by two the stuntman’s jump over 14 Greyhound buses, accomplished in 1975 at Ohio’s Kings Island amusement park.

The first two jumps will be behind Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Paris Las Vegas and Bally’s Las Vegas. Pastrana will then get a police escort to Caesars Palace.

Pastrana will attempt the jumps on an Indian Scout FTR750, a modernday evolution of the flat track bikes of the past. He said it’s double the weight of the dirt bikes he normally uses in jumps, with three times the power and about one-third of the suspension travel.

“I got on the Indian and it was like, ‘Holy cow, it’s like jumping a tank.’ Now I understand why Evel crashed so much.”

Pastrana will jump the fountain in the opposite direction that Knievel did. Because the area is more built out than it was 50 years ago, he’ll have less space for the run-in and will have to accelerate as hard as he can.

“I literally have to hit 68 mph in under 200 feet,” he said. “With his highheel dress boots, if I miss a shift, I’m in the fountain for sure.”

That’s right, Pastrana will even be dressed like Knievel, in a white jumpsuit with the blue V and white stars.