Ken Block has recently chosen Travis Pastrana to continue the legacy for Gymkhana 11. After more than a decade of stunning Gymkhana feats, Pastrana certainly has big shoes to fill. There are reasons behind the choice of successor, and it’s not just because his last name rhymes with Gymkhana. His life has been packed with racing and stunts; X Games gold medalist, NASCAR driver, daredevil, and Nitro Circus legend are just a few of the highlights of his professional career.
His attitude will prove a perfect fit for ambitious Gymkhana feats; In Pastrana’s own words, “There’s no such thing as boundaries, only limits that get pushed further and further.” Even if you are familiar with some of his craziest stunts, there’s a lot of details about the motocross phenom that you may not know.
Let’s learn more about the new star of everyone’s favorite Gymkhana series.
Life In The Fast Lane
Born in Annapolis, Maryland in 1983, the FMX star discovered motorcycles at the age of 4 riding a single speed Honda Z-50. Amidst graduating high school by the age of 15 and riding mountain bikes competitively, he was starting to fulfill his destiny through motorsports. At the age of 14, he would win the World Freestyle Motocross Championship and win a gold medal at the X Games just a year later. These victories were the spark to a long-lasting, electrifying career.
Pastrana is now 36 years old with a family of his own. He proposed to pro skateboarder and triple gold medalist Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins at the bottom of a Megaramp during the 2011 Nitro Circus. The couple has two children, Addy and Bristol, and the family resides in Travis' hometown of Annapolis.
Rise Of The FMX Star
His stunning wins would continue propelling him to greatness, and he would harness the essence of FMX through his tricks. In total, he has won 17 X Games medals with 11 of them gold; He was the first to land a double backflip in 2006. In 2018, he stunned audiences when he completed all of Evel Knievel’s legendary stunts without error. And although he’s probably best known for his motocross victories, he’s won in rallycross as well with four consecutive wins for Subaru Rally Team USA. He traversed 269ft of open water in the biggest rally car jump of all time.
There’s no limit to the tricks that Pastrana pulls. Stunts like jumping out of a Cessna without a parachute and doing an FMX base jump into the Grand Canyon appear to come easily to the motorsports daredevil. All these thrilling stunts come with some downsides; Pastrana has allegedly sustained over 60 broken bones and 25 concussions. He has had upwards of 20 surgeries on his knee alone. “I don’t remember most of the injuries, there have been too many”, says Travis, always maintaining positivity despite the challenges.
The wild Nitro Circus show and live tour were pioneered by Travis, involving events such as extreme base jumping, FMX, BMX, and skateboarding. The show has featured a variety of action sports stars including motocross riders Andy Bell and Jolene Van Vugt. Ken Block also took a spin around the Nitro World Games rallycross track in 2019.
An Ideal Choice For Gymkhana
In early 2020, Pastrana was called out by Ken Block to star in Gymkhana 11. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime”, he says, “but they’re also some big shoes to fill”. He’s made two small appearances in the series including Gymkhana 5 and 10. At one time, they were also teammates for the Subaru Rally Team. Block has spoken of Pastrana’s skills, saying “I’ve been around him long enough to know he’s got talent that just goes way beyond normal people.”
The new spotlight will most likely highlight the playful competition between the two drivers, and we could see them trying to one-up each other with stunts that become increasingly insane. Pastrana gives credit to Block’s successful series, adding “But I think he made a mistake giving me a shot at doing one of my own! I’ve got some ideas that I think can blow Ken’s videos out of the water…”, he confidently projects. The main car used for Gymkhana 11 will most likely be a custom Subaru WRX STI, paying homage to the pair’s rally history and the origins of Gymkhana.
Along with traditional Subaru rally tricks and the future of Block's new Hoonifox, we will continue to bear witness to the amazing stunts carried out by Ken and friends. Considering both drivers' passion for adrenaline, speed, and adventure, there's no doubt that the upcoming feats and iterations of the Gymkhana series will be awesome.
Sources: Red Bull, Nitro Circus, Autoblog, X Games