Motorsports’ most notorious risk-taker, Travis Pastrana holds many records. For reference: 

• He won the inaugural Moto X Freestyle event at the 1999 X Games. 
• Pastrana performed the first Double Backflip in competition at X Games 12 in 2006. 
• He holds the Guinness world record, for the longest ramp-to-ramp car jump at 82 meters. 

A closer look at those accolades could make one wonder if the Annapolis, ML native is even a real person. After all, half of those records were attempted while Pastrana’s feet weren’t even on the ground. Instead, he has spent most of his life joyfully zooming through incredible stunts in the air, either in a vehicle of his choice or sometimes even without one at all.

However, one of his lesser-known terrain-based achievements is that he was the first to drive Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin’s part-time third 23XI car in the 2023 Daytona 500. That was his final driver appearance ever in NASCAR. But if rumors persist, his business partner, UFC President Dana White, could soon help Pastrana to a brand-new record. The kind that involves him becoming the first person to jump over the newly built $2.3 Billion Las Vegas Sphere.

Dana White eyes Sphere jump as NASCAR seeks electric future

For all of Travis Pastrana’s undeniable greatness, his contrasting NASCAR record has been below average, to put it gently. He debuted in the Toyota All-Star Showdown back in 2011, coupled with a solo appearance at Denny Hamlin’s Short Track Showdown at Richmond Raceway. A couple of years later he ran a full-time winless Nationwide Series season with Roush Fenway Racing in 2013. But after registering only four top-10s throughout the 33-race year, he announced his decision to leave NASCAR citing sponsorship issues and an inability “to figure out the finesse required in pavement racing.” 

Hailing from a Motocross & Rally Racing background, his reasons make sense in retrospect. Although his success was limited in NASCAR, Travis Pastrana won many championships to show his racing prowess on American off-road sections. His most recent was the 2021 Nitrocross championship, a series he co-owns as one of the founding members of Thrill One Sport & Entertainment (TOSE) with Dana White. TOSE calls itself a “next-generation content company that lives at the nexus of sports, entertainment, and lifestyle.” 

Under the leadership of professional skateboarder-turned-media magnate Rob Dyrdek, CEO Matt Cohn & Pastrana, Dana White joined the company as co-owner in 2022. This made the UFC President partially responsible for all its assets including the Nitrocross series, Pastrana’s “action sports collective” – Nitro Circus, Street League Skateboarding, and Superjacket. Their association, albeit in its nascent stages, has brought many benefits for everyone involved. Like Matt Cohn told FOX5 KVVU-TV in a recent interview, “In terms of game changers, Dana White is the ultimate game changer.” 

In the last year, TOSE has moved its headquarters from Costa Mesa, CA to the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. They have also been able to lure away senior executives from other bigger series like F1 and NASCAR to bolster their Nitrocross ranks. And if that’s not all, Dana White sent the rumor mill spinning early in June with revelations that his Nitrocross ventures with Travis Pastrana & co. were “going to be the electric series for NASCAR.” As of now, there have been no official confirmations or announcements. But NASCAR’s Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer, Ben Kennedy stated to the media recently that “they’re definitely looking into seeing how they can bring in a younger audience, make electric cool, and what they can do with the manufacturers, and Dana’s got some answers…”

Although news on that end has been heavily speculative, some loud rumblings from White and the TOSE camp recently informed FOX5 representatives that “Dana called Travis Pastrana about jumping over the Sphere.” His business partner, Cohn emphasized that “Travis started doing some of the math.” Moreover, he seemed to remind himself: “With the backdrop of Las Vegas, there is plenty here that we can try and jump over.” 

White fanned the flames even further when asked about an official statement on these potential future developments: “We can do stunts… We just came out of a meeting in LA with FOX, imagine if you come out of a playoff game with a stunt, Travis Pastrana, some of the other guys involved in Nitro Circus. There is lots of cool synergies that we have not only here in Vegas, but other sports.”  

His association with Sin City is well-documented. White was born in Manchester, CT but moved to Nevada when he was only three years old as his mother June, searched for better career opportunities. Ever since Dana has utilized the potential of Las Vegas’s entertainment appeal to the fullest to turn 500 million dollars richer. In the process, he made the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) a household name. And if the potential partnership with NASCAR holds true, stock car racing could soon follow suit, courtesy of Dana’s incredible marketing prowess.

Yet, with the confirmations of an event that could potentially eclipse anything that has happened at the Sphere in its short existence, could Travis Pastrana & his crew’s biggest jump arrive as soon as September 14 at the UFC 306 PPV in that same venue?

UFC 306 to electrify Las Vegas with Travis Pastrana?

Dana White has been vocal about predicting the Riyadh Season Noche UFC fight card as what could be the “greatest sporting event of all time.” It will take place only two months later at the Las Vegas Sphere and one of its main events will be headlined by a title fight between ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley & Merab Dvalishvili. As per reports, White and the team will be spending around $17 million on the production of UFC 306.

Given the gravity of this momentous occasion, a portion of that humongous budget, still undisclosed, may very well find itself allocated to a grand stunt performance by Travis Pastrana. Indeed, this could send the daredevil flying on a historic death-defying occasion over the Las Vegas Sphere as soon as September. Sure, all of it is just an assumption for now. But knowing Dana, anything’s possible.

Additionally, it wouldn’t be the first time the city of Las Vegas finds itself in awe of Travis Pastrana’s high-flying action either. For a man of his stature, many might find it only natural that one of his biggest idols growing up was the legendary Evel Knievel. And some of his biggest achievements ever, at least that’s what Pastrana would tell you, was when he replicated three of the legendary showman’s most iconic stunts in one night. His location of choice for such a daring attempt? The gambling capital of the world – Las Vegas.

For his first showcase behind Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Pastrana jumped over 52 cars, a distance of 143 feet. In 1973, Knievel had leaped 120 feet over 50 cars at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In tribute to Knievel’s Harley flat-track from back in the day, Pastrana rode a custom-built Indian Scout FTR750, a modern American motorcycle about 100 pounds heavier than the acrobatic dirt bikes he was used to performing his stunts on. For his second stunt, Pastrana went big, jumping an impressive 192 feet over 16 buses. This was a tribute to an infamous Evel Knievel 1975 jump in Ohio, where the daredevil soared 133 feet over 14 buses.

After nailing the first two jumps, Pastrana was given a police escort, all the way to the Caesars Palace fountain. Here he attempted the very jump that denied the great Evel Knievel. In 1967, Knievel dared a 140-foot jump over the Caesars fountain but crashed spectacularly, breaking numerous bones and ending up in a coma. This failed leap became the stuff of legend, a coveted challenge for stunt motorcyclists worldwide. Pastrana, who has faced over 200 fractures himself, viewed this jump as the ultimate stunt to honor his idol’s legacy.

In the end, Travis Pastrana landed his big jump safely across the Caesars Fountain at a distance of 149 feet, with even more elevation. His touchdown was a little shaky but he finally etched his name alongside Evel Knievel in spectator sports history. All combined, Pastrana jumped 484 feet (147.5 m) in a single night across three jumps. For scaling reference, the Vegas Sphere measures 366 feet (112 m) in height and 516 feet (157 m) in diameter. By all means, whatever Dana White and Travis Pastrana are planning must have some serious suspension to ensure the safety of the first person to jump across the Sphere.

Should Travis Pastrana be the first man to jump over the $2.3 Billion entertainment venue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.