Travis Pastrana

Pastrana was born to Robert and Debby Pastrana in Annapolis, Maryland. Through his paternal grandparents, he is of Colombian descent, and his father was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His uncle, Alan Pastrana, played college football as a quarterback at the University of Maryland, an institution Travis also attended.

On June 4, 2011, Pastrana proposed to professional skateboarder Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins during a live performance of Nitro Circus. The couple married on October 29, 2011, in Southern California. They have two daughters, Addy Ruth, born on September 2, 2013, and Bristol, born on February 9, 2015.

Pastrana began riding motorcycles at age four and debuted in the AMA Motocross Championship in late 1999. In 2000, at age 16, he won the AMA 125cc Motocross Championship, making him the youngest rider to capture the title. The following year, he claimed the 2001 AMA Supercross 125cc East Coast championship. He later competed in the 250cc class from 2001 to 2005 and was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2023.

Owing to his father's Puerto Rican origins, Pastrana was licensed by the Puerto Rico Motorcycle Association to represent Puerto Rico in international events. He debuted for Team Puerto Rico in 2008 at the Latin American Supercross Championships, finishing third in the final. In 2018, he joined Kevin Windham and Ryan Sipes to represent Team Puerto Rico at the Motocross of Nations to help raise funds and awareness following Hurricane Maria.

Pastrana emerged as one of the most decorated competitors in X Games history, amassing 17 total medals, including 11 golds across Freestyle, Best Trick, Speed and Style, and Rally Car Racing. At the inaugural X Games MotoX Freestyle event in 1999, he earned the gold medal with a record run score of 99.00 points.

At the 2006 Summer X Games, Pastrana became the third athlete in event history to win three gold medals at a single edition. During the Moto X Best Trick event, he made history by landing the first double backflip in action sports competition, earning a winning score of 98.60 points. In addition to his X Games successes, he won five gold medals at the Gravity Games between 1999 and 2006.

Pastrana began driving for Subaru Rally Team USA in 2006 alongside co-driver Christian Edstrom. That year, he won the inaugural X Games rally car competition and captured the Rally America National Championship, becoming the youngest American rally champion. He went on to secure four consecutive Rally America titles from 2006 through 2009.

Expanding into international rallying, Pastrana entered select World Rally Championship events in the Production World Rally Championship category from 2007 through 2008. In 2020, he established the Nitro Rallycross series, transforming a specialty event from the Nitro World Games into a standalone racing championship. Driving for Subaru Motorsports USA, he claimed the inaugural 2021 Nitro Rallycross driver championship on a tiebreaker over Scott Speed.

Pastrana transitioned into stock car racing in 2011, partnering with Michael Waltrip Racing to run developmental events. In 2013, he completed a full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving the No. 60 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. During that campaign, he won a pole position at Talladega Superspeedway, collected four top-ten finishes, and concluded the championship 14th in points before stepping back from full-time competition.

In January 2023, Pastrana secured an entry with 23XI Racing to attempt the Daytona 500 in the No. 67 Toyota. After earning a starting spot through qualifying speed, he led a lap during green-flag pit cycles and avoided late-race incidents to finish 11th in his sole NASCAR Cup Series start. Beyond stock cars, he also competed in sports car endurance races, including the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona in a Ferrari 458.

In 2003, Pastrana co-founded Nitro Circus, which evolved from grassroots stunt videos into an international touring production, feature films, and an MTV reality series. Over the course of his career, he staged numerous standalone world-record stunts, including a 269-foot ramp-to-ramp car jump over Long Beach's Rainbow Harbor on New Year's Day in 2010 and an unassisted airplane jump without a parachute over Puerto Rico in 2007.

On July 8, 2018, Pastrana honored stunt icon Evel Knievel during a live broadcast in Las Vegas by completing three motorcycle jumps across a total of 484 feet: clearing 52 cars, 16 buses, and the fountain at Caesars Palace. Throughout his career, Pastrana endured severe physical trauma, including dislocating his spine from his pelvis at age 14, undergoing dozens of surgical procedures, breaking more than 90 bones, and suffering over 25 concussions.