Son of famous daredevil makes record jump

ROBERT MACY

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 1998 | 9:01 a.m.

LAS VEGAS - Daredevil Robbie Knievel, who followed in his father's famous tire tracks, made history Tuesday night in another motorcycle jump at a Strip resort.

Knievel, son of daredevil Evel Knievel, jumped a motorcycle more than two-thirds the length of a football field, breaking his own record of 230 feet by a single foot.

The event took place at the Tropicana Hotel, with the younger Knievel jumping over 30 hotel limousines. The jump was part of a two-hour television special "Daredevils Live: Shattering the Records" on the Fox TV network.

More than 70 stunts, most previously taped across the country, were included in the show.

Robbie Knievel, 35, gained fame in April of 1989 when he jumped the fountains at nearby Caesars Palace, a feat that nearly killed his father 21 years earlier. Evel Knievel tried a 150-foot jump at the famous resort on Dec. 31, 1967 and ended up crashing head-over-handlebars. He spent 31 days in the hospital and remains partially crippled from injuries that included a crushed pelvis.

Before Tuesday's jump, Robbie Knievel walked out of his trailer and kissed his father on the cheek. Later, during practice runs, he gave a high-five to his father, who now walks with the help of a walker.

Evel Knievel made 300 jumps before retiring in 1980, suffering scores of broken bones in 25 spectacular crashes.

Nevada Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a neurosurgeon, headed the medical team on hand for Tuesday's event.

Wind was a major concern for Knievel. Butch Laswell, a friend and fellow stuntman, was killed in March 1996 when crosswinds pushed his motorcycle off course as he tried a 65-foot leap over a suspended walkway at the Oasis resort in Mesquite, Nev., 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.