Travis Pastrana is to motocross, as the Harlem Globetrotters are to basketball. Travis Pastrana, with a 26th birthday on October 8, has youthful potential as a serious motocross and supercross racer in the mode of Ricky Carmichael or James "Bubba" Stewart. He even won the 2000 AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) 125cc "Lites" season championship at the age of 17. Indeed, he still competes from time to time in motocross and supercross races, but his niche is as a stuntman, in the Globetrotters' tradition of Goose Tatum and Marcus Haynes, Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal. That's why Travis is a star on MTV's Nitro Circus.

Pastrana's legacy remains his status as the first and only person to land a double back flip on a motorcycle, first achieved in front of stunned fans on August 4, 2006, as the 12th X Games in Los Angeles. Videos of the momentous occasion abound on places such as YouTube. More difficult to find, is an in-depth explanation from Travis Pastrana regarding exactly how he figured out how to perform such a stunt, and then how he mustered the courage to make the first attempt. Travis, like a magician, appreciates the value of mystery and he's not about to explain his tricks.

Courage? Craziness? Maybe a little bit of both. Travis Pastrana not only performs double back flips on motorcycles, but he once did a back flip in a monster truck, albeit "only" a single back flip in this case. Furthermore, Travis has jumped out of an airplane without a parachute, relying on a co-jumper with a parachute to catch him and ease him to the friendly surface of Planet Earth.

One witty analyst wrote that MTV and Travis Pastrana's various corporate sponsors recently honored him in Hollywood with a lifetime achievement party, "in order to honor the living legend, while he's still, you know, living." With his carefree outlook, Pastrana himself laughs at these types of jokes. The King of the Double Back Flip clearly loves his sport and appreciates his fans.

SOURCES:
/en/TRAVIS/Bio/
http://www.motorcycleshows.com/motorcycleshows/Home+Page+News/Travis-Pastrana-King-of-the-Double-Back-Flip-and-M/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/482990
http://laist.com/2009/08/16/travis_pastrana_gets_toasted.php

The American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) supercross season from January through May often seemed like a two-man show involving James "Bubba" Stewart and Chad Reed, but the summer motocross circuit on the rural dirt tracks is providing a stronger balance of competition. Chad Reed leads the motocross season points standings near the midway point. Still, new faces are emerging with seven first-time event winners. The latest is rookie Josh Grant of Riverside, California, who on Independence Day captured the Monster Energy Motocross National from RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan.

Every sport needs its superstars. Supercross and motocross are no different. Still, most fans don't want the same old same old. Josh Grant is among the up-and-coming young lions who are eager to share some podiums. "I really needed this win," says Grant, reflecting the impatience of a potential emerging star in his own right. "I finally got a decent start and just made all the passes I needed to get to the front. I knew we had the speed. I just needed to get a start and today everything worked out." Furthermore, Josh Grant's day in the sun came on a live national telecast on NBC.

Josh Grant moves to his own beat. He still lists Riverside as his hometown, but in October 2008 he moved to North Carolina, saying he sometimes wants to get away from the "circus" and train in more quiet surroundings with the Joe Gibbs Racing Team. Also, he wants to avoid a tendency to over train and wear himself out. "It took a couple weeks (in North Carolina) before we really got into a groove where I started riding a lot. Then a couple of weeks after that, we started testing. Then we just really hit it really hard from there on in," Josh explains.

Josh Grant paid his dues in the junior 250 Lites class before his gradual advance to joining the big boys on the 450s. He says the more powerful bike "suits my style" and demonstrates that he has "the power to do it." The summer of 2009 indeed is demonstrating that budding stars in supercross and motocross are ready to challenge the old guard.

SOURCES:
http://www.allisports.com/news/grant-adds-list-first-time-winners-redbud
http://www.allisports.com/news/practice-report-redbud
http://www.racerxonline.com/article/5-minutes-with-josh-grant-1-9.aspx

A motocross journalist recent wrote that Chad Reed "by the numbers ... is one of the greatest supercross riders ever." Why the qualifier of "by the numbers?" Nobody ever speaks of Jeremy McGrath or Ricky Carmichael or James "Bubba" Stewart as "by the numbers." They simply are regarded as motocross greats.

Possibly the difference is that Chad Reed is so quiet and reserved. He doesn't say much about himself, not even on his own website. We can learn that he's 27 years old and from Australia, and that he came to the United States in order to match his skills with the world's best riders. He's just not big with the media.

Chad Reed won the the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) supercrossseason championship in 2004 and 2008. As of late March, after 12 of the season's 17 events, Reed was leading Stewart, 271 points to 260. Unless Chad Reed takes a bad spill and/or suffers a major injury, he is in command for a third title. The supercross season concludes May 2 in Las Vegas.

Reed's reserved manner was reflected after his March 22 victory in St. Louis, in front of 56,000 fans. He stated mundanely: "Like I say every week, you've got to be in it to win it, and that's what we're doing. ... I just kept my head down and rode my Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 as hard as I could and it was good for the win this week." At least Chad Reed speaks up enough to give his sponsor a good plug.

A few years ago, an interviewer managed to pull something original out of Chad Reed. Chad noted that back in Australia, he actually used to chase kangaroos on his motorcycle. "Well, not on a daily basis," he explained. "Those animals are really fast, and it's amazing keeping up with them on a motorcycle."

Another journalist visited Chad Reed's training and practice site on one day, and Bubba Stewart's digs on the next. He described Chad Reed as taking more of a loose and fun approach, while the Bubba Stewart team was all business. But this certainly doesn't mean that Chad Reed isn't dead serious. During one season, he continued racing in pain after separating his shoulder. The next time you watch a supercross or motocross race, try to imagine that!

SOURCES
http://www.racerxonline.com/rider/chad-reed.aspx
http://www.coolgrrrls.com/2/chadreed.html
http://www.racerxonline.com/article/monday-wake-up-call-3-23.aspx
http://www.racerxonline.com/blog/blogandt/2009/03/6/blogandt-noun-of-the-week-9/
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/ama-supercross-motocross/races/?lo_id=136
www.mxnationals.com
http://www.chadreedracing.com/-/bio
http://www.supercross.com/rider-profiles/795-chad-reed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Reed

Ricky Carmichael is giving motocross and supercross fans a reason to become fans of NASCAR. Will Ricky Carmichael possibly achieve so much success in NASCAR, that he will cause more NASCAR fans to become fans of motocross and supercross?

This season, *Carmichael*'s main focus is on the NASCAR Work Truck Series campaign. He's sponsored by Monster Energy and will drive for the KHI team, sponsored by legendary NASCAR racer Kevin Harvick.

"I believe he will put the same effort toward his stock-car career," Harvick says. "He knows how to race, and he takes care of his equipment. Every time I've seen him race, he has shown great promise."

Carmichael, 29, hails from Clearwater, Florida, and he helped to put motocross and supercross on the map while he earned the enduring moniker of G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) and became a multi-millionaire. He was a five-time champion and winner of more than 150 races in the AMA, American Motorcyclist Association.

However, Carmichael also ended up needing a different AMA, the American Medical Association, because of his various injuries. Motocross and supercross can be even more risky than NASCAR.

Ricky Carmichael blew out a knee during the 2004 motocross season. He returned in 2005 and for two seasons he had a series of memorable battles with his heir apparent, James "Bubba" Stewart, who aims to follow Carmichael's steps to NASCAR some day. Then Carmichael had another terrible crash, this time messing up his shoulder. In 2007, Ricky Carmichael decided to take comfort in his motocross legacy and retire, while he was still in one piece.

Motocross won't forget Ricky Carmichael, and Ricky Carmichael won't forget motocross. He has formed a company, Ricky Carmichael Signature Course Design, and for the second year in a row he will lay out the course for the Daytona Supercross By Honda on March 7. Carmichael won the event five times.

But think of Ricky Carmichael's motocross injuries. Who else but Ricky Carmichael can say they moved over into NASCAR for safety's sake?

Sources:
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/truckseries/Ricky_Carmichael_lands_Monster_Energy_as_primary_sponsor_for_2009_Truck_series_.html
http://www.racerxonline.com/article/ricky-carmichaels-plans-for-2009.aspx
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Carmichael