Stuntman Travis Pastrana is well-known for his high-flying automotive antics. Usually the Maryland-born motorhead takes to the skies in rally-ready cars and motocross bikes that have been designed for the purpose, but this time he opted for a bone-stock Chevrolet C8 Corvette.
Pastrana just won a new Corvette Z06 at Cleetus McFarland’s Freedom 500 race, although he opted to use a standard C8 for this latest flight of fancy. Aside from a very hasty Stars and Stripes paint job the car was exactly as left the factory, with no modifications for its maiden flight. The stock 490 horses of the ‘Vette’s V-8 are more than the team at YouTube’s Channel 199 are used to, but that didn’t mean success was guaranteed.
“It’s got power but it’s like Cool Runnings—can lightning run on ice and can a C8 run on dirt?” ponders Pastrana as bulldozers plough a path for the jump.
The ramp at Pastrana’s dirt playground has previously been used to leap limousines, boats on trailers and a Subaru BRZ. Pastrana handed driving duties over to fellow stunt driver Jim York, whose trickiest task was getting the Corvette up to speed on the narrow, sinewy track through the forest that leads to the take off.
After a number of test jumps using a motocross bike and an ATV, Pastrana calculated that the Corvette would need to hit around 70 mph on take off to clear the 110-foot gap, but in the event York only achieved 64 mph, which meant he barely stuck the landing.
Amazingly, the low-slung Corvette survived its flight mostly intact with only the airbags deploying on impact. Studying information supplied by the car’s built-in Performance Data Recorder, Pastrana reckoned that improvements could be made, so the Star Spangled Corvette could yet fly again.
The additional commentary from the audience is a bit annoying. Neat to see it fly but dumb at the same time.
Dukes of Hazzard !
All for clicks… what a waste.
This is one of the reasons I don’t look at Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube…. I have better things to do.
You guys should not be promoting this slop.
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