Meet ‘America’s Got Talent: Extreme’ Judge Travis Pastrana
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The filming of America’s Got Talent: Extreme has finally begun and fans now know who will be sitting alongside Simon Cowell at the judges table. A lot of people were excited to see retired WWE star, Nikki Bella’s name on the roster. But some people needed a reminder of who Travis Pastrana is. I promise you AGT producers chose the right people to judge this competition.
Pastrana is a motorsports competitor known for his traveling show, X Games medals, and plenty more. He competes in supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. He has also driven on and off in NASCAR. This judge seriously has so much under his belt from his lengthy career, so let’s break it all down.
He’s a 17 Time X Games Medalist
Pastrana competed in the X Games from 1999-2015 (excluding 2002 because of an injury) and is known for defining his category on multiple occasions.
In 1999 he was one of the first competitors in the MotoX Freestyle category. He won first place with a score of 99.00 points and he continued to win first place in the following years. He was the only person to win first place in this category until 2002 when he was out on injury. In 2006 he became the third athlete ever to win three gold medals at a single X Games event. He won golds in MotoX Best Trick, MotoX Freestyle, and Rally Car Racing. These aren’t even half of his X Games accomplishments.
On top of his X Games successes, he also has replicated three of Evel Knievel’s most famous jumps without injury in Las Vegas, NV. This guy seriously knows what he’s doing in all categories.
Pastrana Runs Nitro Circus
On top of competing himself he also runs Nitro Circus, which is a travelling show featuring him and his friends doing stunts on dirt bikes. They are currently travelling around North America until November 13 and will have three performances in Australia in late November.
This travelling show is the perfect occasion for people who love watching daredevils. In 2016 the company pushed the bar further and created the Nitro World Games. These games have historically been held every two years since 2016, but the the 2020 Nitro World Games were canceled due to COVID-19. As of right now it does not look like this event has been rescheduled.
Pastrana has an Ongoing Career With NASCAR
In case motocross wasn’t enough, in 2011 Pastrana joined the world of NASCAR racing. His first event was the Toyota All-Star Showdown where he finished in sixth place. He stayed with this sport until 2013 when he left out of pure frustration and lack of sponsorship.
“I hate to quit and I hate to fail, but sometimes things work out as they should,” he said on Facebook. “I’ve never been able to figure out the finesse required in pavement racing and that is disappointing, but I’m looking forward to driving more rally and racing more off-road trucks and there will be some announcements on those fronts shortly!”
His frustration seemed to subside in 2015 when he announced he would return to the sport. He returned under a one-race deal with NTS Motorsports to race the No. 31 Chevrolet in the Truck Series race at Las Vegas. The motocross star did really well in the 2015 race so he was invited back in 2017 to drive Chevrolet No. 45.
But that wasn’t his last NASCAR appearance. In 2020 he went back to NASCAR and competed once again. He drove Niece Motorsports’ No. 40 truck in the second of two races of the doubleheader. In September 2020 Pastrana announced that he would run the Las Vegas race again with Niece.
From the X Games to NASCAR to Nitro Circus, this motorsport competitor has seriously done it all. Since he’s a jack of all trades when it comes to his sport I think it’s really great that he’ll be on the judging panel. AGT: Extreme provides a larger stage for bigger, daredevil based acts. Considering this judge is an experienced daredevil himself, he should have no issue providing insight for the contestants.
I didn’t know about him before, but he sounds like an amazing Guy, and hopefully A great judge!