Look up dart in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Dart may refer to:

Media[link]

• Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero
• Dart (G.I. Joe)
• Dart Feld, a The Legend of Dragoon character
• Wraith dart, a starship in the Stargate franchise
• Dart, a Fire Emblem character

Natural science[link]

• DART ion source
• DART radiative transfer model
• Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis
• Diversity Arrays Technology, a genotyping technology
• Love dart, an object created by snails and slugs
• Some moth species in the family Noctuidae

Business[link]

• Dart Container, a cup and container manufacturer
• Dart Container Line, a defunct shipping consortium
• Dart Drug, a drug store chain
• Dart Group, a UK airline and industrial holding company
• Dart Industries, the entrepreneurial holdings of Justin Whitlock Dart
• Dart National Bank

Public transit systems[link]

• DART First State, a transit system in Delaware, United States
• Dallas Area Rapid Transit
• Des Moines Area Regional Transit
• Dublin Area Rapid Transit
• Dial-a-Ride Transit

Land vehicles[link]

• Dennis Dart, a bus model
• Dodge Dart, an American car produced 1960-1976
• Dodge Dart (2013), an American car debuting 2012
• Goggomobil Dart, an Australian car produced 1959-1961
• Dart, a South Devon Railway Eagle class locomotive

Aerospace[link]

• Dart (rocketry), part of a sounding rocket
• DART (satellite), a NASA spacecraft
• Dart Aircraft, a 1930s British aircraft manufacturer
• Culver Dart, a 1930s American light aircraft
• Rolls-Royce Dart, a turboprop engine

Ships[link]

• MS Dart 3, a ferry operated 2000-2006
• MS Dart 7, a ferry operated 1999-2000
• Dart sailboats such as Dart 16 and Dart 18

Computing[link]

• Dart (programming language)
• DART Internet, an internet service provider
• Microsoft DaRT, a suite of software
• Data Access in Real Time, an operating system
• Dynamic Analysis and Replanning Tool, an artificial intelligence program used by the U.S. military

Geography[link]

• Cape Dart, Antarctica
• Dart Island, Australia
• River Dart, a river in Devon, England
• Little Dart River, a tributary of the River Taw in Devon, England

People[link]

• Doc Corbin Dart (born 1953), American alternative musician
• G. F. J. Dart (fl. 20th century), Australian educational reformer and scholar
• Justin Whitlock Dart (1907-1984), American entrepreneur and owner of Dart Industries
• Justin Whitlock Dart, Jr. (1930-2002), American disability activist
• Raymond Dart (1893–1988), Australian anatomist and anthropologist
• Rollin Dart (born 1925), American banker and president of Dart National Bank
• Thurston Dart (1921-1971), British musicologist
• William A. Dart (1814–1890), New York lawyer and politician

Other uses[link]

• Dart (missile), a projectile weapon also used for gaming
• Dart (sewing)
• Direct Action and Research Training Center, an American community organizing network
• Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, a Singapore Civil Defence Force team
• Disaster Assistance Response Team, a Canadian Forces team
• A type of kite in geometry

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Michael van Gerwen (born 25 April 1989 in Boxtel, Netherlands) is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17. He is also the youngest player ever to compete at the BDO version of the World Professional Darts Championship, competing in the 2007 tournament at the age of 17 years, 257 days.

Youth career[link]

Michael reached the final of the Primus Masters Youth event at the age of just 14 in 2003. He then started to amass youth titles in 2005 including the German Open, German Gold Cup, Norway Open, Northern Ireland Open, Swedish Open and the Dutch National Youth Championship which he also defended in 2006. He also won the Men's events in the Norway and Northern Ireland Opens in the same year that he took the youth titles.

BDO career[link]

He picked up several Open titles and rose up the BDO/WDF World Rankings having climbed as high as third, even before he reached his 18th birthday.

Michael reached the semi-finals of the Bavaria World Darts Trophy in 2006. Despite losing to Martin Adams, the Dutch youngster came within one dart of the perfect nine dart finish, just missing double twelve. He did manage the highest possible checkout of 170 during the tournament.

He managed to eclipse that performance at the 2006 Winmau World Masters by becoming the youngest ever champion. Having trailed 1–4 and 2–5 to Adams, he came back to win the title and take Eric Bristow's record as the youngest ever winner at the age of 17 years 174 days.

His early career success led to inevitable speculation that he may join the other professional circuit of darts, the Professional Darts Corporation. However, during the 2006 World Darts Trophy, van Gerwen held a press conference to make it clear that he wanted to stay with the BDO/WDF. [1] He also finished top of the DDF (Dutch Darts Federation) Rankings – which would have secured him a place at the PDC World Championship if he chose to accept. He had already committed to playing at Lakeside, so the place went to Rico Vonck who finished second in the rankings.

Van Gerwen was the bookmakers pre-tournament favourite to win the 2007 Lakeside World title, but his hopes were ended in the first round by Gary Robson.

On the night of the 2007 BDO World Championship Final it was announced on Dutch television that van Gerwen, along with Jelle Klaasen and Vincent van der Voort would be switching to the Professional Darts Corporation.

PDC career[link]

Michael started at 88 in the PDC World Rankings. Although he was a BDO player he was eligible for certain PDC events in his home country even before he switched to the PDC. This included the Open Holland in 2006, in which he took the title.^[2]

He made his PDC debut on 20 January at the Stan James Players Championships in Gibraltar and beat Andy Hamilton before losing in the last 16 to fellow countryman Roland Scholten. In the second Players Championship the following day, he beat Raymond van Barneveld in the early rounds only to lose to Alan Warriner-Little in the quarter finals.

He followed up his victory over van Barneveld by beating 13 times World Champion Phil Taylor by 3 sets to 0 on the opening night of the Masters of Darts tournament. All three sets went to a deciding leg which van Gerwen clinched with 14, 12 and 12 darts. He went on to reach the semi-final of the tournament and achieved a perfect nine dart finish against van Barneveld, but lost the match.^[3]

Michael has yet to deliver any success on in UK-televised tournaments, having made his debut at the 2007 UK Open falling in the last 32 to Colin Osborne. He failed to qualify for the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic and was defeated in round two of the World Matchplay in Blackpool by Ronnie Baxter 12–14, having been one leg from victory at 12–10. One of the Dutchman's more impressive achievements on Sky however came in a 2008 PDC World Darts Championship first round defeat to Taylor; notably he had one dart at double 12 to win the match and knock out the 13 time world champion, to end a phenomenal record of Taylor reaching every PDC World Championship Final. However, Taylor's record was later ended in the Quarter Final losing 5–4 in sets to Wayne Mardle.

Michael ended his long wait for a tournament victory by beating his Dutch compatriot Vincent van der Voort 6–3 in the final of the Players Championship in Taunton on 11 April 2009 and earned him £6,000 towards the Order of Merit.

van Gerwen was defeated 6–4 by Arron Monk in the final of the inaugural PDC Under-21 World Championship during the 2011 PDC World Championship.

He made it to the last 16 of the PDC World Championship for the first time in 2012 by beating Colin Osborne and Mervyn King.^[4] Michael lost nine out of the first ten legs in his last 16 game to trail 0-3 to Simon Whitlock, but produced an incredible comeback to level the match at 3-3. He couldn't maintain his form, however, as he lost all three legs in the deciding set to exit the tournament 3-4.^[5]

van Gerwen was named Young Player of the Year at the PDC annual awards ceremony on 3 January 2012, for winning four PDC Unicorn Youth Tour events during 2011 and his World Championship run.^[1]

In 2012, He won the first Players Championship of the season, defeating Dave Chisnall in the final 6-1.

Majors titles[link]

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2006	Winmau World Masters	Martin Adams	7–5

References[link]

External links[link]

• Michael van Gerwen official web site
• Michael van Gerwen's profile and stats on Darts Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2011)

Edward "Ted" Hankey (born 20 February 1968 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English darts player who is a two-time World Professional Darts Champion. His nickname is The Count and his walk on music is Be On Your Way by DJ Zany.^[1]. He plays for the Professional Darts Corporation

Darts career[link]

BDO career[link]

In the 2000 BDO World Darts Championship, he whitewashed Ronnie Baxter 6–0 in the final, winning the match with a spectacular 170 checkout – the highest three-dart finish achievable. The final lasted only 46 minutes, the shortest in the tournament's history. In the semi-final v Chris Mason, he scored a championship record 22 x 180s in a match. (The next highest are 15 and 14, which he also holds, in matches v Tony O'Shea in the final and Martin Adams in the semi-finals respectively, both in 2009.) He also scored a record 48 x 180s during the 2000 tournament. Hankey reached the final again in 2001, but lost to John Walton 6–2. After this Hankey went through a fairly barren spell at the Lakeside and did not reach another major final or World Championship semi-final until his victory in the 2009 BDO World Championships.

In 2002, he was knocked out in the second round by Wayne Jones and suffered a first round exit in 2003 to 'Silverback' Tony O'Shea. Ranked number two for the 2004 tournament, he was defeated in the quarter-finals, again losing to O'Shea 5–1. This was a huge disappointment for a man who had won four Open events that year. Hankey again reached the quarter finals in 2005, this time falling to England captain Martin Adams 5–3, despite at one stage in the contest having led by 3–1 in sets. In the 2006 tournament, Hankey had an uncharacteristic "bad day at the office", crashing out at the first hurdle to Dutchman Albertino Essers.

Seeded eighth for the 2007 championship, he defeated Mario Robbe of the Netherlands by 3–0 in the opening round. He then hit another 170 checkout in his tight 4–3 victory over qualifier Davy Richardson, before losing to Adams, again by 5–3, although he had several darts to remain in the match. Despite this setback, Hankey remained positive and upbeat about his darts future after the game. He achieved the 9-Darter in the Scottish open 2011.^[2]

"Oche rage" problems[link]

Hankey won his first round match of the 2008 BDO World Championship over Steve West 3–2. He twice found himself behind in the match, recovering from 1–0 and 2–1 down to win the final two sets in succession. Afterwards, Hankey attributed his erratic form to a minority of the crowd which had jeered him throughout the match. Despite this, his campaign for a second BDO world crown remained on course as he defeated Andy Boulton in the second round. He then lost in the quarter finals to Australian Simon Whitlock 0–5. Again, he expressed his disaffection with elements of the crowd for displaying poor order during the game. Midway through the contest, however, Hankey himself had received a warning from match referee Barry Gilbey, for punching the dartboard as this was deemed unsporting and contrary to the tournament promoter's code of conduct. After the match, an emotional Hankey informed the BBC's Ray Stubbs that he was considering quitting the game and needed to assess his future.

The following day, however, he clarified his future plans in a frank BBC interview with Stubbs and Bobby George. Although hugely disappointed with his performance against Whitlock, he indicated that his future still lay in darts and vowed to return after a month-long sabbatical, during which time he was to work on and refine a number of fundamentals to his game.

However, controversy continued to follow Hankey during the BDO International Open (formerly the England Open) on 15 June 2008. During a quarter-final match with former PDC player Robbie Green, Hankey complained about the air conditioning being turned on. However, Hankey requested the air conditioning be turned off, as his much lighter darts were affected mid-flight, causing them to drift. This caused yet another erratic reaction from Hankey who threw his darts onto the board without much thought. Commentator David Croft labelled Hankey's latest antics as 'ridiculous'. Hankey went on to lose the match 2–1 in sets in the deciding leg.

Second world title and final seasons[link]

In the 2009 BDO World Championship, Hankey revealed close friends and fellow dart players, including O'Shea and Gary Anderson, had told him he needed to "get his act together" if he ever wanted to play top-class darts again. He revealed he had been consuming a large amount of alcohol before commencing play and generally not taking himself seriously as a darts player.

Hankey began the 2009 Lakeside Championships with a first round victory over close friend Brian Woods. The scoreline of 3–0 in sets was telling, as Woods had suggested before the match that Hankey would be "lucky to get nil!". He then went on to win the Championship, beating his problems with "oche rage" as well as opponents such as former World Champion Walton and England darts team captain Adams, winning the final 7–6 in sets against O'Shea. Hankey led 4–2 at the interval, but missed several darts to win the match at 6–5, but he finally closed out the match 3–1 in the final set.

As a result of his world title win, Hankey was invited to the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts, which is organised by the PDC. He accepted the invitation and was drawn in group E with Scott Waites, Wayne Mardle and Simon Whitlock. He lost his opening group game 3–5 to Waites, but once more the crowd got under Hankey's skin, calling out and booing while he was throwing which visibly upset Hankey. Hankey later stated in an interview on ITV4 that he wasn't very happy and said that "if that's the darts you want to play, then keep it" and also called for more crowd order in the PDC. Hankey went on to win against Wayne Mardle but was defeated by Simon Whitlock 5–4. Hankey did state afterwards that he would like to play at the Grand Slam of Darts in 2010.

After his outburst at the Grand Slam of Darts Hankey was fined £250 for his actions.

In the 2010 BDO World Darts Championship Hankey beat Gary Robson 3–0 and Willy van de Wiel 1–4 before being knocked out of the competition in the quarter final by Dave Chisnall with a scoreline of 5–4 on sets, despite at one point leading 4–1.

In the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts he defeated Phil Taylor 5–4 in the group stages giving him 2 wins out of 2 he went on to defeat Michael van Gerwen also 5–4 to proceed to the knockout stage of the competition. As the competition progressed the crowd began to get under the skin of Hankey once more, again booing as he threw his darts and ignoring requests from the referee to quieten down during the throws. Hankey was knocked out of the competition by Steve Beaton in the first knockout stage. During the match he won a potentially crucial leg and after pumping his fist and shouting "Get in there" he proceeded to a prolonged ourburst at the crowd. In the post-match interview he was particularly scathing of the crowd and the organisers for not controlling their behaviour, describing the crowd as "a bunch of muppets". Despite getting an initial warm response from the crowd (and Hankey was seen smiling and taking the pantomime booing in good spirit) Hankey indicated after last year's defeat, that he would not return for the 2011, event should he indeed qualify for it.

Hankey had a mixed year on the BDO Circult. He has won the Isle of Man open but has been unable to follow that up. Although he did get to the Semi-finals of the English Open.

Hankey qualified for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts. In October, Sky Sports put him as top billing for the tournament. He managed to win 2 of his 3 group matches to qualify for the last 16. He played Michael van Gerwen with this time the crowd on his side. He won the match by 10 legs to 9 before losing narrowly against Mark Walsh 14–16.

In the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship, Hankey defeated newcomer Clive Barden 3–2 in sets, then the man who knocked him out of last year's tournament, Scott Waites 4–3 to qualify for the quarter final. In the quarter final, Hankey defeated Martin Atkins 5–1. In the semi-final, Hankey led against débutant and eventual champion Christian Kist 5–3 and had a dart at bullseye to win 6–4, but Kist recovered to win the match 6–5. After the match Hankey announced he did not plan on returning to Lakeside the following year and would instead join the BDO's rival organisation, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Hankey also controversially suggested that the air conditioning was deliberately turned on when he was throwing for the match in the tenth set so as to prevent him from leaving the BDO as World Champion.^[3]

PDC career[link]

The day after Hankey's announcement that he was leaving the BDO, the PDC announced on its website that it was offering two-year tour cards to the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship semi-finalists. This meant that Hankey automatically received a tour card to play in the PDC and its Pro Tour, rather than having to play through the qualifying school tournament (usually a requirement to all new PDC players).^[4] His first event on the tour was the opening Players Championship of 2012, The Spanish Darts Trophy, where he lost 4–6 to Matthew Edgar in the preliminary round.^[5] Hankey then won his first matches in the PDC by defeating Steve West 6–5 and Toon Greebe 6–1 in the first UK Open qualifier in Crawley, before losing 6–4 to Connie Finnan. In May, Hankey had his best finish on the tour to date, reaching the last 16 of the Players Championship Event 5, losing 1–6 to Raymond van Barneveld.^[6]

BDO World Championship Results[link]

• 1998: Quarter Final (lost to Colin Monk 2–5)
• 1999: 2nd round (lost to Chris Mason 1–3)
• 2000: Won (beat Ronnie Baxter 6–0)
• 2001: Runner-up (lost to John Walton 2–6)
• 2002: 2nd round (lost to Wayne Jones 2–3)
• 2003: 1st round (lost to Tony O'Shea 2–3)
• 2004: Quarter Final (lost to Tony O'Shea 1–5)
• 2005: Quarter Final (lost to Martin Adams 3–5)
• 2006: 1st round (lost to Albertino Essers 1–3)
• 2007: Quarter Final (lost to Martin Adams 3–5)
• 2008: Quarter Final (lost to Simon Whitlock 0–5)
• 2009: Won (beat Tony O'Shea 7–6)
• 2010: Quarter Final (lost to Dave Chisnall 4–5)
• 2011: 1st round (lost to Scott Waites 0–3)
• 2012: Semi Final (lost to Christian Kist 5–6)

Personal life[link]

Hankey and his wife Sarah reside in Telford, Shropshire. They have a daughter (born November 2003) and a son born on 1 June 2006. Sarah's son (born 1999) from a previous relationship also lives with them. He also has children from an earlier marriage to ex-wife, Donna.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Ted Hankey's profile and stats on Darts Database

Wayne Mardle
Personal information
Nickname	Hawaii 5.0.1
Born	(1973-05-10) 10 May 1973 (age 39) Dagenham, England
Home town	Romford England
Darts information
Playing darts since	1986
Darts	22g Harrows Wayne Mardle
Laterality	Right-handed
Walk-on music	Hawaii Five-O theme
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO	1993–2002
PDC	2002–2012
Current world ranking	N/A
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship	Semi-Final 2001
World Masters	Last 16 2001
World Darts Trophy	Last 32 2002, 2007
Int. Darts League	Last 16 2007
PDC premier events - best performances
World Ch'ship	Semi-Final 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
World Matchplay	Runner-Up 2003
World Grand Prix	Quarter-Final 2005
Grand Slam	Group stages 2007, 2008, 2009
Premier League	5th 2008
Ch'ship League	Initial groups, 6th, 2008
Desert Classic	Runner-Up 2004, 2005
European Ch'ship	Second round 2008
UK Open	Last 16 2004, 2011
US Open/WSoD	Last 16 2007
Players Ch'ship Finals	Second round 2009
Other tournament wins
Tournament	Years
Dutch Open Denmark Open Players Ch'ship UK Open Regional Midlands Vauxhall Open Peachtree Open Players Ch'ship Kirchheim German Darts Trophy	2000 2001 2004 2004 2004, 2006 2007 2007 2007
Updated on 29 December 2007.

Wayne Mardle (born 10 May 1973 in Dagenham) is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford. Before turning professional, he worked for the Association of Accounting Technicians.

He has been known as "Hawaii 5.0.1" since 2000, due to the Hawaiian shirts he started wearing in 1998 for a bet, and 501 being the start score of a leg of darts. The name is also a play on the title of the popular television series, Hawaii Five-O. This dress sense coupled with his crowd-pleasing onstage activity (such as dancing to the interval music) has seen him become one of the most popular players on the circuit.

Darts history[link]

Wayne started playing darts at the age of 11, when he practised with his dad. His first 180 came two weeks after he started playing. He soon became better than his dad, and his first competition win was in a pub called the 'Double Top' on his 13th birthday in 1986.

His Lakeside debut came in 2000 where he lost to Matt Clark in the first round. In 2001 he reached the Semi Finals, beating Co Stompé and Ronnie Baxter before losing to eventual winner John Walton. His attempt in 2002 saw him fall in the last eight to Colin Monk.

PDC career[link]

Wayne joined the Professional Darts Corporation in time for the 2003 World Championship. His first appearance at the Circus Tavern saw him lose in the Second Round to Phil Taylor. His debut at Blackpool's Winter Gardens in the World Matchplay was much better, beating World Champion John Part, Alan Warriner and Colin Lloyd to reach the final, where he again lost to Taylor.

Wayne had till 2010 played in every Premier League except for 2007 due to poor form and disappointing results. 2005 and 2006 did not go well, and Wayne finished bottom of the table in both years. (Players who come bottom of the League are said to have won the "Mardle Cup," named in honour of him.)

Despite a poor 2006 and 2007, he found his form at the 2008 World Championship, ending Taylor's record of reaching every PDC World Darts Championship final on 29 December 2007 by defeating him 5 sets to 4 in a quarter-final match having trailed 3-0 and 4-2. Following his victory, he showed great emotion at finally defeating "The Power" on TV. Mardle was then beaten in the semi-finals for the fourth time in his PDC career by 21 year old qualifier Kirk Shepherd.

In January 2008 Mardle was confirmed as the Sky Sports wildcard entry to the 2008 PDC Darts Premier League following his impressive performance at the World Championships. Whilst this decision was questioned by some, Mardle proved the doubters wrong with a steady campaign which saw him finish in fifth place, missing out on the Play-Offs by just two legs to Adrian Lewis.

Whilst he has reached 5th in the World Rankings and performed consistently well in the World Championship (reaching the semi-final in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008), he has not yet won a major tournament as a member of the PDC. He has always seemed to suffer from what Sid Waddell calls the "Mardle Drift", which sees his Darts continually land in 5 and Treble 5 instead of the 20/Treble 20.

Mardle suffered hard luck during the 2009 Premier League Darts. After amassing just four points from his opening nine games, he missed week ten due to a virus.^[1] He had been due to return the following week, but was rushed into hospital the day before the matches due to mumps.^[2] With five matches to play in the final three weeks, one more missed week would eliminate Mardle from the competition. Sadly for Mardle, that occurred. Having been passed fit for a week twelve return,^[3] Mardle was re-admitted to hospital, and in accordance with tournament regulations, was removed from the tournament. His results from the tournament were also annulled.^[4] Mardles poor recent form continued in the 2010 PDC World Championship, where he lost to Jyhan Artut 3-0 with a poor average of 72. Mardle has continued to drop out the rankings and is now ranked 85th.

Mardle also attempted to qualify for the 2012 PDC World Championship via the PDPA qualifier which was held in Wigan and was whitewashed 5-0 in the Preliminary Round by Ken Dobson giving us further evidence of his darting decline.

Outside Darts[link]

He married Donna on 2 July 2002. Donna also plays darts, but not at a competitive level. The couple are good friends with ladies' darts player Crissy Manley, wife of three-time PDC World Championship runner-up Peter.

In 2006, Mardle had a book published (co-authored with Ian Spragg) entitled "Hawaii 501 - Life As A Darts Pro". It chronicles the ups and downs of his life as a professional darts player during 2005.

If Wayne wasn't playing darts, he says his profession of choice would be a television presenter, claiming, "I can talk crap like them all".

Wayne is also a keen poker player and recently made the final table at Leg 6 of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour - finishing in 7th place to win £14,100.

Mardle supports the football club Tottenham Hotspur and appeared in the May 2009 Edition of Hotspur, the club's official club magazine.^[5]

Commentary[link]

Mardle made his commentating debut for the PDC at the 2011 PDC World Darts Championship, working alongside Sid Waddell in a few matches. He also co-presented some of the event with Dave Clark and predicting some of the match results with Rod Harrington and Eric Bristow. Mardle continued his analyzing and commentary career at the 2011 Premier League Darts apart from weeks 3, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 14.

He continued his commentary career in the 2012 PDC World Darts Championship, where he co-commentated on every night of the televised event.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Wayne Mardle Site
• Wayne Mardles Exhibition site
• Wayne Mardle's profile and stats on Darts Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Travis Alan Pastrana Pastrana at the 2009 Lake Superior Performance Rally Born (1983-10-08) October 8, 1983 (age 28) Annapolis, United States Achievements 2000 AMA Motocross 125cc Champion 2001 AMA Supercross 125cc Champion Awards 10-time X Games gold medalist NASCAR Nationwide Series career 4 race(s) run over 1 year(s) Car no., team No. 99 (RAB Racing / Michael Waltrip Racing) First race 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (Richmond) Last race 2012 History 300 (Charlotte) Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0 Statistics current as of May 26, 2012. Sport Sport Rally, Motocross, Supercross, Freestyle Motocross, Base Jumping, NASCAR, monster truck freestyle Event(s) X Games, Red Bull X-Fighters, Dew Tour, Rally America

Travis Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing. He runs a show called Nitro Circus with some of his friends. For 2011, Pastrana has partnered with NASCAR team owner Michael Waltrip to form Pastrana-Waltrip Racing. He planned to drive the #99 Boost Mobile Toyota Camry for 7 races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series,^[1] but after an accident, his Nationwide Series debut was delayed until 2012.

Early life[link]

He was born on October 8, 1983 at 12:20 p.m. in Annapolis, Maryland to parents Robert and Debby Pastrana.^[2] His uncle, Alan, played as a quarterback from 1965 to 1968 at the University of Maryland,^[3] which Travis Pastrana also attended.^[2] On June 11, 2003, 19-year old Pastrana was seriously injured when he crashed his Corvette into a tree in Davidsonville, Maryland.^[4]

Motocross/Supercross[link]

Pastrana has won two motocross racing championships: the 2000 A.M.A. 125cc National championship, the 2001 125cc East Coast Supercross Championship, and the 125cc Rose Creek Invitational. Pastrana also raced in the 2000 Motocross des Nations. He moved up to the 250cc class in 2002. His stand-up style, ability to spot jump combinations and great speed through the whoops make him easy to spot on the track. Although Pastrana has never won a 250cc race, his kindness to the fans and love of the sport still makes him one of the most popular riders of all time. Pastrana has always raced and competed on Suzuki motorcycles, and remains fiercely loyal to the brand. He races with Team Cernic's Suzuki. All of his motorcycles and rally cars carry the number 199. He even sponsors a Monster Jam truck called Pastrana 199, and Nitro Circus after the TV show on MTV.

Team Puerto Rico[link]

Robert Pastrana, Travis' father, is a native Puerto Rican, which made Travis directly eligible to represent Puerto Rico in international competition.^[5] On February 27, 2008, the Asociación de Motociclismo de Puerto Rico (Motorcycling Association of Puerto Rico) provided him with a license to represent the island, which was accepted by the Unión Latinoamericana de Motociclismo, the relevant sanctioning body in Latin America.^[5][6] His debut with the team took place on March 15, 2008. Here he qualified to the finals by defeating Erick Vallejo of Mexico. In the finals he finished third, behind local Costa Rican racer Roberto Castro and Vallejo.^[6]

X Games[link]

• 1999 – Pastrana wins the first ever MotoX Freestyle event at the X-Games. He also scores the highest ever run of 99.00 points.

• 2000 – Pastrana wins the gold medal for the second time, and attempts the first ever backflip on a motorcycle.

• 2001 – Pastrana wins his third gold, still the only person to win the event.

• 2003 – Pastrana claims his fourth gold and becomes the second rider ever to complete a 360 in competition.

• 2004 – Pastrana crashes while trying a 50 ft (15m) 360, sustaining a concussion, but is able to compete the next day and wins a silver medal. Nate Adams becomes the only rider to beat Pastrana at that time. Before this event, he had won Bronze in Best Trick, performing a One-Handed 360 and a Superman Seat Grab-Indian Air Back flip.

• 2005 – Pastrana wins his fifth gold in Freestyle and also attempts the first ever Backflip Barspin on a motorcycle, however the bike fails and he resorts to a regular bike and performs a Backflip Saran Wrap to take Silver in Best Trick.

• 2006 – Pastrana becomes the third athlete to win three Gold medals at a single X Games Event. He wins Gold in MotoX Best Trick, MotoX Freestyle, and Rally Car Racing. Pastrana also performs the first Double Backflip in competition, scoring a 98.60, the highest score in the Best Trick competition at X Games.

• 2007 – Pastrana takes bronze in Rally after sliding into the other drivers area while inside the Home Depot Center. He is disqualified but retains his medal. He also competes in the first MotoX Racing event at X Games, but does not achieve a medal after two false starts in the heat race and last chance qualifier.

• 2008 – Pastrana takes gold in Rally and competes in the Speed & Style event but does not place.

• 2009 – Pastrana attempts a rodeo 720 at X Games 15 in the Moto X Best Trick Event. He crashes on his first attempt and withdraws from his second after experiencing blurred vision. He places 4th for his efforts. He takes silver in Rally after being defeated by rookie and former Indy Car/Indy 500 champion Kenny Bräck. On November 8, Pastrana landed the famous Rodeo 720, and filmed it in his newest movie, Nitro Circus – Country Fried. Once he landed the trick, he named it the TP7, due to the fact that he was 20 degrees short of 720.

• 2010 – Pastrana wins Moto X Freestyle, landing yet another Double Backflip, the first one done at an X Games Freestyle. Travis also wins Moto X Speed & Style, beating silver medalist Nate Adams by a landslide. Travis had problems with his Rally Car during competition, costing him gold at Rally Car Racing and a chance to compete in the new event, Super Rally.

• 2011 – Pastrana launches "Pastranathon" which included Best Trick, a race at Lucas Oil Raceway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and then flying back to Staples Center in Los Angeles for RallyCross. However, Pastranathon seemed to be done when, in XGames Best Trick, Travis attempted the Rodeo 720, also known as the TP7, and failed, landing on his right leg. He had broken his foot and ankle, and was taken to a local hospital. Travis was thought to be done, and backed out of the NASCAR race. His team worked diligently to get Travis in the RallyCross event. A special hand-controlled device was made for the steering wheel, and Travis had to relearn to drive the car using the new controls. Travis won a qualifying event, then finished 4th in the final after a crash on the last lap.

Rallying[link]

Pastrana's Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

In 2003, Pastrana opened a rallying career in the Race of Champions, and began driving for the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar rally team in 2004. Starting in 2006, Pastrana was signed by Subaru to lead their new Subaru Rally Team USA, being paired once again with veteran co-driver Christian Edstrom. On August 5, 2006 Pastrana won the gold medal in the first rally car competition at the X Games, edging out rally legend Colin McRae by 0.53 seconds after McRae rolled his car through the last jump.

Pastrana and Edstrom clinched the 2006 Rally America National Series overall and open class championship on October 22, 2006 during day one of the Lake Superior Performance Rally. The team finished out the 2006 series with another first-place victory at the Wild West Rally in Olympia, Washington on December 31, 2006.

On December 16, 2006 Pastrana competed at the 2006 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris. He represented the United States in the Nations' Cup by himself, after injuries forced teammate Jimmie Johnson and his replacement Scott Speed to withdraw.

February 19, 2007 brought news that Pastrana's longtime co-driver Edstrom had announced a sabbatical to concentrate on his career and family. Although former McRae co-driver Derek Ringer is set to compete with Pastrana for the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri and Rally America, he has not announced a permanent replacement co-driver.

Pastrana driving a classic Ford Escort Mk1 at the 2008 Colin McRae Forest Stages.

In September 2008, Pastrana took part in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship centred in Perth in Scotland. Derek Ringer was his co-driver and they entered in a historic Ford Escort RS1600. He was one of a number of celebrity drivers to take part in the event in memory of McRae, who died in 2007.

On August 29, 2009 Pastrana claimed the overall victory at Ojibwe Forests Rally, his fifth of the 2009 Rally America season. The victory sealed his fourth consecutive Rally America driver's title, the most in series history.^[7]

Complete Rally America results[link]

International competition[link]

Pastrana, Colin McRae and Ken Block at the X Games XIII.

On December 13, 2006, Subaru Rally Team USA announced plans to enter Pastrana in certain World Rally Championship events in 2007, 2008, and 2009.

In the 2007 season, he raced three P-WRC events in the Group N class, driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STI–based rally car. During March 9–11 2007, Pastrana competed in his first world rally at the 21º Corona Rally México. He finished fifth in the P-WRC (Group N) class (the best in-class finish by an American in a WRC event since John Buffum finished third in the Acropolis Rally in 1988), followed by a tenth place in Rally Argentina and an eleventh in Rally GB. Pastrana described his season as having gone "horribly".^[14]

Pastrana's 2008 season in the P-WRC was even less successful, with one retirement following a crash on stage one of Rally Argentina^[15] and one thirteenth place on the Acropolis Rally.

NASCAR and sports car racing[link]

Pastrana's 2012 Nationwide Series car

Pastrana made his debut in NASCAR competition by driving in the 2011 Toyota All-Star Showdown, finishing sixth. Plans to compete in 2011 in the Nationwide Series were cancelled as a result of his injuries at the X-Games in July of that year; currently, he plans to compete in the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race, as well as running a full season in the K&N Pro Series East and selected Nationwide Series races.^[16] On April 27th, 2012, Travis made his Nationwide series debut, finishing 22nd at the Richmond 250.^[17]

NASCAR Nationwide Series[link]

* Season in progress

Injuries[link]

“I don’t remember most of the injuries, there have been too many.” – Travis Pastrana

Injuries have often taken Travis Pastrana off the circuit for weeks or months at a time. His medical records include: a dislocated spine, he has torn his ACL, PCL, LCL, and MCL in his left knee, his bucket handle meniscus, broken his tibia and fibula, he’s had surgery on his left wrist twice, left thumb once, two surgeries on his back, one on his right elbow, nine on his left knee, six on the right knee, one shoulder surgery which left him with the only piece of metal he has in his body.^[18]

When Travis was 14-years-old, he was severely injured while competing in an FMX competition. He came up short landing on the top of the front side of the landing ramp and the motorcycle went from 50 mph (80 km/h) to 0 mph (0 km/h) in less than one second. The bike was stuck into the dirt ramp with the front wheel just over the top and the crank case smashed into the dirt deep enough to support the entire bike upright. Upon impact Travis froze in the upright riding position and his feet went straight out to the sides like he was trying to straddle a bull. As soon as his legs went outward he fell off the motorcycle and his father took off across the dirt course in fear of what everyone just witnessed. He was seriously injured; he separated his spine from his pelvis. It also left him in a wheel chair for three months.^[19]

“I was in and out of consciousness for about three days and had six blood transfusions,” says Pastrana. He also adds that according to doctors, only three people in the U.S. have ever lived after such an injury. It was a long and difficult recovery. Pastrana would routinely ride wheelies in his wheel chair, around the hospital and therapy areas. While in the wheel chair recovering he vowed to continue motorcycle jumping. He was also injured in July 2011 while competing at the X Games when his bike did not rotate to the landing position, crushing his ankle and causing a fracture. However, Travis was back in his Subaru Impreza and competing in the Rally Cross final where he overshot the corner, forcing himself into the wall, on board footage shows his leg in plaster being slammed against the wheel well, much to his discomfort. He will need an operation to repair his ankle in the near future.^[20]

Other activities[link]

• A documentary story about Travis was filmed by ESPN in 2008, titled 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story
• is featured as a hidden surfer in the 2002 video game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.
• Travis lent his voice to the game Colin McRae: DiRT as himself, and the in-menu voice.
• Travis also has part ownership in Ethika, an underwear company specializing in products for athletes.
• Travis features as a driver in Colin McRae: DiRT 2 for Subaru Rally Team USA.

On September 26, 2007, Pastrana jumped out of an airplane over Arecibo, Puerto Rico, without a parachute in a carefully choreographed stunt. He met up in midair with another jumper, then latched himself into a harness to make a safe tandem landing.

On Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 10:00 PM, MTV Nitro Circus, his new television show that he is an executive producer, premiered on MTV. A spinoff of MTV's Jackass, the two shows shared producers, Jeff Tremaine and was partially created by Jackass frontman, Johnny Knoxville. It features Jolene Van Vugt, Erik Roner, Streetbike Tommy, Andy Bell, JD Larson, Jim DeChamp, among others doing dangerous stunts. Jackass' Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius and Steve-O; BMX freestylers, T. J. Lavin and Mat Hoffman; and actor, Gary Coleman have guest starred on various episodes. Nitro Circus was also featured on an episode of MTV's Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory and vice-versa.

Travis and the rest of Nitro Circus appeared in the music video for Spaceship by Puddle of Mudd.

On Friday, January 1, 2010, Travis officially set a new world record in a ramp-to-ramp car jump. He jumped his rally car off the Pine Street Pier onto a floating barge anchored in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor, shattering the existing mark of 171 feet (52 m) and establishing a new world distance record of 269 feet (82 m). To celebrate, after getting out of his car, he performed a gainer from the landing ramp into the harbor below.^[21]

In September 2010, Travis set the world record for fastest ascent of Mount Washington in a car, using his Subaru WRX STi: 6min 20.47sec. In June 2011, David Higgins set a new record for ascent of Mt. Washington in a car, at 6:11.54, using the same model vehicle.^[22][23] Travis is featured in "X Games: The Movie"; Travis' work with motocross and rally cars is shown.

Pastrana 199/Nitro Circus Monster Truck[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2010)

Pastrana' 199 is a monster truck that races on the USHRA circuit. The truck is owned by Live Nation/FELD Motorsports and sponsored by Travis Pastrana. It was originally driven by Paul Cohen^{[disambiguation needed ]}, then driven by Chad Tingler, then driven by Courtney Jolly and now driven by Cam McQueen. Travis made his monster truck debut on October 18, 2006 in the Pastrana 199 monster truck at the 2006 Monster Jam. Also, on an episode of Nitro Circus, Travis attempts to backflip the Nitro circus themed monster truck. Though unsuccessful, he walked away without injury. In 2008–2009, the Pastrana 199 truck was driven by Pastrana's good friend Cam McQueen. McQueen was invited to the 2009 World Finals for his second appearance. Pastrana himself competed in the freestyle competition of the event, finishing in a three-way tie for 5th place in a field of 24 trucks. On February 27, 2010 in Jacksonville, FL Cam McQueen nailed successfully a backflip in the Nitro Circus monster truck during the freestyle competition, making Nitro Circus the first to do a backflip in competition.

Personal Life[link]

In June 4, 2011, during a live performance of Nitro Circus, he asked professional skateboarder Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins to marry him. On October 29, 2011 Hawkins and Pastrana were married.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Travis Pastrana

• Official website
• Travis Pastrana at Racing Reference
• Travis Pastrana Fan Site
• Pastrana at EXPN (X Games) site
• Pastrana at WRC.com
• Nitro Circus
• Pastrana Waltrip Racing