Robbie Carries On The Knievel Mystique -- Evel's Son Jumps 30 Station Wagons

BRADENTON, Fla. - The name is Robbie, not Evel. The setting was DeSoto Speedway, not Caesar's Palace or Snake River Canyon.

But on the infield of the 3/8-mile oval race track in east Manatee County Sept. 15,, 6,000 thrill-seekers got an idea of what the Knievel mystique is all about.

Wearing a white-leather jumpsuit made famous by his daredevil father and gunning his motorcycle at a speed of nearly 100 mph, Robbie Knievel rainbowed perfectly over 30 Subaru station wagons sitting side-by-side, landing with what was billed as a world record.

After four practice runs and one abortive attempt because of sprinkling rain, Knievel roared down a 500-foot runway, launched himself from a nine-foot high takeoff ramp and landed 190 feet later.

His rear wheel touched down one foot short of the landing ramp, making a splintered rut in the plywood of the safety deck covering the final eight cars.

``It started raining and I said to myself that I've got a rain date,'' Knievel said. ``I might be crazy but I'm not stupid. When it quit raining and it got just a little bit dry, I said I want to get it over with. With my adrenaline the way it was, I didn't want to have to come back (Sunday) night.

``I went for it and landed right into the safety ramp. You could say that I was about an inch short.''

Even with the safety deck, Knievel still would have cleared the white Subaru at the end of the line. He claims to be the only person ever to jump over 30 cars - his father's best is 21 - and that the last person to try that number didn't live to tell about it. The Guinness Book of World Records, however, doesn't recognize number of cars, only distance. Knievel's jump fell well short of the 246-foot effort by Tampa's Todd Seeley at the Florida State Fairgrounds in 1988.

Still, these technicalities did nothing to temper the excitement generated by the jump.

Bradenton car czar Tom Stimus, who is now leasing out DeSoto Speedway, is responsible for bringing in Knievel. Knievel would not specify the financial terms of his appearance, but apparently it was enough to bring such a high-profile leap to such a low-profile setting.

``We did it in front of the real people,'' Knievel said.

Knievel gave Stimus a plug after taking the microphone from track announcer Roby Helm just seconds after the jump.

The spectacle came just two days after Evel Knievel examined the site - which cost $10,000 to set up, Robbie said - and left town. He said he couldn't watch his son take such a risk. Robbie began appearing as part of his father's shows in 1971 when he was 8 years old, but their relationship has been strained over Robbie's career.

Asked what he was going to say to his father, Robbie said: ``I'm not going to tell him anything. I'll tell him when I see him next month.''