As Knievel’s body was returned to his beloved home town of Butte, the richest hill on earth, at around 7.30 pm on 9 December, a massive firework display lit up the cold winter sky in celebration of his life. Butte’s favourite son was back home and, this time, to stay. When the fire in the sky eventually fell silent, the explosive cacophony was replaced by the sound of thousands of car horns being honked as, all over Butte, drivers blared their own tribute to the man who had put their town on the international map.
The day of the funeral dawned cold and grey, flickers of snow drifting down onto Butte’s once mean streets. From before 7 am, crowds had been queuing outside the 17,000-seat Civic Centre, waiting for it to open so that they could file past Knievel’s open coffin and pay their last respects. When the centre did open, they filed past for three-and-a-half hours non-stop. Knievel was, appropriately, laid to rest wearing a white leather jacket with blue and red flashes; a last echo of the famous star-spangled jumpsuits that were familiar the world over.
Inside the building, the stage had been set for Evel’s last farewell. A giant screen looking down on his coffin played out many of his greatest moments while pictures of Knievel in his heyday graced easels which were placed around the front of the hall. Star-spangled banners were hung and draped everywhere and his iconic white, red and blue truck was even on display as strains of Frank Sinatra singing ‘My Way’ broke the hushed atmosphere of the Civic Centre. The words could have been written for Knievel.
Rev. Robert Schuller, who had baptised Knievel back in April, led the service, which began at 11 am, in front of an estimated 3,000 people, while Evel’s daughter Tracey McCloud read passages from Romans 10:9–11 and Revelation 21:4–7. Knievel’s granddaughter, who had announced his passing to the world ten days previously, sang ‘Amazing Grace’ in tribute.
Amongst the thousands in attendance were Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey, who had become a friend after hosting a History Channel documentary on Knievel. He told the mourners, ‘Where he’s forever saddled, hands on the bars, revving the rpms, flying up the ramp, in that spot, in flight, he’s forever in flight now. You know what? He doesn’t have to come back down. He doesn’t have to land. Doesn’t have to. He’s in that spot of grace for the rest of time, in flight, so here’s to Evel Knievel…just keep flying.’
With the rivalry between them finally over, Robbie Knievel touchingly and finally admitted, ‘I am not the greatest daredevil in the world – I am the son of the greatest daredevil in the world.’
As the service drew to an end, a lone piper played ‘Amazing Grace’ at the head of the procession as Knievel’s coffin was carried out of the building. The casket was then placed in a hearse which carried the legendary stuntman’s body on a six-mile route that Knievel had led massed ride-outs on during the Evel Knievel Days festival. The route had already been officially named ‘Knievel’s Loop’, taking in, as it did, many parts of the town which had connections with his life. But few braved the cold and snow to line the sidewalks as Knievel undertook his last journey on earth. There were still some, it seemed, in Butte, Montana, who viewed Evel Knievel in a less than gracious light.
Evel’s body was finally laid to rest in the Mountain View Cemetery in Butte on 10 December 2007, with only close family and friends in attendance. Those present at the graveside wore either biker jackets or hooded duffle coats to stave off the biting winter wind. Knievel now lies close to the beloved grandparents who raised him as their own after his own parents walked out on him as a child. The headstone which will forever mark his final resting place features an engraving of Knievel pulling a wheelie, his cape billowing in the slipstream behind him, just as an entire generation remembered the man. The words which he himself chose to be carved into the stone read:
Robert Craig Knievel
‘Evel’
Butte, Montana Words to Live For: ‘Faith, Health, Endurance, Love, Work,
Honorability, Dream, Believe in Jesus Christ.’
Rev. Schuller had noted with great pleasure during the funeral service that Knievel’s last words were Christian ones. ‘Heaven will rejoice that he wrote the last words to his life,’ he said ‘and was standing next to You when he wrote them: “Believe in Jesus Christ.”’ His Evel ways were over.
But while Evel Knievel’s body may have been laid to rest, his spirit could now soar free. It was a body its owner had shown scant regard for in life. Knievel battered, beat and abused his body for most of its 69 years, treating it just like a motorcycle which could be fixed with steel rods, plates and screws. Yet it was held together by an indomitable spirit, and that is a much harder thing to kill. Knievel’s spirit will live on in many ways. It will live on in every child or adult who refuses to be beaten down; who insists on getting back up to try again. It will exist in those who shrug off pain and grit their teeth in the face of adversity, and in those who spit in the eye of authority and refuse to be told what they can and can’t do by increasingly nanny states. The spirit of Evel Knievel lives on in motorcycle racers, snow boarders, bungee jumpers, sky divers, skateboarders, base jumpers, stunt men, freestyle motocrossers; anyone and everyone who believes that taking risks and feeling adrenalin surging through their veins is the only way to feel truly alive. His spirit is in the wind that whistles through the visor of an open crash helmet, in the glint in the eye of a rebellious teenager who flips a finger at petty officialdom, in the rasp of an exhaust as a kid fires up a motorcycle for the first time. In short, it is everywhere, and as long as mankind continues to push boundaries, take chances, and venture into the unknown, it will never die – despite the best efforts of our governments to protect us from ourselves.
Bill Rundle perhaps summed up Evel Knievel’s contribution to motorcycling better than most when he said, ‘I think that whatever anybody does in the future, there will never be another Evel Knievel. What he did for motorcycling can never be matched again.’
Bill Davidson, of Harley-Davidson, echoed Rundle’s thoughts. ‘Evel was a living legend,’ he said. ‘There won’t be another. There are a lot of daredevils and a lot of stunt people out there but there was something about Evel – he was the breakthrough, the inventor.’
As far back as the 1970s, Evel Knievel had his own version of heaven all planned out, just the way he wanted it to be. ‘I want to go to my own kind of heaven,’ he said. ‘It’s got a canyon I can jump across safely; it’s got a golf course I can par every day, buses I can jump easily. It’s got draft beer that doesn’t make you fat. It’s got a lot of beautiful girls running around and none of them will be the jealous type; and my kids will stay small all of their lives and won’t talk back to me. There’s no state tax, no federal tax and no politicians. Now that’s my kind of heaven.’
While he may not have achieved his long-held dream of dying in bed at 100 years old with a beautiful woman in his arms, he got half way there: his long-time partner Krystal Kennedy was with him to the very end, although that end came 31 years earlier than he wished. After cheating death so many times in such an extraordinary career, Evel Knievel was ultimately very much aware that dying is the only thing that unites all of humanity – the one path that we all must follow. And he sure as hell wasn’t afraid of it. As he said ‘If I die then I’d just be getting somewhere quicker than you’re going and I’ll wait for ya – that’s all. I’ll sit there and have a cool beer and wait for ya.’
Major Career Statistics
1965
Date: Unknown
Venue: Moses Lake, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 40 feet over a box of rattlesnakes and two mountain lions.
Bike: 350cc Honda Twin
Details: Made the jump but clipped box on landing. Injuries: Sprained ankle
1966
Date: 23 January
Venue: National Date Festival Grounds, Indio, California Distance/obstacle: 45 feet over two pick-up trucks parked end to end.
Bike: 750cc Norton
Details: The jump was s
uccessful and was the climax to a show by his newly formed troupe ‘Evel Knievel and his Motorcycle Daredevils’.
Injuries: None
Date: 10 February
Venue: Barstow, California
Distance/obstacle: n/a*
Bike: 750cc Norton
Details: Wind prohibited motorcycle jump so Evel attempted a star jump over speeding motorcycle but was struck in the groin.
Injuries: Several broken ribs
Date: 1 June
Venue: State Line Gardens, Post Falls, Idaho
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Norton
Details: n/a
Injuries: n/a
Date: 19 June
Venue: Missoula Auto Track, Missoula, Montana
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 750cc Norton
Details: Cleared 12 cars before landing short and crashing out.
Injuries: Knocked unconscious and suffered broken left arm and several ribs.
Date: 21 August
Venue: Great Falls Speedway, Great Falls, Montana Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Norton
Details: Still injured from his Missoula jump, Evel merely made an appearance while his ‘Motorcycle Daredevils’ performed. This was the last performance from the troupe before Evel went solo.
Injuries: None
Date: 30 October
Venue: Naranche Memorial Drag Strip, Butte, Montana
Distance/obstacle: 14 cars
Bike: 750cc Norton
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
1967
Venue: Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena, California
Distance/obstacle: 15 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: June
Venue: Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena, California
Distance/obstacle: 16 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 28 July
Venue: Graham Speedway, Tacoma, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 16 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Cleared the cars but fell off on landing.
Injuries: Light concussion
Date: 18 August
Venue: Graham Speedway, Tacoma, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 16 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 24 September
Venue: Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 16 Chevrolets
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Cleared the jump but landed hard.
Injuries: Compression fracture to lower spine.
Date: 23–26 November
Venue: San Francisco Civic Center, San Francisco
Distance/obstacle: 100 feet over three motorcycles, a Triumph Banner, a Volkswagen bus and a van.
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Three successful jumps over a three-day period.
Injuries: None
Date: December
Venue: Long Beach Sports Arena, Long Beach, California (indoor)**
Distance/obstacle: 10 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 31 December
Venue: Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Distance/obstacle: 141 feet over the fountains outside Caesar’s Palace hotel/casino.
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Cleared the fountains but crashed heavily on landing.
Injuries: Multiple broken ribs, broken left hip, crushed pelvis, 29-day coma and hospitalised for 37 days.
1968
Date: 25 May
Venue: Beeline Dragway, Scottsdale, Arizona
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Crashed on landing.
Injuries: Broken leg and fractured foot.
Date: 3 August
Venue: Meridian Speedway, Meridian, Idaho
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 26 August
Venue: Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds Speedway, Spokane, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 7 September
Venue: Missoula Auto Track, Missoula, Montana
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 13 & 15 September
Venue: Utah State Fair, Salt Lake City, Utah
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: n/a
Injuries: n/a
Date: 13 October
Venue: Tahoe-Carson Speedway, Carson City, Nevada
Distance/obstacle: 10 cars
Bike: 650cc Triumph Bonneville T120
Details: Crashed on the tenth car.
Injuries: Broke right shoulder and re-broke left hip. Contracted staph infection while in hospital.
1969
Date: 24–27 April
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California.
Distance/obstacle: 80 feet over eight cars.
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
1970
Date: 23 January
Venue: Cow Palace, San Francisco (indoor)
Distance/obstacle: 11 cars
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: New indoor record
Injuries: None
Date: 5 April
Venue: Seattle International Raceway, Kent, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars/18 cars
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: Blew out rear tyre during practice jump over 13 cars then cleared 120 feet over 18 cars, a new personal best.
Injuries: None
Date: 10 May
Venue: Yakima Speedway, Yakima, Washington
Distance/obstacle: 100 feet over 13 Pepsi-Cola delivery trucks.
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: Landed on safety ramp covering thirteenth truck and fell off bike.
Injuries: Broken collarbone
Date: 19 June
Venue: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver (indoor)
Distance/obstacle: 12 cars
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: Successfully set new indoor personal best.
Injuries: None
Date: 4 July
Venue: Seattle International Raceway, Kent, Washington Distance/obstacle: 19 cars
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: Set new outdoor personal best but slid off after landing on wet grass.
Injuries: Several cracked ribs and fractured vertebrae.
Date: 16 August
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc American Eagle (manufactured by Laverda)
Details: Crashed on landing.
Injuries: Cracked vertebrae, broken shoulder and broken right hand.
Date: 12 December
V
enue: Lions Drag Strip, Los Angeles, California
Distance/obstacle: 13 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
1971
Date: 2 January
Venue: Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas (indoor)
Distance/obstacle: 13 vehicles
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Twice cleared indoor record of 13 vehicles.
Injuries: None
Date: 27–28 February
Venue: Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California
Distance/obstacle: 129 feet over 19 cars.
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successfully set new personal best.
Injuries: Fractured right hand during preliminary jump.
Date: 26–28 March
Venue: Chicago International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois
Distance/obstacle: n/a
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: n/a
Injuries: n/a
Date: 8–11 July
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York (indoor)
Distance/obstacle: Nine cars and one van
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Made four clear jumps over four nights.
Injuries: None
Date: 15–17 July
Venue: Lancaster Speedway, Buffalo, New York
Distance/obstacle: 13 vehicles
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 29–30 July
Venue: Pocono Downs horse track, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Distance/obstacle: 12 Stegmaier Beer trucks
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 27–28 August
Venue: Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Distance/obstacle: 10 Chevrolets
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Successful
Injuries: None
Date: 16–18 September
Venue: Great Barrington Fair, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Distance/obstacle: 16 cars/10 cars
Bike: 750cc Harley-Davidson XR-750
Details: Cleared 16 cars on first night but lost control after landing. Second night cancelled due to rain, cleared ten cars on third night.