X Games 17: Aussie's grab Gold, Travis crashes and Raven deals.
July 29, 2011 
Matt Buyten:New World Record, Step Up, 37 feet.X Games 17 in Los Angeles saw the Aussie's step into the spotlight as Jackson Strong scored BIG GOLD in Moto X Best Trick and Steve McCann ripped the BIGGEST run to win the BMX Freestyle BIG Air. Strong "dug deep" to pull off the first Moto X front flip in smooth and stylie fashion to earn the crown. McCann dramatically waited until the final run of the competition to roll his "kids bike" down the 80 foot ramp over a 70 ft gap and then above the 27 ft quaterpipe to pull off the double front, double whip combo and snatch victory.
A major bummer occured in Moto X Best Trick as Superstar Travis Pastrana "laid it all out there" in an attempt to complete a 720 Toilet Paper Roll. Travis had been working on the trick diligently in the foam pit...but admitted that he really wanted to "stick it on the dirt". T.P. gave it his best shot, muscled it around but just missed resulting in crash landing. The Pastranathon is now on hold as Yahoo Sports is reporting that Travis has broken bones in his right foot. Pastrana's NASCAR debut is now on hold. See a vid of the missed 720 here. TRAVIS PASTRANA 720.
Strong goes toplessMoto X took over Staples center. Moto X Best Whip was decided by a text-in vote by the fans. Jeremy "Twitch" Stenberg took home the top prize with 27% of the votes.
Matt Buyten set a new WORLD RECORD of 37 feet in Moto X Step Up. He needed a "fist full of throttle" to defeat a very tough field ...as the bar keeps getting raised in Step Up...sort of like a high jump on a motorcycle. Buyten captured his fourth X Games Gold Medal by " putting on my game face and charging it" Asked to describe his thoughts during his time at 37 feet above the dirt, Buyten replied.."it's not safe, but I believe in my bike and I believe in horsepower".
The Stoke. Ryan Tershy..minutes after claiming GOLD in Skateboard Park.A new X Games star was born in Skateboard Park as 18 year old rookie performer Raven Tershy ripped his way to victory during the jam session format. Tershy with a smooth and controlled style blasted the bowls, banks and vert features in the tricked out park on the event deck. Tershy, an amateur from Santa Cruz topped last years Gold Medalist, Pedro Barros by one point and admitted he didn't stress the scoring "I just wanted to lay down the best run, I'm stoked".
Skateboard Park Podium. Ben Hatchell, Raven Tershy and Pedro Barros
BMX Freestyle BIG AIR...its really BIG.
Pedro Barros grinds it out in the park.
Matt Buyten .."it's not safe"