Jessi Combs Killed in Land-Speed Record Crash

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Jessi Combs Killed in Land-Speed Record Crash

#1

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

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Jessi Combs Killed in Land-Speed Record Crash
She was 36.
Jessi Combs—vehicle builder, racer, fabricator, TV personality, and all-around automotive legend—was killed on Tuesday in a crash while attempting to break her own land-speed record in southeast Oregon. She was 36.

The crash occurred as Combs was piloting her jet-powered land-speed car on the Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed where several land-speed records have been set. According to local reports, the crash happened shortly after 4pm local time.

Combs held the title of "fastest woman on four wheels" after setting a record of 398 mph in her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger in 2013. More recently, she had piloted that same car to 483.227 mph in a single shakedown run in October 2018, though that run ended prematurely with mechanical troubles. (Governing bodies require two back-to-back runs in opposite directions to set an official speed record.)

Combs was a legend in the automotive world. Trained in fabrication and hot-rod building at WyoTech, she soon made her way to automotive television. Combs was a host, builder, and technical expert on shows like Xtreme 4x4, Overhaulin', Truck U, and Two Guys Garage. She brought about Velocity channel's All Girls Garage, and was a host and builder on a season of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters.

When not on camera, Combs competed in a wide variety of racing venues. She was the first woman to place at Ultra4's King of the Hammers; she took home a Class 10 podium finish at the Baja 1000; and she ran in the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles, an all-women rally race. She was even the first woman to compete in The Race of Gentlemen, racing a twin-engine 1913 Ford Model T.

Combs joined the North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger team as driver in 2013. Her goal was to pilot the car (built from a decommissioned fighter jet) beyond 512 mph, the record for Fastest Woman on Earth, set in 1976 by Kitty O'Neil.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cultur ... ord-crash/

Combs' team member Terry Madden confirmed her death in an Instagram post this morning: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1tUB2lHGKX/
Last edited by Everso Biggyballies 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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#2

Post by erwin greven »

Never heard of her, but sad news.
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Post by Vassago »

I have no idea why these land/water/whatever speed records even excite people anymore? Feels so useless in this day & age.
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Post by PTRACER »

I didn't know her either, but she was apparently a presenter on Mythbusters. The idea of crashing a car travelling at nearly 500mph doesn't bear thinking about. Brave girl, RIP.
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#5

Post by Antonov »

PTRACER wrote: 4 years agoThe idea of crashing a car travelling at nearly 500mph doesn't bear thinking about.
quite literally. As soon as things went wrong, you'd have to assume the velocity was so violent she instantly died. RIP.
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#6

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

US racer Combs awarded female land speed record posthumously

Jessi Combs, who was killed in a land speed record attempt last year, has been officially named as the new female record-holder.
Guinness World Records announced Combs achieved a speed of 841.338 kph (522.783mph) on 27th August 2019, prior to her crash the same day.
She was driving the North American Eagle, a joins US-Canadian project intended to break the 23-year-old land speed record of 1,228kph set by Andy Green in Thrust SSC in 1997. Combs’ achievement takes her past the previous record for fastest speed achieved by a woman, which was 825.1kph, set by Kitty O’Neil in 1976.

Her partner has opened up a bit on events that day.... apparently the run in which she died was to be her last ever drive in the car as she had decided she would retire.
“I really don’t know how I feel about this at all as no record could ever be worth her not being here,” Combs partner Terry Madden said in a social media post.

“But it was a goal that she really wanted – and as hard as it is for me to even look at the car without crying. I’m so proud of her.

“She woke up that morning to an alarm saying ‘let’s make history’ and we had an absolutely amazing day. On the morning run she broke her previous top speeds and we went back to the trailer and had a long heart to heart – she had a few things that were bothering us safety-wise and I told her I would support her no matter what she decided to do.

“That afternoon we booked a house in Lake Tahoe for the next night, and she decided she was going to run that one last afternoon run to back up her record and then walk away from it for good and let her back-up driver go for the overall world record instead of her. That was to be the last time she ever got in that car.

“It has torn me apart that all I had to do is say let’s go and we would have left before that run, she asked my opinion and I told her Togo for it if it was what she wanted. That conversation has torn me apart everyday since the accident.”
https://www.racefans.net/2020/06/25/us- ... thumously/

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#7

Post by MonteCristo »

Vassago wrote: 4 years ago I have no idea why these land/water/whatever speed records even excite people anymore? Feels so useless in this day & age.
I can still get excited about *the fastest ever* speed record. But fastest Mini powered by a propeller with a green livery and driven by person with X condition is all a bit meh. Kind of like the first person to climb Everest from X country with X condition before X age. Who cares?

But clearly she did, and sorry it killed her.
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#8

Post by oldtom »

later reports[which were VERY slow to be released] state a complete loss of braking,ran off the end of the dry lake bed into a rocky area.A front wheel failure was either the cause of the brake problem or a result of it.Car was upright and intact until reaching the rocky area.A large fire reported at the crash site.Some on-line commenting implied the slow reporting of details was due to a concern over legal action,but this is only speculation on the part of posters
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