Jessi Combs death: Fastest woman on four wheels killed in car crash trying to break her own land speed record along Oregon’s Alvord Desert.
She lived for risk and speed. The fastest woman on four wheels has been killed in a crash in Oregon while attempting to break her own land speed record, according to reports.
Jessi Combs, 36, was driving her jet-powered car Tuesday through the Alvord Desert when she lost control of the vehicle, Road and Track reported.
The fatal incident occurred on a dry lake bed in Harney County shortly after 4 p.m., KTYZ reported.
Combs previously was named the ‘fastest woman on four wheels’ after setting a record with a speed of 398 mph piloting her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger in 2013.
The racing personality and former ‘MythBusters’ host was attempting to beat her previous record, and had attempted it as recently as last year, when she managed a 483.227 mph shakedown run before mechanical problems ended the attempt, as noted on the team’s bio page for Jessi.
The female auto legend had competed as a member of the North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger team, which she joined the same year she won the title.
Ironically Combs’ death follows her posting on social media just a few days earlier in anticipation of Tuesday’s showdown.
Tweeted the adrenalin junkie: ‘It may seem a little crazy to walk directly into the line of fire… those who are willing, are those who achieve great things.’
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‘People say I’m crazy. I say thank you ;)’
It may seem a little crazy to walk directly into the line of fire… those who are willing, are those who achieve great things. .
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People say I’m crazy. I say thank you 😉
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.#fastestwomanonearth #almost #fasterthanfast #jetcar #afterburner #landpsee… https://t.co/IrnCQQWMGJ pic.twitter.com/A5NZ6Luq0u— Jessi Combs (@TheJessiCombs) August 24, 2019
‘I live for the thrill of risk and speed.’
In a post for Midco Sports Magazine, the female racer, who excelled in an arena typically dominated by men said she lived for the thrill of risk and speed.
Her teammate Terry Madden confirmed her death on Wednesday morning in an Instagram post.
‘She was the most amazing spirit that I have ever or will ever know,’ Madden posted. ‘Unfortunately we lost her yesterday in a horrific accident, I was the first one there and trust me we did everything humanly possible to save her!!’
Along with her racing feats, Combs who went to college to learn how to physically build cars from the bottom up -which led to her being best known for her hosting work on television series including “All Girls Garage”, “Overhaulin’ “, Extreme 4×4 and Autoblog’s “The List.”
