Jessi Combs, the world’s fastest woman on 4 wheels, has died while trying to break her own land speed record. Combs, 36, was already the world record holder at 398 mph. She was attempting to break the Women’s Land Speed Record of 512 mph set by Kitty O’Neil in 1976 when she died.
The professional racer died in a fiery car crash after losing control of a jet-powered car in the Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Spokesman and fellow teammate Terry Madden confirmed the sad news via Instagram, saying, “I have never loved or been loved by anyone as much as this amazing woman… 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!!”
Combs was host of Spike TV’s Extreme 4X4 when she broke her spine in an accident with heavy machinery.
After she recovered from her freak injury, she hosted Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters while also working as a professional driver for movies and TV commercials.
