Jessi Combs ‘fastest woman on four wheels’ died at age 39
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Jessi Combs race car driver, who earned the title of the “fastest woman on four wheels” after she set a record with a jet-powered car, died Tuesday while trying to beat a land speed record, officials said.
Officials said, she was 39 died in Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon, the Harney County Sheriff’s.
“She was a brilliant & to[p]-notch builder, engineer, driver, fabricator, and science communicator, & strove every day to encourage others by her prodigious example,” said Adam Savage, former co-host of the TV show “Myth busters.”
While host Kari Byron was on maternity leave, Combs looked in multiple episodes of the show. She also performed as a host in shows such as “All Girls Garage” and “Overhaulin’.”
I’m so so sad, Jessi Combs has been killed in a crash. She was a brilliant & too-notch builder, engineer, driver, fabricator, and science communicator, & strove everyday to encourage others by her prodigious example. She was also a colleague, and we are lesser for her absence.
— Adam Savage (@donttrythis) August 28, 2019
Combs became the fastest woman on four wheels in 2013 at the North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger, when she set a record of 398 mph.
In October, Combs set a new top speed of 483.2 mph in a shakedown run.
On Tuesday, she was trying to go faster when she unfortunately crashed.
The sheriff’s office said, “On August 27, 2019 at approximately 4:00PM the Harney County 911 Center received a call reporting that a jet car attempting to break a land speed record on the Alvord Desert had crashed leading to one fatality”.
Her resume was full of firsts: the first woman to place at any Ultra4 event; the first woman to compete in The Race of Gentlemen event.
Her devotion to women’s empowerment in the automotive industry was also noteworthy. She has a line of women’s welding gear with Lincoln Electric, as well as an online cooperative enthusiastic to empowering and educating woman through industrial skills, called the RealDeal.
Valerie Thompson, the first woman to exceed 300 mph on a motorcycle and the “fastest woman on two wheels” expressed sorrow on Twitter, posting photos of the two of them together.
It’s with a heavy heart that I pass along the news that Jessi Combs passed away yesterday while attempting to break a land speed record. I also had the chance to attempt this record but it wasn’t my turn…this hits home for me. Godspeed, Jessi Combs. pic.twitter.com/bfE2N9Cy2k
— Valerie Thompson (@ValerieThompson) August 28, 2019
“It’s with a heavy heart that I pass along the news that Jessi Combs passed away yesterday while attempting to break a land speed record,” she wrote. “I also had the chance to attempt this record but it wasn’t my turn… this hits home for me. Godspeed, Jessi Combs.”
