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Jessi Combs, 36, died in a car crash on Tuesday, August 27. She was attempting to break her own land-speed record in the Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon, according to Road & Track . Jessi held the title of fastest woman on four wheels and appeared on TV regularly as a builder and fabricator. When she crashed, Jessi was driving the same North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger in which she set the land-speed record back in 2013 at 398 mph (with a top-speed run of 440 mph), according to her website . The vehicle is a reconfigured F-104 jet with 52,000-horsepower and measures 56 feet long. She and her team were aiming to top 512 mph, the current Womens Landspeed World record set in 1976 by Kitty ONeil, to become the Fastest Woman on Earth.
Terry Madden, who is a member of Jessi's team and was on the scene when she crashed, confirmed the news of her passing. He shared a video and heartfelt post on Instagram .
In the caption, Terry shared, "She was truly my unicorn and I enjoyed every single minute that I had with her. She was the most amazing spirit that I have ever or will ever know. 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!!"
View this post on Instagram So I dont know how to say any of this but it all needs said. I have never loved or been loved by anyone as much as this amazing woman @thejessicombs she was truly my unicorn and I enjoyed every single minute that I had with her. She was the most amazing spirit that I have ever or will ever know. 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!! Im not ok, but she is right here keeping my going-I made her a promise that if this didnt go well that I would make sure and do good with it, please help me with that, you are all going to see things on news please believe non of them.. we the family have drafted a release and it will come out today with more proper info, but I was just woke up by the media tracking me down and I need everyone of her true friends to do what she would want take a deep breath, relax and do good things with this. Please donate to nothing, I know there will be people try, we are finishing the documentary as she wished and the world will know the truth and her foundation will use those funds to do amazing things in this world and make her legacy live on properly. In the coming days her family and I will get the proper channels put together that you can then donate to that foundation but until you hear it from me wait please-I dont want some asshole profiting off this (all ready had one try to sell us a video)... . . Love you all and thank you all for being such amazing friends to her, she dedicated her life to helping support others dreams and I promise I will continue that. A post shared by Terry L. Madden (@terry_madden) on Aug 28, 2019 at 5:51am PDT
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Jessi also competed in prestigious, long-distance off-road races, including the Baja 1000 in Baja California, Mexico, and King of Hammers in the desert of Johnson Valley, California. In 2016 she earned another nickname, "Queen of Hammers," with a first place finish at the King of Hammers, per Ultra4Racing .
It may seem a little crazy to walk directly into the line of fire... those who are willing, are those who achieve great things. . . People say Im crazy. I say thank you ;) . . . #fastestwomanonearth #almost #fasterthanfast #jetcar #afterburner #landpsee https://t.co/IrnCQQWMGJ pic.twitter.com/A5NZ6Luq0u Jessi Combs (@TheJessiCombs)
She returned to the same 13-mile course in the Oregon desert last year for a record attempt. She clocked a 483.227 mph shakedown run, however, mechanical problems ended the attempt before she could complete it with a second run.
In addition to racing, Jessi created a line of women's welding gear and was a regular guest on Overhaulin, All Girls Garage, and as a host on Mythbusters. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and teammates.