Jessi Combs at the 2012 Summer Television Critics Association tour in Los Angeles. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
By Lateshia Beachum
Jessi Combs was nicknamed the “fastest woman on four wheels.” She died Tuesday in Oregon in a jet-powered car trying to become faster.
The 36-year-old earned her nickname by breaking records. In 2013, she broke a 48-year-old mark when she reached 393 miles per hour in her North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger. She set another record in 2016 when she drove nearly 478 mph, her fastest speed, in the same desert where her life ended.
Combs had attempted to beat her own speed before. In a September Instagram post, Combs said she reached a new top speed of 483 mph. “Unfortunately a piece of debris was sucked into the turbine intake. There is minimal damage, though game over for now," she captioned a picture of herself smiling in aviator glasses. “Looking forward to the next attempt of ludicrous speed.”
Tuesday’s attempt resulted in a 911 call to the Harney County Sheriff’s Office around 4 p.m., according to KTVZ in Oregon. The sheriff’s office and the Bureau of Land Management are investigating the crash