Race-car driver and TV host Jessi Combs is posthumously named 'fastest woman on Earth' by Guinness World Records
- Jessi Combs was a beloved professional racer, land-speed record holder, and television host.
- She was killed in 2019 while attempting to set the "fastest woman on Earth" land-speed record.
- Guinness World Records just awarded her the title posthumously.
- On August 27, 2019, she reached a speed of 522.783 mph
Guinness World Records posthumously named Jessi Combs the fastest female land-speed record-holder after her death in 2019. She died while attempting to set it.
Combs's record is for the fastest speed achieved on land by a woman. Set in the Alvord Desert in Oregon on August 27, 2019, she reached a speed of 522.783 mph. She was the first person to break the record in more than 40 years.
The news was first reported by Motor Authority, which says the previous record was set by Kitty O'Neil in a jet-powered, three-wheeled car back in 1976. Her speed was 512.7 mph.
Combs died in the crash while she was trying to set the record at the Oregon event. She was driving her four-wheeled North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger, which had achieved 398 mph in 2013 and made her the fastest woman on four wheels.
The fatal crash, according to the Harney County Sheriff's Office in Oregon, was the result of one of the car's front wheels failing during the run, Road & Track reported in November 2019, likely caused by striking an object.
The car was nearing speeds of 550 mph at the time. Combs died from blunt force trauma. She was 39.
An automotive legend, Combs was beloved as a skilled fabricator and builder who represented the American Welding Society. She even designed a line of women's welding gear, according to Jalopnik.
She appeared on "Mythbusters," "All Girls Garage," "Overhaulin'," co-hosted "Xtreme 4x4" on Spike TV from 2005 to 2009, and was an advocate for women in the male-dominated motorsports scene.
On Wednesday, she officially became the "fastest woman on Earth."