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However, when Noble got wind that Breedlove was planning a comeback, he set in motion a project of his own, called ThrustSSC (Super Sonic Car). To drive the car, Noble chose the dashing Royal Air Force fighter jock Andy Green, a choice that assured the project the tacit support of her majesty's government.

In the autumn of 1996, Breedlove's car was ready to run, and the team brought the new Spirit of America to Black Rock to try to break Noble's 1983 record. The project had been delayed when a group of environmental protesters attempted to block the team's permit to operate the car. By the time it was all sorted out, six weeks of the year's best weather had passed. On Oct. 28, Breedlove set out to attempt the record-breaking runs. Once the car was stationed on the desert and ready to roll, Breedlove radioed for a wind profile from up-range. The report came back: "one five." Breedlove took that to mean 1.5 knots, well within limits. At go time, Breedlove hit the loud pedal and the car roared off.

But several things had gone wrong. For starters, the distance to the timing area had been miscalculated. Breedlove realized that at his rate of acceleration he'd hit the timing area not at a brisk 640-mph cruise, but at more like 800 -- 160 mph faster than he'd planned for, and much, much faster than any car had ever attempted to go.

"I was really carrying the mail," says Breedlove dryly.

He had also misunderstood the wind report -- it was 15 knots, not 1.5, and gusting even higher up-range. He was busily trying to shut down the J-79's afterburner, when, at 675 mph, a wicked crosswind hit the car, jacking it up on its forward and side wheels. Imagine it: Jammed into Spirit of America's tiny cockpit, Breedlove is riding literally balls out, scrunched up in the very tip of the vehicle, his nuts snug against the steering column. At those speeds, the spindly roll cage that surrounds him is all but worthless. Two inches behind his head are the front wheels, weighing 170 pounds each, spinning at more than 7,500 revolutions per minute, their outer edges pulling 33,000 G's. At that speed, an ounce of dust build-up on the rim weighs as much as 1,700 pounds. As the car heeled over, the wheels acted like a giant, off-kilter gyroscope, forcing the car hopelessly off-course. Enveloped in a cloud of dust, Breedlove was hurtling blind.

"I thought, This is it," he remembers. "I've just bought the farm."

But Breedlove kept his cool and the car careened on, carving a giant arc into the desert floor, missing the crowded spectator area by a scant half-mile. It eventually came to rest, three or four miles off the course. Rattled but unhurt, Breedlove was able to walk away. Though he had blown the doors off Noble by 43 mph, it wasn't an official record, as Breedlove was unable to make a return run.

Had Breedlove indeed bought the farm that day, he would not have been the first to do so chasing the demon speed. The honor roll of land speed racing's glorious dead is long: Parry Thomas, Pendine Sands, Wales, 1927; Frank Lockhart, Daytona Beach, Fla., 1928; Lee Bible, Daytona, 1929; Athol Graham, Bonneville, 1960; Glen Leasher, Bonneville, 1962. And Craig Arfons, nephew of Breedlove rival Art Arfons, was killed trying to break the water speed record in 1989. You might think, after an incident like this, Breedlove would walk away permanently. Not likely. For one thing, he reserves quick decisions for the cockpit.

Craig T. Nelson, best known as the star of the TV comedy series "Coach" and a longtime friend and auto racing comrade of Breedlove's, recalls some advice Breedlove once gave him. Nelson was racing at Road Atlanta in 1995 and Breedlove was there to support his friend. During the race, Spice-Olds driver Jeremy Dale T-boned Fabrizio Barbazza's Ferrari at more than 100 mph. The impact tore the Ferrari in half, shattered Dale's legs and broke Barbazza's arm and leg. As Nelson puts it, "The ballet went bad." While Dale was being life-flighted off the raceway, Breedlove took Nelson aside. "Whatever you do," Breedlove said to him, "don't think about what happened for at least three days. Don't make any decisions based on what you've seen here."

"It was very important for me to hear that," says Nelson. "That kind of wisdom and experience can help you discern the proper path." He's currently working on a screenplay about Breedlove's life. He still races, on the Trans Am circuit.

People generally fall into two camps about land speed racing: those who get it instinctively and those who don't. For those who get it, it's like eating peanuts -- they can't get enough. It's what drives people to camp out at Godforsaken places like Black Rock and Bonneville for weeks at a time, hoping to get a glimpse of the record-breaking moment. They're often the same sort of people who get all weepy when they hear the words, "That's one small step for a man ..."

Next page | Tearing across the the desert at unimaginable speeds