U.S. driver Jessi Combs killed in bid to break land-speed record

[August 29, 2019]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Race car driver Jessi Combs, host of the television series "All Girls Garage," was killed in a high-speed crash while trying to set a new land-speed record, her family said on Wednesday.

Combs, 39, was attempting to become the fastest woman on Earth when she was killed while racing on Tuesday on the Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed in southeastern Oregon, the family said in a statement.

The details of the crash were not released.

"Jessi’s most notable dream was to become the fastest woman on Earth, a dream she had been chasing since 2012," the statement said. "Combs was one of the rare dreamers with the bravery to turn those possibilities into reality, and she left this earth driving faster than any other woman in history."

Combs, who began her career as a builder of hot-rod cars, was seen on television in a number of auto shows, including "Overhaulin'," "Truck U," "MythBusters" and "All Girls Garage."

Combs' close friend and teammate Terry Madden called her an "amazing spirit."

"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!!," he said in an Instagram posting.

Jessi Combs participates in a panel during the Discovery Communications cable television sessions at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California August 2, 2012. REUTERS/Phil McCarten

Combs had chronicled her attempt on social media to beat the 512-mile-per-hour women's land-speed record set in 1976 by American Kitty O'Neil, who died last November.

In a posting on Instagram this week, Combs wrote, "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 I’m crazy. I say thank you." (This copy corrects age in second paragraph)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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