Jessi Combs, who was dubbed "the fastest woman on four wheels," is dead at 39 years old after crashing while attempting to break her own land speed record in a jet-powered vehicle in southeast Oregon.
Combs, a race car driver, earned the title of the "fastest woman on four wheels" after she set a record of 398 mph in her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger in 2013.
The race car driver died Tuesday in the Alvord Desert, the Harney County Sheriff's Office said.
In addition to being a record-setting race car driver, Combs was also a TV personality, appearing on shows such as "MythBusters" and "Overhaulin.' "
"She was a brilliant & too-notch builder, engineer, driver, fabricator, and science communicator, & strove everyday to encourage others by her prodigious example," said former "MythBusters" co-host Adam Savage. "She was also a colleague, and we are lesser for her absence."
On Tuesday, she was attempting to go faster when she crashed.
"On August 27, 2019 at approximately 4:00PM the Harney County 911 Center received a call reporting that a jet car attempting to break a land speed record on the Alvord Desert had crashed leading to one fatality," the sheriff's office said.
Correction: Jessi Combs was 39 years old when she died. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated her age was 36.
