The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California, welcomes five-time world land speed record holder Craig Breedlove for a special evening on August 24, 2019.
Breedlove and several of his lifelong collaborators and crew will join in a panel discussion of hot rods, drag racing, endurance racing and the pursuit of ultimate speed on the Bonneville Salt Flats. As the first man to break the 400, 500, and 600 mile per hour barriers and set the world land speed records in his jet-powered Spirit of America, Breedlove captured the hearts and minds of people from around the world. Now, 55 years after doing what no man had done before, Breedlove and friends will share stories of their quest for ultimate speed. The reception and program will be hosted by the NHRA Motorsports Museum Saturday, August 24 at 6:00 p.m. Admission to the event is $25, light refreshments and a cash bar will be available.
An L.A. hot-rodder with a high school education, a family to support, and almost no money, Breedlove set out in the late 1950s to do something big: harness the thrust of a jet in a car. With a growing obsession that would cost him his marriage, he started building in his dad’s garage. The car’s name was Spirit of America. Through perseverance and endless hard work, he completed Spirit and broke the land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting a new mark of 407 mph in 1963. He went on to be the first person to drive 500 and 600 mph, breaking the land speed record five times. In the early 1970s he turned to rockets and set an acceleration record at Bonneville that stands to this day. He built a jet car in the 1990s, Spirit of America–Sonic Arrow, to go head to head against Britain’s Thrust SSC to be the first to Mach 1. Breedlove’s subsequent crash at 675 mph remains the fastest in history. Even today, at the age of eighty, he is going strong with plans for yet another Spirit of America racer. The ultimate goal: 1,000 mph.
The reception and discussion provide a unique opportunity to meet Craig Breedlove and some of those who helped him accomplish so much in the field of motorsports, hear stories of racing’s past and collect an autograph or even a selfie with one of your heroes. Craig will have copies of his biography ‘Ultimate Speed’ available at the event and a portion of the proceeds will support the NHRA Motorsports Museum.
Tickets to the event are on sale now on the museum website at NHRAMuseum.org. Tickets are $25 per person, Museum Members may attend a private reception with Craig prior to the event. Please RSVP to [email protected] if you plan to attend.
