Speed Record Stands

Hoping to reclaim the land speed record, Craig Breedlove narrowly averted disaster when his jet-powered car tipped on its side and careened across the desert at nearly 600 mph.

Breedlove was shaken but uninjured after his car, “Spirit of America,” went out of control, missed a crowded spectator area by a half mile and finally came to rest 2 miles off the race track.

The crash, stemming from a crosswind in the Black Rock Desert, damaged the car and its rear axle, ending Breedlove’s quest this year to reclaim the record from Richard Noble of Britain.