Pedal to the Metal: Land Speed Record

November 15, 1965 flew by for Craig Breedlove. The 28-year-old had just set the land speed record in the Utah desert by traveling 600.601 miles per hour. His car was named the Spirit of America and it was powered by a Navy jet engine.

To give you a frame of reference, 600 miles per hour is  ...

• 55 times faster than the average human can run
• 9 times faster than the fastest animal, the cheetah
• the same speed as a jet airliner

So pretty impressive, right? Well, yes but there's more to the story than just a guy driving his really fast car in the salt flats. No, the biggest part of the story is the determination Breedlove exhibited to break the record. Now, I'm not just talking about the work that went into creating a car that was able to reach that level.

The first person to ever break the 400 mph barrier was a guy named Craig Breedlove. In 1963, he powered his car, named the Spirit of America to victory. Yes, two years before Breedlove broke the land speed record, he broke the 400 mph barrier.

But, like all records, they can be easily broken. The current land speed record is 760.343 set in 1997 by Andy Green. So, it looks like Craig Breedlove is out of luck for the time being.

Or, is he? Breedlove is determined to keep breaking records. Recently, he's announced he will attempt to hold the record once again. His goal? 800 mph. The date? Fifty years after he broke his first land speed record. He plans to try again in 2013 at the same Utah salt flats he broke the second land speed record.

So, I think we can all agree. Breedlove is determined and fast runs in his blood.

Sources:
ESPN Radio: http://goo.gl/yHA2K
History.com: Craig Breedlove sets new land speed record http://goo.gl/RbVvT
Fox News: Craig Breedlove going for 800 mph http://goo.gl/LDscf
Wikipedia: Land Speed Record http://goo.gl/3bfN