[TPR] Fw: Drag Racing, Salt Flats, and the Pursuit of 600 MPH

[David Carpenter]

Craig Breedlove's Death
Date and Cause
Craig Breedlove passed away on April 4, 2023, at the age of 86. His death was due to cancer, as confirmed by his wife, Yadira Breedlove.

Legacy
Breedlove was a legendary American race car driver known for his remarkable achievements in land speed records. He was the first person to exceed 400 mph, 500 mph, and 600 mph in jet-powered vehicles named Spirit of America. His contributions to motorsports made him a cultural icon, and he was inducted into several halls of fame, including the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

Impact on Motorsports
His pursuit of speed began in his teenage years and culminated in a fierce rivalry with other racers during the 1960s. Breedlove's records and innovative designs helped popularize land speed racing, making it a significant part of American motorsport history. His legacy continues to inspire future generations of racers.

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money!!"
Margaret Thatcher
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Subject: [TPR] Fw: Drag Racing, Salt Flats, and the Pursuit of 600 MPH

FYI...A little history.

MD
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Subject: Drag Racing, Salt Flats, and the Pursuit of 600 MPH



[Drag Racing, Salt Flats, and the Pursuit of 600 MPH]
Five-time world land speed record holder Craig Breedlove with his 1996 model of "Spirit of America" jet-powered car in Los Angeles. Kim Kulish /AFP via Getty Images
<https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/dustin-bass>[Dustin Bass]<https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/dustin-bass>
Dustin Bass<https://www.theepochtimes.com/author/dustin-bass>
11/8/2025

After several decades, Utah finally defeated Florida. The two states had been in contention for the home of speed. The Florida beaches at Ormond and Daytona and the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah were perennial locations for drag racers, racing enthusiasts, and daredevils to demonstrate their vehicles’ capacity for speed and their personal capacity for danger. In March 1935, Florida conceded its defeat, though it would become home for greater racing exploits, specifically the Daytona races.

Two years later, Craig Breedlove was born in Los Angeles. A product of the Great Depression and the World War II eras, he also grew up during the era of speed. America, and many of the world’s leading nations, like Great Britain, France, and Germany, were consistently pushing the limits of speed on land and in the air. After the war, speed had accelerated immensely, leaving Breedlove and other car enthusiasts to test just how fast their vehicles could go.

At 13 years old, Breedlove purchased his first car, and quickly found himself eyeing the finish lines during local “underground” drag races. When he turned 16, he took his supercharged 1934 Ford V-8 coupe to El Mirage, one of the dry lakes in the Mojave Desert. It was his first Land Speed Record (LSR) event, driving his car to an impressive 154 mph.

While Breedlove was zooming along California streets and deserts, two half-brothers and Navy veterans in Akron, Ohio were tinkering with airplanes and motorcycles. Walt and Arthur Arfons worked in their father’s feed mill, and when not working at the mill, they were assembling their own airplane. One day, in 1952, the two pulled their plane to Akron Fulton Airport for its maiden flight. The airport, though, was sealed off.

It was hosting one of its drag racing events. Witnessing the races, the Arfons brothers were inspired and decided to keep their heads out of the clouds and on the ground. They returned home and began work on their own vehicle. That the airport, far from the California desert, was hosting a large drag racing event was a testament to how much enthusiasm was behind this new sport. Interest in these “underground” races against the clock (or stopwatches) spread throughout the country and would soon become a national phenomenon.
The Spirit of America
America’s first drag strip was in California, close to Breedlove’s home city of Los Angeles. It was called the Santa Ana Drags, and is now the location of John Wayne Airport. The races and the venues, like dry lakes and abandoned military airstrips, proved drag racing events were rather haphazard. There were no grandstands for spectators, and to an extent, no formal set of rules. In 1951, Wally Parks, editor of Hot Rod magazine and a hot-rodder himself, founded the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), which began to properly organize the events, setting standards for cars, drivers, and drag strips.
By this time, America specifically and the world in general, had been introduced to jet and rocket propulsion—technological breakthroughs engineered by the Germans during World War II. While air forces, especially the Cold War combatants—America and Soviet Russia—were aiming to outperform each other with faster jets, it resulted in two positive outcomes for the drag racer. First, Americans witnessed the advances in subsonic and supersonic aerial speeds. If such speeds could be reached in the air, then why not on land? This was especially true if a racer were to place the same engine into a land vehicle. This was the second outcome: By the late 1950s, there was a surplus of discarded jet engines. Racers—those who could afford them—rushed to get their hands on them.
Breedlove had become fully acquainted with the jet engine after taking a job with Douglas Aircraft Company<https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/donald-douglas-first-around-the-world-5497945>. By this time, he had also become a serious drag racing competitor. At the age of 20, and after exchanging his supercharged Ford V-8 for a supercharged Oldsmobile V-8, he hit 236 mph at Bonneville. A couple of years later, in 1959, he set his sights on a jet engine. For $500, he purchased a General Electric J47 turbojet engine. The J47 was first used in the F-86 Sabre. Breedlove named his three-wheeled jet-powered car Spirit of America.
The Pursuit of the LSR
Two years after Breedlove’s jet engine purchase, the NHRA barred such engines from its competitions. For racers like Breedlove and the Arfons brothers, who had come to dominate the drag racing scene in Ohio with their Green Monster cars, this proved little deterrent to their ultimate goal: to be the Fastest Man on Earth.
[The Arfons's Green Monster. (Public Domain)]
The Arfons's Green Monster. Public Domain
In 1960, the Arfons brothers, who had by this time had a falling out, began pursuing the use of jet engine technology separately. That year Walt Arfons purchased a Westinghouse J46 engine with afterburners. Art Arfons, who had topped 300 mph in 1961 with his Allison engines, purchased his own jet engine, a GE J79. The two brothers worked toward placing their names, separately, in the record books. And they would do it in Breedlove’s backyard: the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Breedlove and the Arfons acquired sponsorships to help them afford their pursuits. Breedlove and Walt Arfons were sponsored by Goodyear, while Art, quite fittingly, was sponsored by Goodyear rival, Firestone.

In 1962, Breedlove aimed for the land speed record (LSR), which had been held since 1947. John Cobb, a Brit, had reached 394.2 mph at Bonneville in his internal-combustion engine-powered vehicle. Breedlove, however, fell short of Cobb’s record. The young Californian returned to his workshop to make improvements. On Aug. 5, 1963, Breedlove returned to Bonneville.

On this day, he pushed his Spirit of America to its limits over the course of 11 miles, clocking in at 407.45 mph—the first to ever break the 400 mark. The LSR was now back in America and it belonged to Breedlove. Fellow Americans Walt and Art Arfons now set their sights on Breedlove’s record.

[Spirit of America, originally on exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, is now at the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Neb. (Royalbroil/CC BY-SA 2.5)]
Spirit of America, originally on exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, is now at the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Neb. Royalbroil/CC BY-SA 2.5

A year later, in October 1964, Walt and Art arrived at Bonneville in pursuit of the title of Fastest Man on Earth. Walt’s attempt ended in success. His car, driven by Tom Green, zoomed to 413 mph. His LSR would last three days until his brother set the new record of 434 mph. Art’s record, however, didn’t last much longer, as Breedlove crushed the record and became the first to break the 500 mark at 526 mph.

Breedlove’s attempt, however, nearly ended in tragedy when his parachutes (for breaking) failed, sending his Spirit of America approximately six miles, through a telephone pole at 400 mph, and nose-first into a salt pond. His $250,000 Spirit of America was destroyed, but he survived to celebrate his historic feat. His title was short-lived as well, as October 1964 went down as one of the most competitive months of LSR racing in history with Art’s J79 car setting the LSR again at 536 mph.
The Pursuit of 600
With a destroyed vehicle and a toppled record, Breedlove was far from deterred. He set to building a new car, which he called the Spirit of America-Sonic 1. Taking a page out of Art’s book, Breedlove purchased a GE J79 engine taken from an F-104 Starfighter and thus prepared for the 1965 racing season.

By the 1965 season, Walt had bowed out of competition. In fact, the reason he had Green drive his car the previous year was because he had recently suffered a heart attack. Nonetheless, two LSR legends met at Bonneville in November 1965: Breedlove and Art Arfons.

Breedlove set the pace and a new LSR in his Spirit of America-Sonic 1 at 555.127 mph, only for it to fall to Art days later when his car surpassed the record at 576.553 mph.

Breedlove had been the first to 400 in 1963 and the first to 500 in 1964. It seemed only fitting for him to be the first to 600 in 1965. He returned to the Salt Flats shortly after Art Arfons had beat his record. It was during this week in history, on Nov. 15, Breedlove got behind the wheel of his four-wheeled J79-powered Spirit of America-Sonic 1, determined to not only beat Art Arfons’s record, but to be the first to 600.

When Breedlove completed his attempt, he had accomplished his goal, finishing at 600.601 mph. His record stood more than days, weeks, or even months. His LSR of 600.601, during a period of faster and faster vehicles, stood for five years. It was only until Gary Gabelich, another California-based racer, sporting a rocket engine-powered Blue Flame that Breedlove’s LSR fell. Gabelich’s speed of 622.407 mph would hold for 13 years.

[At Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Gary Gabelich’s Blue Flame beat Breedlove’s record on Oct. 23, 1970 with a speed of 622.407 mph. (Public Domain)]
At Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Gary Gabelich’s Blue Flame beat Breedlove’s record on Oct. 23, 1970 with a speed of 622.407 mph. Public Domain

Breedlove’s accomplishments for the 400, 500, 600 mph marks, however, made him America’s King of Speed. His efforts were undoubtedly propelled by the competition of his fellow American racers, among them, the Ohio legends, Walt and Art Arfons. Interestingly, during Art’s pursuit of 600 mph, he suffered a horrific crash, leading media outlets to announce his death. Art, however, had not died, but the news of his possible death led the Arfons brothers to reconcile their differences.

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