Craig Breedlove, who set land-speed records by topping 400, 500 and 600 mph in jet-powered cars nicknamed Spirit of America, has died. He was 86.
Breedlove died at his home in Rio Vista, California, on April 4. His wife, Yadira Breedlove, said the cause of death was cancer.
Breedlove battled Tom Green and Art Arfons on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to set and then break each other's speed records during the freewheeling 1960s, a golden era of American motorsports. Breedlove's final speed record was 600.6 mph (966.5 km/h) in 1965.
