Breedlove gearing up for another run for the record

Tom Gardner

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Craig Breedlove is moving ahead with his effort to return the world land speed record to the United States.

But the next attempt might not happen in Nevada, and Breedlove might not be at the wheel.

"As it stands right now, the Black Rock Desert may not be useable for a 2001 attempt," Spirit of America team spokeswoman Cherie Danson said Wednesday.

"Large dunes have appeared on the surface and it is unlikely that nature will have corrected all of them by next year."

In addition, the Burning Man festival draws upward of 25,000 people each September to a spot next to the speed record site.

"The heavy traffic traveling over the course would essentially render the course useless," Danson said.

The prehistoric lake bed 120 miles northeast of Reno is where the British team headed by former land speed record holder Richard Noble set the current mark three years ago next month and where Noble took the mark from Breedlove 14 years earlier.

Because of the uncertainty over the condition and availability of the Nevada site, Danson said the team is looking at the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon.

Its 11 available miles falls two miles short of the course in the Black Rock Desert, but the harder surface should reduce drag and let the car reach its peak speed more quickly, she said.

In Nevada, Spirit of America and the British Thrust teams used six miles to get up to speed, one mile for the timed run and six more miles to slow to a stop.

"We believe we can run on Alvord with the 11 miles," Danson said.

Noble's car, driven by protege Andy Green, shattered the sound barrier on the way to a 763.035 mph run. To return the record to American soil, Breedlove would have to beat the mark by 7.66 mph. "But our goal is 800," he said.

Breedlove was the first person to exceed 400, 500 and 600 mph on land, all in the 1960s and all on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.

Breedlove will turn 64 in March and Danson said he might reluctantly follow Noble's lead and turn over the keys to a younger driver.

"He would love to drive the car. It's the payoff he gets for all the work he's done," she said.

Still, Breedlove is facing reality.

"I applied for my Social Security not too long ago. I had rotator cuff surgery on my shoulder in December. I want and expect to be in the driver's seat, but the important thing is the record. Who's driving Spirit of America at the time isn't important except maybe to my ego," he said.

Danson said Breedlove is fully recovered from the surgery, but potential sponsors might be concerned about both his health and his age.

"That this man is 63 years old and is going to drive this car 800 mph is a story in itself. That brings in greater publicity than that we've got a 25-year-old jet car guy," Danson said.

"But if we need to step down from a marketing standpoint, then we will. What we want is to return the world land speed record to America."

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