Dealernews Research By Don Musick
THE FASTEST WOMAN ON EARTH 522.783 mph!
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n August 27th, 2019 in the Alvord desert of Oregon, professional racer, TV personality and author Jessi Combs broke a land speed record that had stood for more than 40 years. Sadly, due to a mechanical failure in the front wheel of her jet-powered racer, she lost her life pursuing her goal of becoming the fastest female ever. Nearly a year after her death, Guinness World Records officially recognized her accomplishment naming her “The Fastest Woman on Earth.” As an inspirational trailblazer, Jessi Combs is a fitting choice to set the tone for this month’s article. I’m sure that you’ve seen her on Overhaulin’, Garage Squad and MythBusters to name a few, but she’s probably best known for her appearance on All Girls Garage. Making its debut on the Velocity channel in 2012, All Girls Garage “…taps into the expertise of three women repairing cars and motorcycles in a shop setting. The women approach complex projects that rival those undertaken by their male counterparts in order to prove they have what it takes to run a female-dominated car shop.’ Ironically, All Girls Garage represents only one of the 16 male-dominated programs currently airing on the Velocity Channel (click for a full list)! A lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, Jessi was also the author of Joey and the Chopper Boys, a children’s book published in 2015. The back cover reads: “Joey is a little girl who loves motorcycles. In this book she is uprooted from her small town home and has to move
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into the city for her father to find work. Joey finds herself without her friends and the path to make new ones proves difficult. With a strong mindset, instilled by her father, to never give up we follow Joey through a tireless effort to prove her self-worth. The book conveys that anyone can do anything they dream if they believe in themselves.” At the 2016 SEMA show (Specialty Equipment Market Association), Jessi partnered with Theresa Contreras of LGE-CTS Motorsports as co-creator of the IAmTheRealDeal.com website with the goal of “inspiring more women (and men) to build their ideas, go fast, and get dirty.”
