The Death of Jessi Combs Is a Heartbreaking Story

Breaking a Guinness World Record can quickly turn into a complicated endeavor. Professional racer Jessi Combs was a woman on a mission, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her from breaking a record.

Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan. Jessi accounted for everything that could go wrong with what she was trying to achieve, but life is very unpredictable.

The death of Jessi Combs caught the attention of the media because of what the athlete was trying to achieve. The racer was always trying to go beyond what she already accomplished, in a wonderful display of ambition that changed the course of her career.

What happened to Jessi Combs? Here's what we know about the tragic accident that shook the world in 2019.

According to CNN, Jessi Combs died in a crash while attempting to break a land-speed record in the Alvord Desert. The vehicle she was in at the time of the impact was speeding at at around 550mph at the time of her passing, with authorities stating that blunt force trauma was the cause of death. The speed was similar to what could be expected from a plane during a commercial flight.

The forensic analysis established that Jessi was already gone by the time the vehicle caught on fire. According to the BBC, the crash was caused by "a mechanical failure of the front wheel," likely from the wheel hitting something.

What was supposed to be a viral celebration ended up becoming a tragedy. Jessi had signed up to be a part of the North American Eagle Project, the investment focused on developing the vehicle the athlete used in her attempt to break the record. The project involved scientists and engineers from both the United States and Canada.

Jessi had previously driven the vehicle while gaining the numbers necessary to break the record.

Jessi Combs's attempt to break the land-speed record came at the cost of her life. In a bittersweet conclusion, the racer did manage to break the record that had been established by Kitty O'Neil in 1976. According to ABC News Australia, the previous achievement had been established in the same location. Kitty reached a speed of 512 mph (825 km/h) during her attempt, setting the bar really high for anyone who tried to best her.

Jessi broke the record with a speed of 523 mph (842 km/h). The record was different from the actual speed of the vehicle at the time of the crash because of the way land speed records are calculated.

Outside of her history with the North American Eagle Project, Jessi Combs was a famous television personality. The racer worked as the host of Xtreme 4x4 over the course of many years, with the Spike TV title focused on the culture around extreme vehicles and how they're built.

Jessi also worked on the production of another television show called All Girls Garage.

Perhaps the biggest television gig Jessi scored over the course of her trajectory was her tenure on MythBusters. While Kari Byron was unavailable, Jessi joined the team behind the Discovery smash hit. MythBusters lasted for more than a decade, with two spinoffs produced around the time the original show came to an end.

The legacy of Jessi Combs will live through her unforgettable television appearances and the world record she broke on that fateful day.