FIELDS, Ore — Jessi Combs, a professional driver, welder and host of "Mythbusters," has died in a car crash, her family confirmed. She was 36.
"It is with extreme grief, and in celebration of her life that her family and close friends share that race car driver, and TV personality Jessi Combs, passed away in a fatal crash, as she pursued setting a land speed record in the North American Eagle on August, 27th 2019 on a dry lake bed in Oregon," a spokesperson for Combs family said in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment. "The details of the crash have not been released at this time."
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KTVZ reported officials said the accident occurred Tuesday afternoon in the Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon.
"Jessi's bright smile, positivity, and tenacious pursuit of her dreams inspired everyone who met her. Her drive and spirit were infectious, and she served as a role model for young girls and women around the world," the statement continued. "People that loved her and followed her became family, all bonded together by adventure and passion. Her fans adored her, and she lived to inspire them. Jessi's most notable dream was to become the fastest woman on Earth, a dream she had been chasing since 2012. Combs was one of the rare dreamers with the bravery to turn those possibilities into reality, and she left this earth driving faster than any other woman in history."
CBS Sports reported Combs was named the "fastest woman on four wheels" when she broke 398 mph while driving a North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger. She was driving the same vehicle when she died as she tried to break her 483.227 mph personal top speed.
A service for Combs is being planned, Yahoo Entertainment reported. She is survived by her parents, siblings, step-siblings, and partner Terry Madden, who wrote that she was "truly my unicorn."
"I'm not ok, but she is right here keeping my going-I made her a promise that if this didn't go well that I would make sure and do good with it," he wrote in an Instagram post confirming her death.
Family members are working on a foundation in Combs' honor, Madden said.
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