30 July 2008

Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death

This is a lighthearted counterpoint to Bustedknuckles' excellent post below.

Daytona Racing Timeline

1903

[...] Barney Oldfield, driving Ford’s “999” (named after a famous New York Central train) was the first American to run over a mile a minute on June 20 at the Indiana Fairgrounds…59.6 seconds. Oldfield hyped… “You have the sensation of being hurtled through space. The machine is throbbing under you with its cylinders beating a drummer’s tattoo, and the air tears past you in a gale. I tell you, gentlemen, no man can drive faster and live.” [...]

A slight contrast with the thought of running out of dry lake bed at 793 per...

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