Gary Gabelich

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Gary Gabelich (born August 29, 1940 in San Pedro , Los Angeles , California , † January 27, 1984 in Long Beach ) was an American racing driver and long-time owner of the land speed record .

His parents were from Arizona and New York. He grew up in San Pedro and from 1948 in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach, where he attended Hughes Middle School and Poly High School. During high school , he competed in hot rod races. At the age of 19, he drove 356 mph (573 km / h) in a rocket vehicle on the Bonneville Salt Flats .

He then went to North American Rockwell ( Rockwell International ), possibly to become a test astronaut or to film the fall of the Apollo capsule during parachute jumps from a height of 10 km . When he was offered office work there , he decided to race again.

In 1968 he won the American Power Boat Association fuel hydro championship . The following year he set a record with the National Drag Boat Association of 200.44 mph (322.7 km / h).

When a driver was sought for the Blue Flame rocket car , he was initially the third choice. On October 23, 1970, he crossed the 1000 km / h limit in the Blue Flame with 622.407 mph (1001.67 km / h), a record that was only broken in 1983.

He later claimed that the Blue Flame could also reach 750 mph (1207 km / h), but Reaction Dynamics had no further plans with the vehicle .

Afterwards, Gabelich drove boat and drag races again . Twice he escaped death in accidents. In 1972 he lost his right hand, which could be sewn on again, but his career came to an end. He died in January 1984 in a motorcycle accident in Long Beach. He left behind his wife Rae Marie and his son Guy (* 1982).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. New York Times of January 27, 1984: Gabelich, 43, Dies After Accident , accessed October 6, 2010