Craig Breedlove seeks to break sound barrier

     Associated Press
      RENO -- Only one person knows how it feels to break the sound barrier on the ground.
      Craig Breedlove is determined to become the second as he tries to return the world land-speed record to the United States.
      Breedlove was first to travel 400 mph, 500 mph and 600 mph on wheels, but he struggled with an ailing car last fall while British driver Andy Green topped 700 mph and then, at 763.035 mph, exceeded Mach 1.
     

Craig Breedlove races across the Black Rock Desert 100 miles north of Reno during a qualifying run Oct. 27, 1996. Now he is trying to become the second person to break the sound barrier. Associated Press photo

Breedlove is planning on making 800 mph next fall.
      "From a performance standpoint, we're well in the ballpark to take the record from England," he said. "I believe we should pretty handily get the English record."
      The standard has been in British hands since October 1983, when Richard Noble streaked across the Black Rock Desert 100 miles north of Reno at 633.47 mph.
      Noble, 51, handed over the keys last year to Green, his 35-year-old protege from the Royal Air Force. Meanwhile, Breedlove struggled to reach a peak speed of 636 mph, barely exceeding Noble's mark of 13 years earlier.
      But Breedlove, who turns 61 on Monday, remains confident.
      "I've got a few miles left in me," he said.
      In 1996, Breedlove had a series of runs in his Spirit of America that peaked at 677 mph before the desert wind sent his car careening on its side. Body damage and gobs of desert sucked into the jet engine sent him back home to Rio Vista, Calif., for extensive -- and expensive -- repairs.
      He was barely on the desert last year before his lone engine malfunctioned, requiring a trip back to Rio Vista to build another one at a cost of $100,000.
      Then the wheels clogged up with the desert's talc-fine sand. By the time that was fixed, Breedlove had run out of good weather.
      He estimates the cost of repairing the damage from the 1996 wreck and of last year's futility at $1.2 million.
      He will return to Black Rock with two engines, two sets of tires capable of 800 mph, a system to blow out the sand in the wheel wells and some chassis changes for stability.
      "We don't have to be ready until September, so probably by July we should really start cranking up to get ready," Breedlove said. "Hopefully, we'll have our sponsorship in place by then."
      After his wreck in 1996 and his problems last fall, Shell, AutoZone and Speedvision dipped into future years' budgets for repairs. He needs some additional sponsorship for what he expects to be a $400,000-$500,000 attempt this year.
      And Breedlove is counting on his new equipment to help bring the record back to the United States.
      "We'll be a little better prepared," he said. "Anyhow, that's what we're hoping."