Racing team disbands after Fossett funds end

CARSON CITY -- A racing team funded by missing and presumed dead pilot Steve Fossett won't be trying to set a world land speed record this summer near Eureka, or anywhere else.

Louise Ann Noeth, a spokeswoman for the racing team, said the group was disbanded in late April after Fossett's wife, Peggy Fossett, decided against further funding.

The racing team announced last year that it hoped to reach speeds of more than 800 mph in a jet-powered car.

"The car has been locked up," Noeth said. "There won't be any attempts for the world land speed record."

Fossett has been missing since Sept. 3 when he took off in a small plane from the Flying M Ranch near Yerington on what was supposed to be a short flight.

Search and rescue leaders initially said Fossett was seeking a dry lake on which to race for a new speed record, although the family later said he was taking a short pleasure flight.

Numerous searches over a 20,000-square-mile mountainous area, including one last week by a Canadian mountain climbing team, failed to find any trace of the multi-millionaire adventurer. Other mountain climbers plan another search in late August.

A recent audit showed Nevada spent $1.3 million looking for Fossett last fall, an effort that included Nevada National Guard helicopters.

Fossett was declared legally dead Feb. 15 by an Illinois judge. Fossett's estate of more than $10 million was awarded to his widow.

The Steve Fossett World Land Speed Racing Team had been planning to try to set a new record this summer on an alkali flat in Diamond Valley, about 17 miles north of Eureka.

In January, the team even publicized its effort to find a female driver for their jet- powered vehicle.

British driver Andy Green set the current land speed record of 763 mph in the Black Rock Desert, about 100 miles north of Reno, on Oct. 15, 1997. It was the first time in history that a land vehicle exceeded the speed of sound.

Traditionally, land speed records have been set either at the Bonneville Salt Flats off Interstate 80 in Utah, just east of the Nevada state line, or in the Black Rock Desert, now famed as the site of the annual Burning Man gatherings.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.