Land speed king Craig Breedlove settles ‘Spirit of America’ lawsuit

“An airplane, an auto, now famous worldwide

The Spirit of America, the name on the side

The man who would drive her Craig Breedlove by name

A daring young man played a dangerous game …”

— From the Beach Boys’ “Spirit of America”

The left rear tire was flat.

The best part of a field trip to Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry for a kid — at least for this particular kid — was looking down on the giant model railroad exhibit in the Hall of Transportation, then sneaking over when the nuns weren’t looking to where Craig Breedlove’s “Spirit of America” was on display.

To repeat, the left rear tire on the famous jet car that had blistered the Bonneville Salt Flats at more than 500 mph was flat.

I remember being so disappointed.

With a flat rear tire, Craig Breedlove and his jet car couldn’t have beaten me and my Schwinn Stingray in a race across the parking lot to the coal mine exhibit.

I also remember flecks of silver paint had chipped off by the yellow Shell decals.

So it did not come as a surprise when I read Breedlove, now 79, had sued the museum for damaging his land speed machine, and that he recently settled out of court for an undisclosed sum after seeking a minimum of $395,000.

The Beach Boys’ “Spirit of America” was a song and the title of a 1975 double album of lesser hits that followed the wildly popular “Endless Summer” release of the band’s greatest hits. The lyric was stilted in the 1960s fashion, though accurate — Craig Breedlove certainly was daring, and played a dangerous game.

I met him at a Shell (his longtime sponsor) convention in Las Vegas in 1996. He was accommodating, as I remember, but was ashen in appearance.

Two days before, during a test run at Black Rock Desert north of Reno, Craig Breedlove had tipped a new “Spirit of America” onto its side while traveling 636 mph. That probably explained the ashen features. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

GALLAGHER KEEPS TRUCKIN’

GMS Racing — the ‘G’ stands for Gallagher, as in Maury Gallagher, CEO of Las Vegas-based Allegiant Airlines — will add a fourth NASCAR truck to its stable for selected races in 2017.

Spencer Gallagher, Maury’s son who will compete full time in this year’s Xfinity Series, will drive the Chevrolet Silverado in the season opener Feb. 24 at Daytona. Cup Series phenom Chase Elliott will take the wheel at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his hometown track, the next weekend.

Additional drivers for the No. 23 truck will be announced at a later date. GMS’s regular drivers in the Truck Series are Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley and Kaz Grala.

.@23SpeedRacer & @chaseelliott to pilot GMS All-Star truck at @DISupdates & @amsupdates

More Info: https://t.co/iDQfwfKLzP pic.twitter.com/3EJlnf5CKW

— GMS Racing (@GMSRacingLLC) February 15, 2017

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KYLE SETTLES FOR THIRD

Kyle Busch, the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, settled for third place against some mighty fast weekend warriors at the Winter Showdown, a super late model race Saturday night at Kern County Speedway in Bakersfield, California. Hometown hero Derek Thorn of Bakersfield won and no doubt will have a great story to tell his buddies about the night he beat Kyle Busch and fellow Cup Series driver Erik Jones, who finished fourth.

Watching Kyle Busch at the SRL Winter Showdown at Kern County Raceway. @SRLSWTourSeries pic.twitter.com/k4K0qo0bC2

— Cole Cabrera (@ColeCabrera) February 11, 2017

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ON THE LAMB IN NHRA

Justin Lamb, a Henderson sportsman drag racer, won the Super Stock class at the season-opening Circle K NHRA Nationals at Pomona, California. Lamb defeated Timothy Fletcher in the final, posting an ET of 8.638 seconds and a speed of 153.23 mph. “It’s good to start off that way, and the Winternationals is a cool race,” he said.

MYERS WINS AT PRIMM

California driver Dan Myers won the overall and Class 1 victories topping a field of 181 at the King Shocks Battle at Primm, as the off-road circuit known as SNORE opened its 48th season. It was only the third SNORE race for Myers, a 38-year-old operations director at Toyota of Escondido near San Diego.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.