Jessi Combs, the professional racer and former host of Mythbusters known as "the fastest woman on four wheels", died Tuesday in a jet car crash in Oregon. She was 39.
The accident occurred on a dry lake bed in the Alvord Desert, as Combs tried to break a land speed record. "Jessi's bright smile, positivity, and tenacious pursuit of her dreams inspired everyone who met her," her family said in a statement. "Her drive and spirit were infectious, and she served as a role model for young girls and women around the world." Former Mythbusters host Adam Savage tweeted that Combs was a "brilliant and top-notch builder, engineer, driver, fabricator, and science communicator, and strove every day to encourage others by her prodigious example."
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