Art Arfons

He subsequently went on to field a succession of Green Monster turbine-engined pulling tractors, before returning to land speed record racing.

He participated in two battles including the invasion of Okinawa, and then was discharged after three years, as a Petty Officer Second Class.

Art and Walt continued their drag racing partnership with a series of Green Monster cars until the late 1950s, parting amicably but competing against each other.

Arfons' path led almost inevitably to land speed record racing at Bonneville, first in 1960 with the "Anteater", a car modeled after John Cobb's "Railton Special" and powered by an Allison V-1710 aircraft engine.

In 1962, Arfons began experimenting with jet-powered cars, where his innate mechanical skills proved tremendously useful.

He held the world land speed record three times during the closely fought competition of 1964 and 1965, but after a bad crash in 1966 at 610 MPH, the fastest crash ever survived, turned his attention to jet turbine powered tractor pulling competition where he was, as usual, successful.

His daughter Allison "Dusty" Arfons, named after the aircraft engine in the Anteater, also competed in tractor pulling with her father.

On October 16, 1971, while making an exhibition run at the Dallas International Motor Speedway in Lewisville, Texas, Arfons lost control of his radical jet-powered vehicle, resulting in the death of three people.

Near the end of the run, a tire burst as the parachutes deployed; it veered into a guard rail and crashed beyond the finish line.