Tom Green worked with Walt Arfons to design and drive the Wingfoot Express, a jet-powered land speed record car.
The two met at a trade fair in Gary, Indiana in 1962, and Green recalls that "Within ten minutes we were planning our assault on the world's land speed record".
Green estimated that the aerodynamic drag of the exposed rear wheels cost the car 20 mph (32 km/h), but since his calculations indicated that they already had much greater speed available than they needed, this was not viewed as a problem.
At Bonneville, Green began his Land Speed Record career by easing the car around "the parking area" like any student driver.
Although the final record run had demonstrated that Wingfoot Express clearly had much more speed available, Green decided to not push his luck and retired from competition, returning to his regular job.