Lee Breedlove's speeds were all PR hype, a ploy by Goodyear and Shell to
withhold the salt from Art Arfons. This game was played by both sides in the
early 60's when the record was changing hands often. As long as the group
could demonstrate they were actively "using" the salt, their permit was
active, otherwise they were expected to step aside and let the next
contender take the salt.
For reasons unexplained, only one world speed contender was permitted on the
salt at a time. My guess this attitude was a natural progression of
"gentlemanly behavior" that migrated from Daytona which came from Europe and
was rooted in the board track days where only one vehicle was on the course
at a time during record attempts.
Today, of course, we know more than one vehicle can run at a time. Witness
the 2001 World Finals where several FIA contenders got the job done.
While I champion any woman who chooses to get in the cockpit and try for a
record, I am disgusted by the contrived PR bullshit where the engines and
fuel controls were purposely "detuned" so that Lee would not exceed her
husband's achievements. Art and Walt Arfons were also guilty of this trick
when Betty Skelton and Paula Murphy respectively drove the open cockpit
jets.
It ought to be noted, that in the case of Murphy, the salt was a slushy
mess, with huge pockets of standing water when she ran for the numbers. In
this instance, the detuned engine was more a general safety precaution than
gender bias.
No vehicle can discern the gender of its driver and therefore it is up to
the driver to achieve the speed they are most comfortable with, or brave
enough to attain.
Be Vigilant,
"LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth
LandSpeed Productions
Telling Stories with Words and Pictures
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