Notes:
Gary Gabelich, which family was of Croatian origins, was the driver of the "Blue Flame" that set the Land Speed Record at the speed of 622.407 mi/h (1001,67 km/h) on 28 October 1970.
Gabelich had his racing debut at the age of 16, winning first place in the stock eliminator drag racing class at Santa Ana Dragstrip, California. In 1959 he won world’s first side-by-side jet dragster race, topping 250 mi/h (402.25 km/h) and then traveled 356 mi/h (572.8 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats, in Wendover, Utah, in a jet car. Probably this was a record for a teen-ager. In 1963 he won the first United Drag Racing Association title, driving a Double A Fuel dragster. Then he worked for North American Rockwell, eventually becoming a test astronaut for the company, but he decided to get back into racing, competing in the 1960s as a drag racer of both automobiles and boats. In 1968 he won the American Power Boat Association fuel hydro Championship, and the following year he set a National Drag Boat Association record of 200.44 mph (322.38 km/h).
Near the end of 1969 he was signed up by Reaction Dynamics Inc. to drive the Blue Flame, a 37-foot-long, three-wheels vehicle powered by a liquid natural gas-hydrogen peroxide rocket engine. Another drag racer, Chuck Suba was signed up before him but he was killed in a racing accident shortly thereafter. The first run of the Blue Flame land speed record attempt was scheduled to be set in September 1969, but it was postponed due to tuning trouble until one year later, on 22 September 1970. This attempt was a failure, reaching Gary Gabelich a speed of only 426 mi/h (685.4 km/h), compared to Craig Breedlove's five year-old existing World Land Speed Record of 600.601 mi/h (966.367 km/h).
On 15 October 1970, Gabelich hit 609 mi/h (979.88 km/h) on a new run, before a mechanical problem forced him to stop before the second run. The same thing happened eight days later, when the first run reached 621 mi/h (999.19 km/h). Finally, on 23 October 1970, the Blue Flame driven by Gary Gablich averaged 617.602 mi/h (993.72 km/h) on the first run and 627.207 mi/h (1,009.17 km/h) on the second, for a new Woprld Land Speed Record of 630.388 mi/h (1,014.656 km/h) in the kilometer amd 622.407 mi/h (1,001.67 km/h) in the mile. The FIA World Land Speed Record was the kilometer record. Both records were set simultaneously as the kilometer was timed within the measured mile at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. The kilometer record was the first World Land Speed Record over 1,000 km/h, it remained unbeaten until 1983, when Richard Noble broke it, driving Thrust 2 at a speed of 633.468 mph (1,019.469 km/h).
After setting the record, Reaction Dynamics Inc. stopped the Blue Flame activity and Gabelich came back to drag racing. During his career he also drove go-karts and racing cars in circuit races. In 1969 Gabelich had driven the Beac City Chevrolet Corvette funny car to speed over 200 mi/h (320 km/h) and in 1975 he finished second at Riverside, California, in the Mickey Thompson’s off-road race. Then he scored a win in the Toyota Charity Slalom at the Rose Bowl in 1979 and the following year a second place in the Toyota Pro Challenge Race at the Michigan International Speedway. Unfortunately in 1972 he had his right hand severed in a drag racing accident. It was reattached, but his racing career was over.
Gary Gabelich worked as an actor in Mel Welles' and Ronald C. Ross' 1977 movie "Joyride to nowhere". After twice narrowly escaping death in dragster and drag boat accidents, he was killed in a road accident when his motorcycle crashed against a truck on 26 January 1984 at Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California. Reportedly, Gabelich ran into the right side of a truck and was struck while riding his motorcycle at high speed. Gabelich died nearly three hours later at San Pedro Hospital of injuries suffered in the accident. He was 43-year-old at the time of his death. In 1985 the Long Beach City Council named a park in his memory, "Gabelich Park".
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