World land speed record holder Art Arfons passed away December 3 at the age of 81.
The sport has lost another pioneer. Art Arfons, a WWII Navy veteran who led the introduction of aircraft piston engines to drag racing and jet engines to Bonneville, has passed away at 81.
Through the mid-'60s at Bonneville, he and Craig Breedlove fought one of the most amazing battles in the history of motorsports, swapping the absolute land speed record for wheeled vehicles six times in two years. Art would eventually exceed 600 mph in his homebuilt, J79-powered "Green Monster." A
native of Akron, Ohio, he was an inductee of the Motor Sports Hall of Fame of America, the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, and the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame.