International desk – Race car driver Jessi Combs died in a car crash in Oregon of the United States while trying to beat a land speed record, media reports said quoting family and officials on Thursday.

CNN reported Combs, who earned the title of the “fastest woman on four wheels” after she set a record with a jet-powered car, died Tuesday in Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office said.

She was 39.

“She was a brilliant & to[p]-notch builder, engineer, driver, fabricator, and science communicator, & strove everyday to encourage others by her prodigious example,” said Adam Savage, former co-host of the TV show “Mythbusters.”

Combs appeared in multiple episodes of the show, while host Kari Byron was on maternity leave. She also appeared as a host in shows such as “All Girls Garage” and “Overhaulin’.”

BBC reported she earned the title in 2013 when she reached 398 mph (641km/h). Combs was trying to beat that speed and the absolute women’s land speed record of 512 mph (824km/h) – set by Kitty O’Neil in 1976 – when she crashed.

“Jessi’s most notable dream was to become the fastest woman on Earth, a dream she had been chasing since 2012… and she left this Earth driving faster than any other woman in history,” her family said in a statement.

Her teammate Terry Madden also paid tribute to her on social media.

“Unfortunately we lost her yesterday in a horrific accident, I was the first one there and trust me we did everything humanly possible to save her,” he said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

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