- Kitty O'Neil
Kitty O'Neil (born 1946 in
Corpus Christi, Texas ) is a former stuntwoman and racer noted for a handful of exceptional accomplishments, despite becoming deaf when she was four months old.In 1977 in the
Mojave Desert , she piloted ahydrogen peroxide poweredrocket dragster built byKy Michaelson to the quickest quarter mile elapsed time in auto history, with a timed run of 3.22 seconds at convert|396|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on. During the same time, she also made a quarter mile run with a top speed of convert|412|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on. Her records are contrary to popular belief thatNHRA Top Fuel dragsters hold the fastest quarter mile times in the 4.4x seconds and convert|330|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on range [http://www.nhra.com/stats/natrecord.html as of 2005] . NHRA rules state that any run that sets a record on a drag strip must be backed up within one percent during the same meet. FIA rules on land speed records require any run to set a record must be based on the average of two runs, each way, within one hour. Because the quarter mile elapsed time was not set in such conditions, it cannot be declared an absolute record.In drag racing, hydrogen peroxide "rocket cars" were relegated to exhibition only, and have not been allowed in the United States since the 1980's, although they continue to be run in other parts of the world.
External links
* The Drag Racing List: [http://draglist.com/lists/rkt-alltime.htm All-Time Quickest Rocket-Powered Dragsters] (Alphabetical List by Driver and Year)
* [http://www.the-rocketman.com/space-age-racing.html Space Age Racing: Article mentioning Kitty's world record]
* [http://www.draglist.com/stories/SOD%20Apr%202002/SOD-040102.htm Ky Michaelson's first hand account of the record-setting attempts]
*imdb title|id=0079910|title=Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story
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