Craig Breedlove is at it again … or still. Breedlove is the first man to drive faster than 400, 500 and 600 mph. He almost made it past 700 mph five years ago his car went off course and overturned at more than 675 mph.

The following year Breedlove’s Spirit of America team allegedly suffered engine problems and had to contend with a British World Land Speed Record effort at Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

Englshman Richard Noble and RAF pilot Andy Green Brought Thrust SSC for a run at the sound barrier as well as the WLSR. The record must be backed up by another run in the opposite direction at a speed within one percent.

Noble raised the mark to 763 mph and backed it up, taking the record and the honor of having broken the sound barrier on land, back to England.

Over the past four years, Breedlove reportedly has done some major modifications to his ‘97 vehicle and now says he is certain it will top 800 mph.

Of course, at such speeds, things happen in a hurry. For high performance jet fighters, the pilot doesn’t fly the plane anymore. His input simply tells a computer what he wants the plane to do and the computer controls the adjustments.

But with a WLSR, the driver must do the controlling. Breedlove’s ‘96 crash was blamed on the fact that as he steered, the gyroscopic effect of the front wheels rotating at such speeds, flipped the car over. Thrust SSC overcame the problem by using rear wheel steering.

For his ‘02 edition, Breedlove intends to connect the front wheel steering and a dorsal fin on top of the vehicle. At speed, steering inputs will affect the fin way more than the front wheels, producing steering effect without the gyroscopic forces.

The car also will be wider and longer, to make it more stable. He also says that his Spirit is more streamlined than Thrust SSC. He expects to reach 850 mph. Breedlove, at the age of 64, works out daily and intends to do the driving himself next summer.

A request to NASCAR and NASCAR drivers. Don’t cut out the on-track bumping and grinding, let ‘em mix it up, but not to the point where a non-contender feels he dare take out a contender just because he can.

But stop the post-race garage area fights. They make a noble sport seem like not much more than professional wrestling. Yeah, it’s entertaining, a few times. But such displays are getting more-and-more common, almost expected now and the cameras are there to catch “all the action.”

Role models like that our kids can find in their own neighborhoods.