Lee Bible

Lee Bible (Born 1886 - Died 13 March 1929) was a garage operator and a land speed record attemptee. He was killed attempting to break the land speed record on March 13, 1929 at Ormond Beach.

Pre-record attempt

11 March the Englishman Major Henry O. D. Segrave had set the land speed record of convert|231.44|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on in his Golden Arrow, beating the old record held by Ray Keech, who had set the record driving the White Triplex.

Jim White, the owner of the Triplex, wanted the title to come back to the USA. Keech was asked to come back and drive the Triplex, but he declined, considering the car too dangerous. Keech was killed in an AAA race three months later, just days after having won the Indianapolis 500.

White then offered the ride to their team mechanic and garage operator, Lee Bible, who saw this as the opportunity of a lifetime. He was declared eligible by officials after a few practice runs, despite his lack of experience.

The Record attempt

On his first run, Bible was clocked at convert|186|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on, well below the record. On his return run he was clocked at convert|202|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on. However shortly after the time trap the car suddenly swerved, presumably because Bible released the accelerator too fast. The Triplex crashed into the dunes and rolled, finally coming to a stop convert|200|ft|m further. During this crash, Bible was thrown from the car, killing him instantly. Also, the Triplex had ran into a photographer, who was killed instantly. However if the photographer had stayed in his original location, he would not have been harmed.

Sources

* cite web
url=http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=1112
title=Motorsport Memorial page
* cite newspaper
title=La Patrie
journal=La Patrie
date=13 mars 1929
url=http://bibnum2.bnquebec.ca/bna/patrie/