Yahoo Autos Land Speed Record Setter George Poteet Dies at Age 76
George Poteet never managed to run 500 mph, but with a record of 470.015, he came awful close. I'd reckon it's about the only goal he missed in his 76 years on planet Earth.
Poteet grew up in rural Mississippi, the son of a sharecropper and a garment factory worker. He was the first person in his family to go to college, and he later built a fortune from a nutritional supplements company. He used that money to send his own kids to college and, with that out of the way, to go racing.
The kind of racing Poteet liked was land speed. Each summer, he'd trek out to the Bonneville Salt Flats, where the Utah dirt becomes white salt and the mountains float over the curving horizon. There, Poteet would strap himself into a golden rocket, barely wider than the man himself, and launch across that wasteland, a speed demon in Speed Demon.
Poteet's car and team set new standards for the Southern California Timing Association's (SCTA) long-running time trials. His team wore matching shirts, his car was always spotless, and his pits were always open to curious bystanders and competitors alike. His cars were also fast, the fastest. The Speed Demon team still holds more than 13 SCTA Bonneville records and set six FIA world records.
Poteet's most famous run was the 470.015 jaunt in 2020, but he also made headlines for high-speed tumbles, last-minute comebacks, and several fires which left his team a nervous wreck, although Poteet was never visibly shaken. His professional approach to the grassroots speed trials attracted worldwide attention, as did his record-setting runs, all of which helped jump-start SCTA Speed Week with increased media coverage and high-profile competitor entries.
While Poteet was most known for his top-speed runs, his importance to car culture was not limited to land-speed racing. An enthusiastic car collector, Poteet could have spent his money on limited-edition supercars or classic Ferraris, but instead he became a patron of the arts to small hot-rod shops. Many of the top names in custom car building got commission from George at their start, from engine master Kenny Duttweiler to the award-winning Rad Rides by Troy.
Poteet's generosity and interest in car culture inspired and supported the careers of hundreds if not thousands of builders, mechanics, race fans, and automotive reporters. Including this one.
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