A few weeks back we brought you news that Danny Thompson, the son of famous racer Mickey Thompson was to attempt a land speed record at the Bonneville salt flats. Well, things didn’t go entirely to plan for Danny in his 1,300-horsepower Ford Mustang.

Thompson had previously recorded a top speed of 252 miles per hour but recently headed back to the flat lands for a crack at at the 300-mph mark. Danny hit major problems as he passed about 260 mph. His Mustang got loose and then began to lift and then left the ground at approximately 264.7 mph. Apparently, Danny and his Mustang traveled 1,100 feet airbourne before hitting the salt and the car rolled much further before coming to a stop.

It shows how far good safety equipment has come when Thompson escaped the wreck with no injuries. Not even minor injuries, no scratches or bruises and even his cell phone sitting in his pocket was fine.

It’s a brutal crash and you can check out the in-car footage in the video below. (more…)

Any young lad that grew up with dreams of drag strip glory will know the name Mickey Thompson, but fewer know that Thompson was much more than a name on the sidewall of ultra-wide sticky tyres. He was also responsible for setting a load of land-speed records in his day, including being the first driver with the balls and machine to break the 400 mph barrier on the salt. Now, his son, Danny Thompson, is picking up where his father left off. Last year, the junior Thompson managed to set the fastest land speed for any Ford Mustang. With a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 sucking down on E85, the Thompson clicked off 252 mph, and this year, he’s hungry for more.

Danny Thompson is this time staging an assault on the 300 mph barrier with another Mustang. This car, will again run off of E85, but will pack somewhere close to 1,300 ponies under the bonnet. The new ‘Tang also interestingly wears soy-based carbon-fiber body work and a unique soy-based yellow paint job in an attempt to somehow ecologically justify a supercharged V8. That’s definitely a new trick for the Thompson family.