Upon word of Breedlove’s conquest, Art Arfons dutifully 180s his converted school bus out of his shop in Akron and hauls his jet car operation back into Utah. “It was really competition between Goodyear and Firestone,” is how Arfons explains his return to Bonneville. “They were the motivating thing.
“My car wasn’t real streamlined,” Arfons continues. “When Breedlove went 500, he told Goodyear they could go ahead and put their ads out because the Green Monster was about as aerodynamic as the side of a barn and I would never go that fast.” Barnyard aero or no, on October 27, 1964, Arfons unloads his wienie roaster and rips a new mark of 536.71. With winter eradicating further record runs, Arfons, the rubber city son-of-a-chicken-farmer, could claim bragging rights – at least until the snows thawed.
Meanwhile, Breedlove scores a J79 and begins to construct a new Spirit of America, sub-titled Sonic 1.
The Arfons/Breedlove transonic tennis match resumes at Bonneville the next year.
Tags: Art Arfons, Bonneville Salt Flats, Craig Breedlove, Sonic 1
INFINITY OVER ZERO by Cole Coonce 
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