By alley - Aug 26, 2015, 7:37 PM ET

Thompson LSR: The 12th man

Twelve people have gone over 400mph in a piston-powered car. I'm the most recent one. The twelfth man. I'm exceptionally proud of that, because after ﬁve years of hard work, I ﬁnally understand what it takes to get on that list. I'll summarize. Fast is hard. Really fast is really hard. These days, my crew and I know that in our bones.

Some of our challenges are unique. The skeleton of our streamliner was laid down almost 50 years ago by the mad scientists at Kar Kraft and a handful of legendary hot rodders like Tom Jobe, Nye Frank, and Pat Foster. Unlike a lot of our competitors, we're rebuilding a car. That means improving on it when we can, compromising when we have to, and trying like hell to make everything ﬁt. This project started out as a crazy idea in the back of my dad's head. Today, it's given birth to one of the fastest cars in the world. We still have a long way to go. Some days, when things are tough, I wish I could start from scratch. Most days, I'm just happy to be a part of history.

Someone suggested to me last week that land speed racing isn't a competitive sport. Nothing could be further from the truth. Besides nature, weather, and physics, the race for the piston-powered land speed record has more human participants now than any other time in history. At least eight teams have a serious shot at putting their names in the books. Last year, we were the fastest car out there. Whenever we get to run next, we have to do even better.

We've come a long way, but we've had a lot of help. Most of my crew works for free. Nobody that is paid gets anywhere near what they're worth. We've also had some fantastic sponsors step up and ease the ﬁnancial burden. All of those people, and many more, helped us to get past 400mph. The records are in sight. We are within spitting distance of ﬁnishing half a century worth of work, but at the moment, the world isn't cooperating. Weather and track conditions have forced us to miss six events in a row. At this point, we're stuck waiting it out. In order to do that, we need a little bit more time.

We're looking for a partner to help buy us that time. An individual or an organization that understands the inherent value of supporting American racing and fulﬁlling the mandate of history. The car itself is ready to roll. The crew is prepped. Do you want to help or know someone that can? Reach out to us via the contact links below and come along for the ride of your life.

-Danny Thompson

For more images, news updates and historical anecdotes about the project, and to see how you can help Danny and his team finish their mission, visit http://thompsonlsr.com.