Valley woman survives crash while trying to set speed record

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - "My helmet never even got a scratch," Valerie Thompson said. "The only thing that my helmet got was salt coming out of the salt flats because I was laying on the side."

The queen of speed, Valerie Thompson, is back from Australia after trying to set the world's fastest motorcycle record. Her goal was to beat 376.36 miles per hour.

"We have a 12-mile course and we have seven miles to get up to speed and a mile they clock," she said. "That's the official timing measured mile."

When she hit 299 miles per hour, her dreams were shattered. The rear end of the 25-foot long streamliner raised into the air, the parachutes deployed, and after going airborne, the bike crashed at 343 miles per hour.

"Everything really went blank," she said. "Everything went in slow motion. I don't remember up in the air, being sideways, upside down twice. I don't remember that. I remember coming to a complete stop. I was just terrified."

Miraculously, what wasn't shattered was Thompson herself. She walked away with just bumps and bruises.

"I'm in disbelief, like really," she said. "I walk away from that. I'm OK. God was watching over me in very big ways. I'm like a cat... nine lives."

As for her future in racing, Thompson says although shaken, her need is still speed.

"There's a will, there's a way," she said. "We're racers, we get back up. Hey, just because you get knocked down, you know, we have to get back on the horse power."