Jesse James: A custom-made man

Susan Carpenter writes about Jesse James' weekly stunt show that includes him trying to set a record on a nitro-powered bike.

She writes:

The asphalt at the Famoso drag strip was hot, the bike licked with red and orange flames when Jesse James stepped up to the starting line and threw a leg over the 1,000-horsepower, nitro-powered dragster. A flicker of green light, a twist of the grip and James was off -- a one-man Cacklefest on a mission to beat the clock.

Seconds later, at a top speed of 161 miles per hour, James hadn't just reached the end of the quarter-mile track. He'd also won the respect of the seasoned racers who trained him and sighs of relief from the production crew that was capturing it all on camera for his new Spike TV show, "Jesse James Is a Dead Man."

James had, yet again, defied the program title, just as he'd done a day earlier, when he caught himself on fire, and a couple months prior, when he rode shotgun in an F-16D fighter plane, subjecting his 210-pound frame to 9 Gs.

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(Photo by Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)