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. Seconds later, at a top speed of 161 mph, James had 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 defied the program title, just as he’d done when he caught himself on fire, and when he rode shotgun in an F-16D fighter plane, subjecting his 210-pound frame to nine Gs.
James, who turned 40 last month, insists he isn’t …Â Details