In 1906 Fred Marriot set the 127.66 mph record, and nothing in 103 years was intiative to make someone determined to break it.
I was recently reading something Jay Leno wrote about it, and he's a great writer I recommend... but I forgot to post a link to his column.
Read about the new contender here: http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/03/31/steam-power/#more-15803