Jesse James is a dead man

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..." To read the rest of the profile of Jesse James and his Spike show, originally published in the Los Angeles Times May 24, 2009, click here.