Combs was born in Rockerville, South Dakota,[9] on July 27, 1980,[2] the daughter of Jamie Combs and Nina Darrington.[10][11][12] The family moved to Piedmont, South Dakota, when she was two years old.[9] She had three siblings, Kelly Combs, Austin Darrington, Danielle Theis, and two stepsiblings, Rebeka Hall and Arielle Hall. She graduated from Stevens High School in 1998.[9] A local publication in Rapid City reported that Combs' great-grandmother was Nina DeBow, a jazz pianist who raced Stanley Steamers.[12]
In 2004, Combs graduated from WyoTech in the Collision & Refinishing Core Program, as well as the Street Rod Fabrication and Custom Fabrication and High Performance Powertrain programs, all at the top of her class (she was briefly seen as a student of WyoTech during the sixth episode of the first season of Overhaulin). Following her graduation, Combs's first professional job came when the WyoTech marketing department hired her and another student to build a car from the ground up in six months to debut at the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association?s (SEMA) show.[4]
Combs was killed during a land speed record attempt as part of the North American Eagle Project on August 27, 2019, in the Alvord Desert, Oregon.[2]