Ab Jenkins acquired his first car in 1906 and began racing competitively in the 1920s. In 1926 he drove across the country from New York City to San Francisco in the time of 86 hours, 20 minutes. Two years later he completed his first twenty-four-hour race on a board track in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He went on to set numerous speed and endurance records on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats and, in addition to building his own worldwide reputation, attracted other notable drivers to Utah, including England's Sir Malcolm Campbell, Captain E.T. Eyston, and John Cobb, who established land speed records of the measured mile on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the later 1930s. On Labor Day, 1950, Jenkins shattered twenty-six world and American records on the salt flats in his Mormon Meteor III. He attained a top speed of 199.19 miles an hour on a twelve-mile circular track. He established world records of 184.46 miles an hour for 100 miles; 190.92 for 200 miles; and 190.68 miles an hour for one hour of continuous running.