BONNEVILLE SPEED WEEK
After two years of cancellations, Bonneville’s iconic salt-racing shindig gets back on track
FEW places on the planet possess the special allure of Bonneville, Utah. To the pilgrims who've flocked there since early last century, the dry salt lake is hallowed ground, a mecca to return to year after year in pursuit of one thing: speed.
The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) hosts the historic Speed Week event annually, but the sufferers of Salt Fever have had to endure an extended wait for their fix over the past three years. Poor weather and deteriorating salt health saw the event cancelled in 2014 and 2015, and racers feared they’d lost their holy ground forever.
Thankfully, Speed Week was given a green light for 2016, and land speed weapons were rolled out of garages worldwide, drivers chomping at the bit to take home recordbreaking timeslips. Over 650 entrants, three courses to run on (eight-mile, five-mile, and three-mile for rookies), and some of the biggest names in the biz set up 2016 as a remarkable comeback year for land speed racing on the iconic salt flats.
And it didn’t disappoint. Danny Thompson, son of the great ‘Speed King’ Mickey Thompson, came like a bull out of a gate in his father’s Challenger 2, taking home the Aa/fuel Streamliner record at a stonking 406.7mph (654km/h) to tie up some unfinished family business. Not to be outdone, George Poteet and the Speed Demon streamliner knocked over the B/blown Fuel Streamliner record at 416.5mph a few days later, and hit the fastest single pass of the event at 442mph (711km/h). That’s the equivalent of two football fields per second!
Given the giant numbers they put out, machines like these are surprisingly small in real life, most barely taller than hip-height, but very long, very sleek and very fast. Alongside these streamliners sat all shapes and sizes of land speed racers, with scoops, spoilers and fins galore helping to keep them hugging the dry salt bed and pointing the right direction.
In the staging lanes teams waited longer than ever for their turn up at the startline. With so many runs to be made and so many entrants, Jim Jensen and the other well-salted officials had their hands full all week.
While the salt condition was touted to be quite healthy, it was patchy in places and still damp towards the end of the courses, making it a hairy ride for some. Experienced land speed racer Dennis Mariani described hitting the soft stuff at speeds well over 250mph as “interesting”, while Kiwi racer Lincoln Harris found it tough in a down-force-challenged roadster: “I got a bit sideways at
BONNEVILLE IS HALLOWED GROUND, A MECCA TO RETURN TO YEAR AFTER YEAR IN PURSUIT OF ONE THING: SPEED
the two-and-a-quarter [mile marker],” he said. “I had to throw the laundry out to straighten it up again!”
Despite the less-than-ideal crust health, crowds and crews alike were nevertheless stoked to be back on the salt. Speed Week is one of the most uniting motorsport events in the world, and it only takes one look down the pits or campgrounds to see a plethora of international devotees. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Sweden, France and many more had flags flying in the hot breeze, their countrymen exchanging race stories and tools when needed. It doesn’t hurt that the salt makes a great free garnish for your steak or the rim of your margarita glass; Bonneville is probably the only place where dropping your food will make it tastier!
Representatives of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) gave a promising prognosis for the future, with the news that they would be working with the Save The Salt Coalition to help improve the quality of the lake bed. State and federal government members even made their way onto the salt during the week, with many punters hoping they’d catch a little Salt Fever themselves and take it back to Congress with them.
For some it was a shaky start – heavyhitting ’liners like Carbinite and Turbinator II battled gremlins over the week – but for most it was a welcome return to land speed racing on the revered Bonneville salt. With 68 new records etched in the books for four-wheeled vehicles alone, it was still a spectacular result for the many addicts of speed and salt.
IT DOESN’T HURT THAT THE SALT MAKES A GREAT FREE GARNISH FOR YOUR STEAK OR THE RIM OF YOUR MARGARITA GLASS