Bonneville Salt Flats - Land Speed Racing

Land Speed Racing

Despite being wrongly associated with drag racing, setting speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats is racing of a unique sort —no "0-60" records are broken here. Since the salt is somewhat slick, maintaining traction is a major concern of every racer. Cars start slower than many expect, but they make their way up to some very fast speeds. Given the great size of the flats, there is plenty of room for these race cars to reach their full potential. There are two to three tracks, depending on the condition of the salt, set up for each event. The shortest is usually a 5-mile course while the long-course usually runs 7 miles. Depending on the class (there are hundreds of classes that participate, from motorcycles to streamliners to cars practically driven off the lot), racers are assigned to courses accordingly. Some classes, like the 49cc motorcycles, have records set at under 100 mph while others, such as high-powered streamliners, reach speeds of 400-500+ mph.

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