Land speed racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats will occur this summer and racers will be asked to help save the salt.
Before pulling onto the asphalt access road to leave the salt flats, they will be reminded to remove all salt from their vehicles.
“When you have 500 teams out, and at least four vehicles with each team, you can get upward to 3,000 vehicles out on the salt.” said Louise Ann Noeth, public relations specialist with the Save the Salt Alliance. “We want to leave that salt out on the salt flats.”
The new program is a joint effort of four major racing associations that use the Bonneville Salt Flats, which include the Southern California Timing Association, Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials, and Land Speed Events.
“Each of these organizations will erect a special clean-off area adjacent to where they transition from the salt crust to the paved access road,” Noeth said.
She said each area will be marked by a “Save the Salt/Utah Alliance” banner to remind racers to stop to scrape off built-up salt from wheel wells, bumpers, and undercarriages, leaving the salt behind — every time.
The Bonneville Salt Flats hosted races last year after two consecutive years of no racing due to poor surface conditions.
The salt is in good enough shape now for racers to test and tune their cars Thursday through Sunday.
“We have a 3-mile course available with one-quarter mile trap for racers to test their cars,” said Ellen Wilkinson, treasurer of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association. “Some folks have made changes to their cars and they will be testing them out on the salt to see if those changes are working out for them.”
Racing will heat up later in the summer and fall with four major events, weather permitting, Noeth said.
Speed Week, organized by SCTA, will run Aug.12-18. Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials is set for Aug. 26-31. World of Speed Racing is scheduled for Sept. 15-18, and the Bonneville Shootout is set for Sept. 20-24.
The Save the Salt Alliance was founded in 1989 by racers, businesses and community members. Save the Salt Foundation was formed as the nonprofit entity to collect money for the sole purpose of restoring the salt flats.
“Many racers and spectators, both American and international, are troubled by the declining size and thickness of the Bonneville Salt Flats,” Noeth said. “This has forced some racers to abandon world record attempts at the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats and pursue other sites — some outside the USA altogether.”
She said scrapping salt off of vehicles is a small but meaningful way for individuals who enjoy land speed racing to make an immediate, positive impact.
“Also, it will help reduce salt which is unintentionally transported to the nearby towns of Wendover, Utah, and West Wendover, Nevada, demonstrating to residents and business owners that land speed racers are respectful visitors,” Noeth said.
Noeth said the salt has been deteriorating for many years, mainly because of mining practices. She said the BLM manages the Bonneville Salt Flats, and the foundation is working with the federal agency to help preserve the salt flats.
A new salt crust thickness study by the University of Utah has been underway since last year by U of U Professor Dr. Brenda Bowen, director of the U’s Global Change and Sustainability Center and associate professor of geology and geophysics.
The full study is scheduled for publication in 2018.