Home Page American Government Reference Desk Shopping Special Collections About Us Contribute



Escort, Inc.






GM Icons
By accessing/using The Crittenden Automotive Library/CarsAndRacingStuff.com, you signify your agreement with the Terms of Use on our Legal Information page. Our Privacy Policy is also available there.

Bonneville Salt Flats


Bonneville Salt Flats
Place

Topic Navigation
Wikipedia: Bonneville Salt Flats

Page Sections
History
Multimedia
Article Index
Comic Books
A geological formation of densely packed salt in Tooele County. The huge, flat surface has made it ideal for land speed record tests since 1914.

History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Bonneville Salt Flats page on 27 July 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The Bonneville Salt Flats is a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. The area is a remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville and is the largest of many salt flats located west of the Great Salt Lake. The property is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and is known for land speed records at the "Bonneville Speedway". Access is free and visitors can drive on the flats.

Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert named the area after Benjamin Bonneville, a U.S. Army officer who explored the Intermountain West in the 1830s. In 1907 Bill Rishel and two local businessmen tested the suitability of the salt for driving on by taking a Pierce-Arrow onto the surface of the flats.

A railway line across the Bonneville Salt Flats was completed in 1910, marking the first permanent crossing. The first land speed record was set there in 1914 by Teddy Tetzlaff.

Motorcar racing has taken place at the salt flats since 1914. Racing takes place at part of the Bonneville Salt Flats known as the Bonneville Speedway. There are five major land speed events that take place at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Bonneville "Speed Week" takes place mid-August followed by "World of Speed" in September and the "World Finals" take place early October.

These three events welcome cars, trucks, and motorcycles. The "Bub Motorcycle Speed Trials" are for motorcycles only. World records are contested at the Mike Cook ShootOut in September. The Southern California Timing Association and the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association organizes and plans the multi-vehicle events, but all event promoters contribute to prepping and maintaining the salt. "Speed Week" events in August were canceled for the second year in a row in 2015, due to poor conditions of the salt in certain parts of the flats. The salt flats had been swamped by heavy rains earlier in the year, which usually happens, but the rains also triggered mudslides from surrounding mountains and onto a section of the flats used for the land-speed racing courses.


Multimedia

1950's
[Pennzoil Film]
Download [Pennzoil Film] from the Internet Archive - 222MB - 9:47
1960's
[Mobil Bonneville]
Download [Mobil Bonneville] from the Internet Archive - 124MB - 5:28
31 August 1965
[0493 Land Speed Tests Footage]
Filmed for Mobil
Download [0493 Land Speed Tests Footage] from the Internet Archive - 1.0GB - 8:27
29 Septmeber 1965
[Mobil Oil unidentified footage]
Download [Mobil Bonneville] from the Internet Archive - 205MB - 9:04
DateMedia or Collection Name & DetailsFiles
1933Film of Endurance
Metropolitan Motion Picture Company

Topic Page
- 159MB - 7:04


Article Index

DateArticleAuthor/Source
22 July 2011URGENT SEMA ACTION NETWORK ALERT: The Bonneville Salt Flats Are Being Destroyed – Help Save the Salt!SEMA Action Network
30 September 2011URGENT REGULATORY ALERT: Federal Government Proposes Mandatory Salt Replenishment Program for Bonneville Salt FlatsSEMA Action Network
22 February 2016Drawing a Line in the Salt: British Customs Honors the Bonneville Salt Flats in their Ongoing Legends SeriesBritish Customs


Comic Books

Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 3 Front Cover Front Cover: Hot Rods and Racing Cars #3, March 1952
View Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 3 Front Cover - 1.0MB
Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 Hitting the Trap at Bonneville
Hot Rods and Racing Cars #4, May 1952
View Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 - 1.0MB
Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 Hitting the Trap at Bonneville
Hot Rods and Racing Cars #4, May 1952
View Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 - 1.0MB
Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 Hitting the Trap at Bonneville
Hot Rods and Racing Cars #4, May 1952
View Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 - 1.0MB
Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 Hitting the Trap at Bonneville
Hot Rods and Racing Cars #4, May 1952
View Hot Rods and Racing Cars: Issue 4 - 1.0MB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 513KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 545KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 540KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 506KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 596KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 525KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 495KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 532KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 569KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 506KB
Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 Clint Curtis at the Bonneville National Championships
Hot Rod Comics #4, August 1952
View Hot Rod Comics: Issue 4 - 514KB
Hot Rod and Speedway Comics: Issue 2 Pancake Alley
Hot Rod and Speedway Comics #2, September 1952
View Hot Rod and Speedway Comics: Issue 2 - 300KB
Hot Rod and Speedway Comics: Issue 2 Pancake Alley
Hot Rod and Speedway Comics #2, September 1952
View Hot Rod and Speedway Comics: Issue 2 - 322KB
Hot Rod and Speedway Comics: Issue 3 Stacked for Speed
Hot Rod and Speedway Comics #3, December 1952
View Hot Rod and Speedway Comics: Issue 3 - 983KB
Speed Demons: Issue 8 If at First You Don't Succeed...
Speed Demons: Issue 8, November 1957
View Speed Demons: Issue 8 - 939KB
Speed Demons: Issue 8 If at First You Don't Succeed...
Speed Demons: Issue 8, November 1957
View Speed Demons: Issue 8 - 944KB





The Crittenden Automotive Library