Responding to calls from racers in the land speed racing community, the Save the Salt Coalition and the Utah Alliance announced the rollout of an all-volunteer salt saving program –“Saving Bonneville, One Wheel at a Time.”
Developed to keep the salt crust where it belongs – on the playa – the program is a combined joint effort of all active race-sanctioning bodies:
- Southern California Timing Association
- Utah Salt Flats Racing Association
- Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials
- Land Speed Events
Beginning with the 2017 racing season, each of the above racing organizations will erect a special clean-off area adjacent to where the paved access road terminates and vehicles transition onto the salt crust. Marked by the Save the Salt/Utah Alliance banner, the area will remind racers to do their part to save the salt by stopping to scrape off built-up salt from wheel wells, bumpers and undercarriages, leaving the salt behind as they leave – every time.
Many racers and spectators, both American and international, are troubled by the declining size and thickness of the International Speedway. This has forced some racers to abandon world record attempts at the iconic Bonneville Salt Flats and pursue other sites – some outside the U.S. altogether.
“What can we do?” has been their clarion call. This program answers with a small but meaningful way for individuals who enjoy land speed racing to make an immediate, positive impact. In addition, the program 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.
The Bonneville Salt Flats has been a stellar amateur human performance laboratory for more than a century bringing international acclaim and interest to a once pristine Utah desert. This natural wonder needed about 11,000 years to develop. Land speed racers have used it respectfully for nearly 70 years, while warning government officials for decades that its federal land use policies have brought serious damage to the racing venue.
Article courtesy Speedville.
