Bonneville salt flats

[lowdrag]

Over the years, I have much travelled, including the Daytona 24 hours, Watkins Glen, Sears Point and Laguna Seca to name just a few in the USA. Add on Killarney in South Africa, Bathurst in Australia and I think most if not all of the circuits in Europe and you get an idea.

But I have one itch yet to be scratched, and with anno domini I need to do it soon. So, I am looking for advice about going to Bonneville. I wrote to the organisers several times and never received a reply. I sent copies of my press passes, everything, yet silence prevailed. If there is someone here who can point me to how the system works, what it takes to find accommodation, what tickets and so on are needed, and all the rest of the gubbins I would be most grateful.

Thanking you in advance.

[bimsb6]

Are you looking to race or just visit ?

[lowdrag]

Just visit, take photos, and write an article. I have t lenses up to 600mm, plus adapters which can take me out to nearly 1000mm.

[matt21]

I went last week. Just turned up, follow signs and the road stops. You can then just head out into the salt, even the speedway section as long as nothing was going on.

In the distance were a load of tents setting up for an event but a few cars including me drive around minding our own business. Was probably one of the best places I’ve been to ever

Stay in Salt Lake City. It’s about 90mins away, not much any closer. It’s a cool city

[lowdrag]

Does that still apply for Speed Week? That is what I am wanting to see. Sorry for being vague at the outset.

[parabolica]

Pretty sure it's free to attend even during speed week; Roadkill's David Freiburger posts about it quite a bit throughout the year as he's usually there. I'm sure I've seen a Roadkill Extra or IG clip where someone's asked him about attending to spectate and he said it was free to do.

[SturdyHSV]

parabolica said:

Pretty sure it's free to attend even during speed week; Roadkill's David Freiburger posts about it quite a bit throughout the year as he's usually there. I'm sure I've seen a Roadkill Extra or IG clip where someone's asked him about attending to spectate and he said it was free to do.

I'd certainly imagine it would be quite hard to police spectators if it wasn't free, you're going to have to set up quite a lot of barriers quite far away to keep people from watching

[lowdrag]

Thanks everyone. I'll look into accommodation and flights for the pair of us.

[matt21]

https://saltflats.com

[bimsb6]

matt21 said:

I went last week. Just turned up, follow signs and the road stops. You can then just head out into the salt, even the speedway section as long as nothing was going on.

In the distance were a load of tents setting up for an event but a few cars including me drive around minding our own business. Was probably one of the best places I’ve been to ever

Stay in Salt Lake City. It’s about 90mins away, not much any closer. It’s a cool city

We did the same a couple of years back , we left piles of salt everywhere we parked for the next week or so . We were passing through and stayed in elko just up the road (nothing to see there )bizarrely as we walked across the road to a pizza place a random guy walking past offered to sell me a bag of spanners lol , its a working mining town so is a little rough .

[aeropilot]

lowdrag said:

Thanks everyone. I'll look into accommodation and flights for the pair of us.

Renting a RV and doing a road trip is probably the best bet.

Accomodation in West Wendover etc can be an issue, as its very limited being in the middle of well, now where!

Also, bear in mind, the state of the salt is very patchy now, so best laid plans and money spent can be shot to hell come the time.

Spend a few hours (or days) searching through the various Speed Week threads on some of the US Hot Rod forums for tips and hints of how to do speed week.

Such as here....

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/forums/the-hok...

And yes, its high on my bucket list of things to do before its too late

[lowdrag]

Thanks for that. I remember ticking another off the bucket list a few years back and went to the classic weekend at Watkins Glen. A fabulous week, hot and dry, a chance to do the old road circuit and to watch the Bugattis racing in town, and then to the circuit for the racing. Saturday, I had already chosen my vantage point and set myself up for some serious photography. 2pm, the start of the grid with the E-types etc, and suddenly some big rain drops splashed on my face. I rushed back to the car and waited for the storm to pass. And waited and waited. It did pass - 36 hours later. All racing was abandoned. The best laid plans of mice and men huh? The second photo always makes me chuckle. Up near the great lakes hunting is a big sport, and also the archery championships are held there. The winner of each class has the right to leave his mark by firing an arrow into the log wall of the hotel. There is now a "plimsoll line" and they must fire above that, because one year an arrow went between the logs, straight across the kitchen and finished quivering in the wall next to the chef's head.