Like a parent cautioning their kids not to get too wound up over some positive news, the SCTA is reporting on their FB page that after searching and scouring the salt for days on end, they have discovered a patch which is large enough to support two courses, the longest of which could have up to three timed miles for competitors. We do not know how short the other course would be but we’re guessing somewhere near half that distance. This news comes on the heels of another statement made by the SCTA that they were going to give a final go/no-go call on Speed Week 2015 by July 22nd to prevent people from having to begin towing from home only to see the event cancelled. On the same day, the SCTA posted a note on their FB asking people to vote as to whether they would attend the race if there were only a single course to run on. That was also a potential scenario that was brought up. In recent years, up to five courses have been used to the delight of competitors but it is not unusual looking into Bonneville history to run a meet on a single course.
What’s the bottom line? There is still hope and the SCTA is actively on the salt every single day trying to do what they believe it right for everyone involved. This is a good thing. They are not relying on anything other than their own eyes and feelings of the condition of the surface. Yesterday’s news item was doom and gloom and it spread far and wide. While it was an honest assessment, it was still pretty ugly and while the news coming from the SCTA is now somewhat optimistic if we can’t go all the way to positive, we’ll take it. While a short course would not yield the massive speeds that the “heavy guns” are preparing for, it would still give people the chance to race and get after it. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Here’s a sampling of the SCTA’s FB communications:
Posted 2:30 on Monday afternoon:
Speed Week 2015
Not cancelled yet, but? Seems like Mother Nature is still not cooperating with us.
The SCTA/BNI met yesterday, July 12, to discuss contingency plans. We will make a final decision on Speed Week no later than July 22nd. We can tell you how it is now, but not how it will be in 10 days.
Our advance team spent the July 4th weekend on the Bonneville Salt Flats trying to find adequate salt to conduct the 2015 Speed Week event; unfortunately without much success. A portion of the courses were still underwater and other areas were suffering from rough and /or muddy salt. A pretty good analysis appeared recently in the Salt Lake City newspaper (see link below) You can see the “Mudflow” on Google Satellite Maps.
While staying optimistic, when and if the entire area dries, we are hoping to find the 7 Miles of dry/smooth salt necessary for the event. The plan is to visit the Salt again on July 20th to assess the situation. It will likely involve attempting to drag/prep some courses.
We are also considering the feasibility of having a “Short course only” event if we are able to find 4 miles of good course. We would like to know how many folks might come for such an event. I will post a survey shortly.
Posted on Monday at 9:30pm (eastern)
I have confirmed that there will be more than one course…The longest will be a minimum of 3 mile timed
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