Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

    My brother and I are planning on going to Speedweek at Bonneville this fall. I have never been there and have no idea where to start. I would appreciate any input from anybody, what are the MUST BE THERE days? Do they run bikes and cars on different days? Do they run different classes on different days?

    Thanks in advance!

  • #2
    Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

    I would say every day. Here are some tips for racers from the landracing.com website from someone who has been there a time or two. This is geared towards racers but would apply to anyone.

    1. Drive across the Salt to the Floating Mountain or the Silver Island range along the near northwest side of the Salt. The race course is located where the salt is thickest. It’s all downhill (literally) from there. What looks like nice hard salt may be only ½” thick. Under that is hundreds of feet of soft, gooey, wet mud. Figure on a $1000 tow bill to get a wrecker with a very long winch cable out from town to pull you out. This problem doesn’t seem to exist at the “Road’s End” area, fortunately.)
    2. Go out there without plenty of liquids to drink, sunscreen and a good hat.
    3. Exceed the posted speed limits in town. When they say 30 mph they don’t mean 35, 39 or 40 like back home.
    4. Go loose on hotel and motel behavior – Like rebuilding your transmission in the bathtub.
    5. Soil your own “house” At the event – Make proper use of dumpsters and portajons or “pack it in/pack it out”. It’s NOT OK to leave it on the Salt just because it’s organic (nut shells, orange peels, cigarette butts, dog droppings, etc.). If there is no official disposal tank for oil and/or antifreeze then take it home with you. If this means a special trip into town to buy some 5 gallon cans and a funnel; well, so be it. Whatever you do, don’t pour it into the portajons or just dump it anywhere. THIS IS A REAL HOT BUTTON ISSUE!!
    6. Drive around near the race course. (This event covers an area 12 miles long by approximately 4 miles wide.) There are observers spread out. All have radios. If they see anyone out where they don’t belong they call into the timing tower and very often this stops the meet. Real nuisance and big embarrassment for the subject of the action.
    7. Turn on your CB radio to the race channel and then sit on it so the “Transmit” button is continuously depressed. (keyed on) Kind of wrecks the CB communications for everyone else.
    8. Smoke while visiting a racer’s pit. (Alcohol fires are invisible) And some folks who you’re visiting there may really dislike the smell of tobacco smoke; but are either too nice or too busy to say anything about it.
    9. Turn your kids (or adults) loose to race around the pits on a go cart or minibike.
    10. Park your car in the middle of a pit entrance area or blocking the entrance into a racer’s pit area.
    11. Do your own impromptu speed run, race meet or time trial somewhere on the Salt away from the race course. During the period of the event that is BIG TIME illegal!! There’s a maximum 55 mph speed limit everywhere outside pits and other marked areas.
    12. Discard or lose anything anywhere on the Salt that could damage a tire. Please understand that the race course can be set up in a wide variety of locations, wherever the salt is thickest and best in any given year. The piece of metal or glass trash that you left behind way far away from the course last year could end up under the tire of a 300 mph streamliner this year or next.
    13. Discard trash, soda cans, oil, chemicals, antifreeze etc. into the portajons. To the 1% who are so inclined—“Come on folks; is that really necessary?”
    14. Make “donuts” or do other sideshow stunts in the dry mud areas around the entrance road. Yeah, I know the kids from Wendover come out here in the spring and do that with their old cars and pickups. Just plain “bad form” for racers and members of our greater community.
    15. Get carried away with pyrotechnics. Fireworks at the Roads End camping area are pretty much a benign and fun tradition. There was a time many years ago when some of the more reckless and creative among us got into displays that were a little more, shall we say, “spectacular”. Given the current public attitudes toward illegal use of explosives it’s probably best to just forget about stunts that might involve large amounts of stored chemical energy (cans of gasoline, propane tanks and the like). Magnesium fires (old VW crankcases) have a special place, traditions and protocols. Ask questions first.
    16. Stay on the Salt after the sunset curfew or go out there before the 6:00 AM official opening. There is only supposed to be a small overnight security crew in the pits. The presence of anyone else or strange vehicle movement during the night will result in a radio call to the local police in Wendover and a lot of trouble for the trespasser.
    17. Drive too fast to and from the pits while the salt is wet after a rain storm. No one likes to be sprayed with salt brine.
    18. Ignore a rising wind and an approaching dark afternoon thunderstorm from the North or West. Especially if your sunshade or tarp is still up or your car windows are open. These storms can get pretty exciting. Gale force winds are common. Portajons get knocked over, E-Z-up canopies take wing and are gone in seconds, windblown salt crystals are almost intolerable in the first couple of feet above the salt surface, especially if you’re wearing shorts.
    19. Hitch rides on running boards, bumpers and truck beds. A fall from even a slow moving vehicle onto the salt can be very painful if the salt surface causes skin abrasions. This is in the same class as passing kidney stones.
    20. Ignore the burning effects of the sun. It’s like snow or water. Burns from both directions. If you are wearing shorts and hanging out near the starting line watching cars disappear across the eastern horizon in the afternoon watch out for the backs of your knees and neck. And remember Bonneville is at 4000 feet elevation. The sun shines stronger here than at sea level.
    21. Don’t bring your dog to Bonneville if there’s any other way to set up your trip. The salt surface is extremely rough on their foot pads and once the thick skin there starts to crack they’ll be miserable. The heat can be rough on them also. And for some the noises of race engines can be scary. But the worst part is their feet. I remember one year a close friend brought his basset and had made little leather boots for each foot. Helped that area pretty well. But that was the only time we saw the dog at one of the many events this fellow has been at.

    Ed Weldon




    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

      1. Sunglasses
      2. Hat
      3. One Longsleeve shirt
      4. Wearing shorts on the Salt Flats will Cook your Marbles down under. (Reflective Light).
      5. Folding Chair
      6. Water, Water, and more Water
      7. Bring a pair of Old Sandles in case it Rains. It can get 6 inches deep in an hour.
      8. Sunblock
      9. AM Radio to listen to the Track Announcer, CB if you got one.
      10. Cash
      11. Beer
      12. Food You have to drive back to town for stuff
      13. Ice Chest, because they run out of Ice at the turn in the road Gas Station
      14. Hot Chicks, we like them...
      15. Extra Batteries for the Camera.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

        If you can't keep from sitting on the mike as in #7 above (Posted by: VWMMP) don't even bring a radio. And if you hear someone sitting on the mike, repeatedly telling them on the radio is worse! If he's sitting on the mike he can't receive and won't hear the couple dozen people telling him to unkey the mike. :

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

          Bring some good walking shoes or a bike. The pits are over 2 miles long and the starting line is typically a mile or two away from where your lawn chairs might be stationed. It is brighter than any snow day you might have experienced so dark glasses are a must.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

            Went for the first time last summer. Bring sunscreen, big boonie hat, water, more sunscreen, sunglasses, water, and more sunscreen.

            Camera with long lens, and a tripod if you like to take video or pictures.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

              Are you gong to camp or get a room? The nearest rooms available are in Salt Lake 120 miles east.
              There are very few people in this world who's opinion I value, you are not one of them.

              300 in 1999

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

                I went for the first time last year, with the wife and Boy Wonder. Applied Bullfrog sunscreen to ALL surfaces right after toweling off from the morning wake-up shower.
                Didn't apply it again all day, and didn't get sunburned. And I turn a nice shade of Lobster Red if someone just says "80-degrees and sunny."

                -Brad

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

                  Need A Room?

                  Our reservation to the August Meet will be canceled this Friday, as we are going to attend the USFRA Meet in September instead (Same as lat year). If you need the room, you will have to coordinate with us to get it, otherwise we cancel it and they give the reservation to someone else.

                  Let us know.

                  Richard/Judy/MAXX2
                  MAXX2RACING

                  8) 8) 8)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

                    maxx2racing, Ia m interested in your room. I sent you an email. Please let me know.


                    Thanks!!!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Any tips for somebody planning a trip to Bonneville?

                      Forgot to add on to the list RACECAR.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X