ECTA schedules an event on THE SALT

[studemax]

Rumor is the ECTA is going to the salt of North American Zoomland to hold a 1.5 mile timed event.
ABOUT TIME!

[oletrux4evr]

Does Pdub know about this?

[studemax]

I hope so. He's been laying low of late, so hopefully someone will alert him. For a long time I've been telling him he should head to the Great White Dyno to pay tribute - even if he doesn't drive Red. When I went in 1998, it was 8 days of the most satisfying motorsports experience I ever had. If you call yourself a hot rodder or racer - you should go at least for a day.

[studemax]

It's this weekend, guys. Who is going? Officials are already on the salt, prepping the mile long course.

[DanStokes]

Sorry I missed this thread. Couldn't get to Bonneville for this but......

[studemax]

As I understand, it went off reasonably well - but I can find no results on the ECTA website.

[Red_Kitty]

Attended the inaugural ECTA Bonneville Mile street car (vehicle) event, and had a great time! A long drive out from Detroit, so I took the minivan and raced that! Not a big group, with about half the cars being C6-C8 Corvettes and a couple of bikes as well. The 1.5 mile course was set up close to the end of the access road so spectators could easily see what was gong on, with about 3/4 mile either side of "Lands End". Fastest pass of the weekend was a supercharged C7 that ran 213mph, followed by an S10 that ran 201mph. Speeds improved all weekend as the drivers got used to the surface and learned how to manage traction. By the end of the event there were a few more cars in the high 190s, and a tuned Acura TLX sedan that ran 170mph. "Greatest Roadtrip" award went to the two guys who drove from Alabama in a 31 Ford with a 350 Chevy, that ran in the 140s. Minivan hit a governor at 122mph. Some pictures from the event:

[studemax]

Outstanding! Thanks for the excellent report from an experienced record setter. Was this your first time on the salt, RedKitty?

[Red_Kitty]

Was this your first time on the salt, RedKitty?

Yes, first time on the salt. For me it was a research trip to learn how the venue looks and works, what racing on salt is like, and discover Wendover and the surrounding area, to be better prepared for a future event.

One surprise we had was that (unusually) the course got better and smoother over the weekend, as we were running wide street tires that seemed to flatten the bumps and not cut into the surface in the way that skinny tires might.

Not your regular Bonneville tires!:



Results just posted:

[studemax]

Did you clean the bottom of your SUV off with a sprinkler, not a pressure washer?

[Red_Kitty]

Did you clean the bottom of your SUV off with a sprinkler, not a pressure washer?

Yes, rinsed it off underneath afterwards, no pressure washer.

[DanStokes]

Yes, rinsed it off underneath afterwards, no pressure washer.

As a sorta Salt Rat (I volunteered for 7 years in Impound which included 5 meets) be aware that you have salt in places you didn't know you even had. Wash, rinse, repeat repeatedly. There are tales of folks finding salt INSIDE their U-joints! It gets everywhere and real salt cars are taken completely apart after each meet. I'll note that it depends on the salt in any given year as it acts differently depending on moisture, phase of the moon, whether or not a butterfly flapped it's wings in Brazil, etc.