WHAT IS BONNEVILLE?

DESCRIPTION
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a 159 square mile (412 km²) salt flat in northwestern Utah. The depth of the salt has been recorded at 6 feet (1.8 m) in many areas. A remnant of the ancient Lake Bonneville of glacial times, the salt flats are now public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is the largest of many salt flats located west of the Great Salt Lake. Rainfall each winter erases tire marks and flattens the densely-packed salt pan that is inhospitable to plants. The area is extremely flat and aligned nearly perfectly with the shape of Earth.


HISTORY
The area was named after Benjamin Bonneville, a US army officer who explored the area. The flats were first recognized for their potential as a speed-testing ground by Bill Rishel, who in 1896 had cycled across the area to win a competition run by the newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. In 1907 Rishel and two local businessmen tested the suitability of the salt for driving on by taking a Pierce Arrow onto the flats. A railway line across the Bonneville Salt Flats was completed in 1910, marking the first permanent crossing. The use of the salt flats as a speedway began in 1914 with Teddy Tetzlaff's run there which exceeded the land speed record, although the new record was not officially recognised. Rishel continued to promote the area for racing, and in 1927 Ab Jenkins raced against a train over a 125-mile (201 km) stretch between Salt Lake City and Wendover. Jenkins went on to set up a 10-mile (16 km) circular course on the salt which he used to establish 24 hour records in 1932 and 1933. The area became internationally famous in 1935 when Malcolm Campbell set a new land speed record, making him the first to break the 300 mph (480 km/h) mark. For the next 35 years, nearly all land speed records were set at the salt flats.

Data taken from Wikipedia

THE SPEEDWAY
Bonneville Speedway is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records. The salt flats were first used for motor sports in 1912, but didn't become truly popular until the 1930s when the Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell competed to set land speed records. Usually two tracks are prepared; a 5 mile long (Long course) for streamliners and a 3 mile long (Short Course) for more production-oriented cars. A third course is sometimes marked, depending on the condition of the salt surface, and is usually a short course. The straightway is marked with a broad black line down each side and has several measured mile sections after the second mile. Additional marks and cones indicate the end of the track and the position of timing equipment on the measured mile.