Latest update for SCTA:
Salt Report Thurs Aug 7th
After reviewing the conditions, it appears that the courses are drying and we expect continued improvement. The board has decided to start site cleanup on Saturday Aug 9.
Participants will be allowed onto the salt Sunday for pit selection and inspection. We hope to begin racing on Monday Aug 11, based on course conditions.
With Speed Week set to begin this weekend event organizers are keeping one eye on the track and another on the sky.
Racers from all over the world have converged on Bonneville not to race against each other but against the clock.
Sponsored by the venerable southern California timing association this will be the 65th annual Speed Week.
The salt flats were first used for motor sports in 1912, but did not become truly popular until the 1930s when Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell competed to set land speed records.
In addition to those pioneers numerous other land speed records in various vehicle categories and classes have been set on the Bonneville speed way. In 1960, Mickey Thompson became the first American to break the 400 mph barrier, hitting 406.60 mph and surpassing John Cobb’s 1947 one-way Land speed record of 403 mph.
This year along with the anticipation of records falling the threat of thunderstorms soaking the track is greater with dread.
In its last update of track conditions Wednesday afternoon the SCTA wrote: “The Bonneville Salt Flats saw a cell come over and drop some rain on the courses. The good news is that the consensus is that we will not be affected adversely. During set-up today the final grooming was finished for courses three and four. They are both very hard and look very fast. Course marking is complete on course one and nearly completed on course two. The new wheel packer was put into service today with the added weight of about 200 gallons of water, it performed well at the hands of Russ Eyres. We look forward to seeing you all on the salt. We will provide a course condition report in the morning. Stay tuned!”
However that good news could turn quickly to bad with a micro burst thunder shower at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Smaller concentrated extremely heavy down pours are not unknown at this time of year. They can drop an inch or more of water or hail in the space of half an hour over less than half a mile in circumference.
It is not uncommon to see them from a dry high way drenching a section of land half a mile away and not uncommon to be thoroughly soaked while seeing the sunshine just as far away.
Over the last 20 years Speed Week has dodged the thunder bullet. Even two years ago when he course was soaked in a down pour two weeks before the event a blistering summer sun dried up the course in time for the event. However going back to the late 1980’s inclement and badly time thunder sorts forced the cancellation of the event three years in a row.
In a late breaking development a heavy thunder sorm dumped over an inch of rain in the Wendover area Wednesday night and caused a brief power outage.
click link for latest tarack conditions: http://www.scta-bni.org/
