Bonneville salt flats cars2/11/2024 For the fastest cars - those capable of going over 400 mph - the only comparable spot is a dry lakebed in the middle of the Western Australian desert. And aside from the Bonneville Salt Flats, there aren’t many places where they can practice. There’s little prize money or sponsorship, so most racers have regular jobs. By the early 1900s, speed enthusiasts had begun testing their cars on the hard wide-open surface, and over the years, faster cars were built and new records set.īut land speed racing remained largely a niche sport. The massive lake covering central Utah began drying up, leaving behind a vast expanse of salt. The Bonneville Salt Flats formed roughly 12,000 years ago in the waning days of the last ice age. Youngblood prayed she wouldn’t flip as her car spun one 360 after another. Her speed had caused the car’s back wheels to lift just enough to lose traction - a common occurrence on the crunchy, snow-like surface. “Such an animal of a car,” she thought, feeling the wind whipping over the open cockpit. When the starter’s hand dropped, Youngblood floored the accelerator until the car’s turbo-charged engine was revving at 170 miles per hour. After two seasons plagued by cancellations, she was just thrilled to race again. On the start line, Youngblood had other things to think about. The sturdy salt crust that racers rely on is deteriorating, and though the precise cause remains unknown, the changes have revealed the surprising fragility of the landscape - and raised questions over whether or not it can be saved. For the last couple of years, however, most of the races have been canceled due to poor conditions. Land speed racers from around the world have long flocked to the Salt Flats near the Utah-Nevada border, whose 30,000 acres offer a perfect testing ground for their specialized cars and motorcycles. Youngblood, 44, is one of the world’s top female land speed racers, a tribe of amateur racecar drivers made famous by the 2005 film, The World’s Fastest Indian. It was day four of Speed Week, a series of speed trials held on the glittering white plain every August, and Youngblood wanted to set a new record. Ali Youngblood sat in the driver’s seat of her blue Ford roadster, inching toward a start line drawn across the Bonneville Salt Flats.
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