Bonneville and the First Speed Week

The Bonneville Salt Flats in western Utah had already earned a reputation as a place for the fastest machines on Earth. Utah's own Ab Jenkins used the salt for endurance and speed runs in the 1930s, and in 1935 Britain's Sir Malcolm Campbell became the first driver to exceed 300 miles per hour there in his Blue Bird.

Those were large, well-funded efforts. What changed in 1949 was who came to run. That year, the Southern California Timing Association held its first Bonneville National Speed Trials, opening the salt to the same kind of grassroots builders who had been running on the California dry lakes.

More room, more speed

The salt offered far longer courses than the lakebeds, and with it the chance to pursue higher speeds. Streamliners and lakesters — some built around surplus aircraft drop tanks — became symbols of the era's ingenuity.

Speed Week continues to be held on the salt each summer, conditions permitting. In recent decades, concerns about the thinning salt crust have become a recurring topic among racers and conservation advocates alike.