If you haven't figured it out yet, one of my destinations of this trip was the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats. The area is a densely packed salt pan four miles east of Wendover, Utah; it's certainly large enough for racing, with an area of 40 square miles. To get there, take exit 4 off of I-80 in Utah, head north past the Sinclair and Salt Flats Cafe (but be sure to go there on your way out for some fantastic and cheap Mexican food), and bear right at the fork; you're now on the straight-as-an-arrow Bonneville Speedway Road, which ends in a little under four miles.


I happened to visit Bonneville while they were preparing for the annual "World of Speed" racing event. There was a small area under several inches of water before getting back on dry salt, but if Freightliner trucks, RVs, and an old Buick LeSabre in front of me was able to make it through, I figured I could too. It's several miles from the end of Bonneville Speedway Road to reach the pits and spectator area. There were many different machines, including a number of production vehicles (such as my own, other personal vehicles, even a Toyota Prius and Chevy Aveo), smaller trucks, large tractor-trailers, RVs, and even motorcycles and mopeds.


And then there were the racing vehicles -- old roadsters, production cars from the 60s and 70s, cars with modified engines and other parts, streamliners, and even a rocket car Why can't Hertz rent those out?? I wasn't going to break Gary Gabelich's Bonneville record of 622.407 mph, which he set in 1970 in the rocket-powered "Blue Flame", but I did reach 105 mph on the salt and had some fun doing donuts at lower speed. I also met a couple of guys from the "200 Club", meaning they've broken records and/or driven past 200 miles per hour, and I bought a "Save the Salt" hat, with the money going towards preserving the salt flats.


In my opinion, if you are ever given the opportunity to drive out on the Bonneville Salt Flats -- the place where land speed records are set -- don't take your own car. Especially since we all know that the fastest cars with the best brakes are rental cars However, it was recommended that after driving out on the salt I should wash the bottom of the car by putting a hose under it and moving it back a little every 30 minutes or so; since I don't have a hose, I went to a local do-it-yourself car wash here in SLC and spent an extra 10 minutes below the car with a power hose.


My final note on this tangent is that the Subaru performed extraordinarily. It maintained great traction even at the higher speeds, and with the traction control off I had a blast. I think an Impala would have been a hoot out there, and I don't think I would have dared take anything from the Adrenaline Collection onto the salt


-J.