Bonneville Speedweek 2020

Every year in August, folks travel from across the world to gather in the hot desert of Utah to participate in “Bonneville Speedweek,” a week worth of landspeed record attempts. As this was my first time there, I looked at it as a good opportunity to learn a few things. This blog post captures that (and hopefully helps someone else avoid any mistakes I made).

Getting Into Speedweek

First off, getting into Speedweek has become a bit of a challenge due to COVID-19. While the purchase of an entry is straightforward and quick, everyone must sign a COVID waiver, indemnifying Speedweek in the event a participant contracts the virus there. For some reason, that required parking a vehicle and walking to a release form tent, signing and form, and picking up a stylish green bracelet. Due to the limited number of available parking spaces, this caused significant delays. While I only waited 45 minutes (at about noon Saturday), some people waited up to 3 hrs! The big challenge with Speedweek (in my opinion) is that there is little coordination between the various sites (SCTA, Bonneville Salt Flats, etc.). It’s just difficult to find information.

But once you’re in, Speedweek is amazing! First of all, it’s just salt and sky for miles:

Blue Skies And Lots Of It

But on top of that, it’s vehicles and vehicles forever:

Sweet Ride

Not Just The Big Top – It’s a Three-Ringed Circus

In my opinion, Speedweek is really three different shows, all going on at once:

  1. It’s Speedweek, with all sorts of vehicles taking off from three different starting points to run three different tracks.
  2. It’s the scene in the pits, with the opportunity to visit with the racers and their crews–who are incredibly friendly and always ready to talk about their cars and their experiences (well, with some exceptions – some racers really go out of their way to avoid talking).
  3. It’s also a rolling classic car show, with all sorts of hot rods, rat rods, and restored cars running around.

Come Prepared

The salty desert isn’t something to fool around with. Throughout the day, Bonneville’s temporary FM radio station continuously announced the weather. The temperature was 84 when I arrived, with a 4% humidity. By the time I left at 6, the temperature had climbed to 94 degrees. That dehydrates a human quickly! I brought a two-gallon Thermos filled with ice water. I easily drank 4 24-ounce insulated mugs of water, laced with NUUN electrolyte tablets. And at the end of the day, I never used the restrooms. So bring water, and lots of it.

The salt is, well, white… A very reflective white. I wear a pair of glacier glasses designed for mountaineering, specifically for crossing snowfields in bright sunlight. They were literally just on the edge of sufficient. When you visit, bring eye protection!

But it’s not just your eyes you need to protect, it’s also your skin. I applied a double-dose of 50 spf sunscreen, just to be sure I had good coverage. I also applied it well up into my shorts, due to the reflection off the salt. I wore a white, long-sleeved tech tee, and a wide-brimmed hat. That made it bearable.

Hot Sun

Listen Up

Every year, a temporary FM radio station pops up at Bonneville, with the latest info on who’s running what track. This year it is broadcasting on 98.3 FM. Bring a small radio and keep it on, so you can catch on to who’s running what track. Spectators line up along the track boundary between the start line and the pits, which gives the opportunity to watch the racers pass by. If you want to catch a 400-mph streamliner in action, you need to know when it’s on its way!

Getting Around

There are three things you need to understand about the layout for Speedweek:

  1. The campground has porta-potties supplied. It is essentially at mile 0 off the freeway (well, maybe a mile in).
  2. The start line is 5 miles in from the freeway
  3. The pits are another 3-4 miles out from the freeway

Bottom line: Speedweek is not for walking. Most attendees either drive between the start line and the pits, or they bring a vehicle (one or two bicycles, but mostly tote goats, pit bikes, or smaller motorcycles, with the occasional ATV/UTV thrown in). I had my purpose-bought recumbent bicycle in the truck, and used that to cruise around the pits whenever I was out there.

Wait, Where Did They Go?

I quickly realized I was going it all wrong… Racers race early in the morning, mid-afternoon, and sometimes toward evening. I was in the pits the entire time racers were lining up at the start line. As soon as I headed to the start, the racers were on their way back to the pits. That’s why listening to the FM broadcast is a good idea, but the other tip is to follow the people. If the start line is packed, it’s because there are racers there. If the pits are empty… You get the picture.

Power Is Beautiful

My take-away from Speedweek is this: power is stunningly beautiful, and there are a thousand ways to make an engine beautiful!

Horse Maker

Even a supercharger can look gorgeous under the hood!

Or try this out for eye candy… This motorcycle appears to be powered by a 3.0L Cummins diesel engine!

8080478

I mean, that sounds absolutely absurd but in fact it’s a thing of beauty (and much quieter than you’d expect). The sound of the turbo spooling up was especially cool!

This truck (from Perry, UT – just up the road from me) demonstrates the attention to detail that can result not only in a reliable runner, but a work of mechanical art:

Power is Beauty

Of course, it’s the streamliners which catch everyone’s attention.

Streamliner

Power and speed are all relative, too… This 100cc 2-stroke lay-down motorcycle may have only hit 64 MPH, but what 2-stroke that small do you know that can accomplish that?

Except When Power Isn't Everything

And it’s not always the newest vehicles that make the best entrants, as witnessed by these two Harley’s (the first from the 30’s and the second from the 40’s):

Old Tech is Still Fast Tech

Harley Speed

In the end, my time on the salt was really rewarding. I learned a few lessons out of the gate tho:

  1. Unless you plan a few days and wait it out, no matter what lens is on your camera you’re going to want a different one. I was trying to shoot in the pits but also capture cars on the long track, which meant I had a tele on when I needed a wide, and vice-versa.
  2. I got some advice to expose for highlights and bring the shadows up in post – that worked out well for me. I also shot 5-frame, 2-stop HDR, which worked when the subject was still.
  3. However, on video I neglected to bump up the underexposure. That caused some challenges on the video (I process video in KDENLive, which allows me to adjust exposure but which isn’t as good as Lightroom).
  4. You have to be outgoing if you want a picture. Walk up to a team, introduce yourself. Ask questions. Be polite and ask permission to shoot. Most teams are really outgoing and friendly, and will welcome you openly.
  5. Bring food. I was surprised, there were a few places serving but for the most part food and water are tough to come by.
  6. Bring shade and a chair. I had a recumbent bike to “sit” on most of the day, but finding shade was a challenge. Next time, I’ll bring a canopy and set it up off the race line, with my truck nearby as home base. I’ll make excursions from there to the pits or the track.

Above all, come to Bonneville looking for amazing cars and for the opportunity to experience the most incredible mechanical art humans have ever built!

Chevy Power

8080538-HDR

But don’t forget to take some time to look around and admire the natural beauty that God provided as an environment for this experience, too.

8080539-HDR-Pano

See all my photos from Bonneville Speedweek 2020 here.

3 thoughts on “Bonneville Speedweek 2020

  1. film says:

    Thank you for your blog. Really looking forward to read more. Great. Belinda Tadeo Gayn

    1. john says:

      Thanks, Belinda! I’m having fun writing it, sharing my experience, and hope it’s entertaining and educational at the same time..

  2. film says:

    This is a same weighty post. Thanks instead of posting this. Idette Niki Sihon

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