Utah Motorsports and the Bonneville Salt Flats

Bonneville Salt Flats/Utah MotorsportsRacing Through Time

The history of Utah motorsports is peppered with a variety of classes and styles of competition from grassroots drag racing up to nationally recognized stock racing. However, the greatest of these is the long tradition of competing for land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The following is from a postcard [P0591] about the famous Utahn Ab Jenkins and the salt flats; "The Bonneville Salt Flats is a salt deposit left by the receding of ancient Lake Bonneville. This deposit covers about 159 square miles extending some nine miles along U.S. Highways 40 and 50 and the Western Pacific Railroad. The salt is white, crystalline aggregate, porous, hard and rigid so that it supports loaded trucks. In 1912 this area was tested as a race track and has since proved to be the greatests automobile speedway in the world. In 1931 Ab Jenkins of Salt lake City broke all former world speed records." In the years that followed, especially the 1950s and 1960s, the salt flats were a motorsports mecca. Today, hundreds of competitors arrive twice every year to attempt to break records. The following photographs and sounds document some of the work from the 1930s up to Speedweek, 1996.

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Salt Flats
The way the salt flats looked from U.S. 40 in 1924 is remarkably similar to how it looks today from I-80. [THOMAS ADAMS Collection, P0043]

Race car on the white salt flats with buidling strucktures and mountainous background
Meteor - Salt Flats
Meteor rolling out to begin another record attempt, 1931. 
[GEORGE SMITH Collection, P0036]

Hard Work
Hard work often pays off with more hard work. 
[CLYDE ANDERSON Collection, P0158]

 

 

A man stands beside a plane marked with the words "Mormon Meteor," showcasing a unique aviation design
Ab Jenkins
Ab Jenkins next to the tail of his record setting Mormon Meteor, 1931 -

[GEORGE ALBERT SMITH Collection, P0036]

 
 
 
 
A vintage car drives through a vast desert landscape under a clear blue sky
John Cobb
"On August 26, 1939, John Cobb became the world's automibile speed king by driving his car 369.74 mph." 
[UTAH POSTCARD Collection, P0591]
 
Several men stand around an old race car, engaged in conversation
Napier-Railton
John Cobb's Napier-Railton which held the record of 134.85 m.p.h. for a 24 hour period. 
 
A black and white image of a man inside a race car, surrounded by other people in the Salt Flats of Utah, showcasing the sleek design of the vehicle
Sir Malcolm Campbell
Sir Malcolm Campbell in 'Bluebird', circa September 1935. 
[[ALVIN G. and LENA M. PACK Collection, P0500]
 
 
A postcard depicting a vintage red and white race car parked in a vast, sunlit desert landscape with salty dunes and a clear blue sky
Mormon Meteor Postcard
[UTAH POSTCARD Collection, P0591]
 
The Blue Flame
On October 23, 1970 The Blue Flame set a world land speed record of 622.407 mph driven by Gary Gabelich. 
[UTAH POSTCARD Collection, P0591]
 
A painting of Captain G.E.T. Eyston's car racing on a road, with a vast desert landscape and mountains in the background
Captain G.E.T.
Captain G.E.T. Eyston's vechicle making a record run in 1938. 
[UTAH POSTCARD Collection, P0591]
 
 

 

 
 
 

1996 Trials

Photographs from the 1996 trials. Special thanks to Jay Mumma for use of his photographs!

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