Wither Bonneville? (part 1 of 6)

Thanks to the Ice Age, we were given the Bonneville Salt Flats upon which thousands of land speed racers have enjoyed nearly a century of high-speed, record-setting fun and excitement. The world's biggest racetrack, some 4,214 feet above sea level, is also the world's largest natural "dynamometer."

Located immediately east of the Nevada-Utah border town of Wendover, the vast, ancient lake bed is a stark, glistening white plain that was once covered by a body of water 135 miles wide by nearly 325 miles long. Much smaller today, the Bonneville Salt Flats remain an awe-inspiring geologic phenomenon where after a rainstorm full, 180-degree, vivid rainbows appear. Mother Nature left some 6,000 acres of "flat track" that is so hard that it takes a two-handed, half-inch drill to bore through the rock hard, concrete-like surface.

Bonneville was first "discovered" by bicyclists, and then motorcycle racers as the country entered the 20th century. The First Race, in 1914, came about when racing promoter Ernie Moross brought a fleet of eight racing machines to Salt Lake City. He convinced the local racing community that a speed event on the flats would bring welcome attention to Utah using his roving "motor circus."

The jewel in Moross's stable was the mighty 2.5-liter, 300-horsepower record-setting Blitzen Benz, once driven by Barney Oldfield, but now under the command of "Terrible" Teddy Tetzlaff, a noted lead foot of the day. Billie Carlson, Harry Goetz and Wilbur D'Alene drove a collection of Marmon Wasps and Maxwells.

Since there was no road across the flats the railroad was tapped to transport the cars to the salt. Ads in the local papers announced the August 11th event:

"A hair-raising, thrilling, soul-gripping speed contest. This run is not phony - everything is square, honest and above board. Bring your own watches and check up on the official timers. You'll get the kick of a lifetime!"

Timing was done with a series of stopwatches, according to AAA Contest Board rules, but many spectators also brought their own, so nearly two dozen watches were snapped on the cars. On Tetzlaff's first attempt, he matched "Wild Bob" Burman's world record speed exactly, but in less time, only 25 2/5 seconds - a 1/5 of a second quicker than Burman. Tetzlaff's half-mile speed was even higher - 142.8 mph!

- continued