Wither Bonneville? (part 6 of 6)

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The early 60's saw a shootout for the World Land Speed Record where the piston motors would forever be separated out from the ultimate speed fight. Jet engines replaced piston motors and the unlimited record exploded upwards from 394 mph to 600 mph. Names like Craig Breedlove, Art and Walt Arfons dominated the record books. Gary Gabelich climbed in the Blue Flame rocket car in 1970 and although he never knew it, became the last American to hold record with a 622 mph average.

In a valiant attempt to keep the spotlight focused on the traditional, wheel-driven efforts, brothers Bob and Bill Summers uncorked a 409 mph average on November 12, 1965, with "Goldenrod." A brilliantly engineered and executed streamliner, it was powered by four fuel-injected in-line Chrysler Hemi's, coupled together in pairs, back-to-back together putting out more than 2,400 horsepower.

The Jets weren't the only threat. It was becoming clear that after decades of mining, the salt was shrinking and worse, becoming wafer-thing in spots. Racers banded together to form the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) in an effort to stage more racing on the flats in order to "keep an eye on things."

Later,"Save the Salt" a non-profit organization was created that eventually prevailed in getting business to start putting the salt back where they got it after they extracted various minerals. The five-year test project is already producing positive, restorative results. If the trend continues, it may be possible to bring back World Records cars to the salt, but the group struggles to survive financially.

Britain's Richard Noble, stripped Bonneville of its prominence when in 1983, he set a new World Land Speed Record of 633.468 miles per hour on Nevada's Black Rock Desert and then RAF pilot Andy Green pushed the mark to 763 mph in 1997 over the same piece of real estate. Bonneville, like Daytona Beach before it, had "been replaced" as the site for ultimate LSR attempts.

The fastest car on the salt in 1999 was white-haired Don Vesco, 61, who reminds you of an adolescent Beaver Cleaver, not a guy closing in on social security benefits. Together with his brother Rick, they set Top Speed of the 1999 season of 438 mph with Turbinator, a 31-foot turbine-powered, wheel-driven streamliner.

Current World Land Speed Record holder for wheel-driven cars, Al Teague (409mph), believe the brothers stand an excellent chance to topple his record. What's more, he is cheering them on. Only at Bonneville, only in land speed racing will you find one competitor heartily supporting another to beat them.

As the young men who had pioneered salt racing evolved into "seniors speed citizens" their children and even grand childredn took up the speed chase, donning helmets and strapping in to take their turn down the long, black line. The roster for the fast families include, among others, Lindsley, Kugel, Burke, Miller, Cook, Martin, Arnet, Vesco, Thayer, Rochlitzler, White, Stringfellow, Fergusen, Temple, Arias, Batchelor, Hammond, Dolan, Jeffries, and Sable.

Land Speed Racing is a hypnotic magnet. It has attracted participants come from all over the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England and Japan. Among them, great names from every other segment of motorsports: Phil Hill, Sterling Moss, Don Garlits, A.J. Foyt, Paul Newman, the Unsers.

They do it all for bragging right, a timing slip and maybe, a trophy. Sponsorships? Ha! Most Bonneville racers dig down deep into their own pockets make their dreams a reality. A rare, thriving slice of Americana, it embraces a wide, cross-section of the population and will remain an evocative slice of American life for as long as the amateur racers, their kit and kin, continue to contribute.