World of Speed: Part III

After the initial shock of being at THE Bonneville Speedway you get acclimated pretty quickly.  It helps that almost everyone is so dang nice - even the folks who are having a really bad day.

World of Speed 2012: Part II

 

We drove out onto the salt flat, slowly crunching our way toward the line of brightly colored objects about a mile off.  As we approached the line the objects began to differentiate themselves: cars, trucks, motorhomes, motorcycles, trailers and people took shape.  Most of the vehicles were lined up in two lines that stretched for about a quarter mile each and terminated a couple hundred yards apart.

We parked, administered sunscreen and headed toward the nearest lineup.  Davide and Karin seemed slightly giddy, like they were not quite convinced that they were actually standing on the same salt that had borne Burt Munro, Malcolm Campbell and Craig Breedlove.  The weather was amazing- warm but not too hot, with heavy clouds that cut the brutal reflection off the salt and made for dramatic photo backdrops.

The speedways at Bonneville are usually two black lines on the salt that start very near each other but head slightly apart as they get further away; they would form a 'V' if you looked down from a plane.  One track is longer (five miles I think) for high speed runs and the other is shorter, for the slower (like under 150MPH or so) runs.  I say 'usually' because when the salt is just right the organizers sometimes add a third track a few miles away.  There were only two tracks this time out.

Better Late Than Never: World of Speed 2012

So I got WAY off track with my posts at the end of last year... I finished up the 2012 Meet report and then dropped into a wormhole of work.  I skipped some stuff.

The biggest thing I skipped was a whirlwind trip to World of Speed at Bonneville.

Ebay Watch: Gasser Heaven - Dual Draggin' Wagons

While Crosleys never achieved the must-have gasser status of Willys or Fiat Topolinos,  there was no shortage of Crosleys (well, bodies) on the track back in the heyday of drag racing.  One look at a Crosley sedan told the early drag racers all they needed to know: that thing was smaller, lighter and more aerodynamic than whatever '20s/'30s/'40s body they had in place.  If Crosley wagons weren't quite as light, they were easier to find, so many of them made their way to the track and the salt flats.