When I was researching for our trip out to Bonneville Speed Week, there weren’t many resources to help with planning, and I’ve since learned that some of the information was outdated or incorrect. Therefore I wanted to try my hand at an updated guide for those wishing to attend Bonneville Speed Week as spectators!
What is Bonneville Speed Week?
Speed Week is an event that happens each August (pending weather and salt conditions–both the 2014 & 2015 competitions were cancelled!) at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah.
The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) organizes Speed Week every year, and they’re the officiating body for the land speed records set at Bonneville Speed Week. Some of the cars racing this year went over 400mph!
Basically, each year two (or three) courses are set up on the salt, and vehicles are timed as they race down the salt, trying to set new land speed records for their category of car/motorcycle. If you run a qualifying pass, then your car is taken to impound (so you can’t really make modifications to it), and then the next morning you run again. The average of the two times is taken, and if it’s higher than the previous record – congratulations! You just set a new land speed record!
In the picture below, you can see three main categories of cars that race at Speed Week – roadsters, lakesters, and streamliners! Of course there are other categories of cars (and even more of motorcycles) but these are the types that have historically been run at Speed Week.
Basically, if you’re at all into cars or racing, this is an event you won’t want to miss. Watching the passes for records is only a small part of it – meeting racers and other car fanatics is a big part of the fun too!
Details
The cost of the event for spectators if $50 for the week or $20 per day (both per person). If you pay for a week, they’ll give you a button to let you back in for the rest of the week. Make sure you don’t lose it, as you’ll need to show it whenever you drive in! The racing starts on Saturday around 10am and goes until 7pm, but every other day of the week (through Friday) it goes from 7am to 7pm.
Transportation
The salt flats are basically in the middle of nowhere. Salt Lake City is a little less than a two hour drive away, and Las Vegas is about a five hour drive, so if you plan on flying, choosing one of those two cities is probably your best bet.
Taking a rental car to the salt flats is not exactly something the rental car companies encourage. It’s recommended that you don’t mention where you are going when renting a car (especially from Salt Lake City) or wear Speed Week shirts or anything else that might give it away. You’ll also want to be very careful to clean all of the salt off of and out of your car before returning it.
It’s a good idea to put down towels and maybe wrap the foot pedals in your car before you go to Speed Week to make clean up easier when you’re ready to leave the flats. In the photo above you can see a before and after to explain why this step is necessary! Be sure to get a good car wash too (the Wendover high school cross country team had power washers as you left the salt flats for $10, but we still had to go to a regular car wash as well) once you’re done driving on the salt. We found out that only one gas station (the Texaco) in Wendover/West Wendover had vacuums to clean out the interior of your car, so keep that in mind to hide all the evidence of the salt! [Edit: as of 2017 this is not a Texaco but the ‘West Wendover Sinclair gas station’… it’s located near Wendover Will].
As for transportation at the event itself, we mainly used our vehicle to get around the speedway or walked. Since it’s so hot out during the event, a better (faster) option than walking is bicycles. Of course, since we were flying we weren’t able to bring bikes, but if you’re driving maybe keep it in mind!
Lodging
There are really only a few options for lodging while attending Bonneville Speed Week. West Wendover, which is right next to Wendover but on the Nevada side of the border, is the closest place to Salt Lake City where gambling is legal, so there are lots of casinos there where it’s possible to stay. There are also a few hotels/motels in Wendover as well. However, both the casinos and hotels increase their prices during Speed Week and are also booked well in advance of the event, so make sure you book early if you want to stay in a hotel!
The other main option is camping at what’s known as “The Bend”. This is just the salt flats around the bend in the road leading to the Speedway, where people set up tents and RV’s while they attend Speed Week. This is the option we took, although sleeping in our rental car wasn’t incredibly enjoyable. Next time we’ll invest in a tent! [Edit: We brought a tent in 2017 and it was indeed much more enjoyable than sleeping in the car.]
Food
The only place to actually get food out on the salt is a food truck/trailer for the Enola Gay cafe. They have stuff like burgers, pulled pork or chicken sandwiches, etc., and it’s pretty good. Expect long lines though, and be prepared to pay cash! It’s also a good idea to have some snacks in your car out on the salt–otherwise you might end up driving into Wendover every time you get hungry!
There are several restaurants in Wendover/West Wendover, from Pizza Hut to McDonald’s to a Mexican place. As casinos everywhere do, the casinos in West Wendover have lots of restaurant options too. We had one buffet meal at a casino while we were there, which was a nice change of pace from sleeping in our car and being out on the salt!
However, those buffets can get expensive, so our favorite place to eat was actually the Prospector Cafe, which is located at the Red Garter Hotel and Casino. Believe it or not, we actually ate there when we drove through Wendover the year before! They have super cheap breakfast deals (a $4 breakfast served all day, and an $8 brunch buffet in the morning/early afternoon) that are filling and quite good. If you’re on somewhat of a budget while at Speed Week, this is the best value we found!
What’s going on?
The event can be a lot to take in, but luckily there are some resources that can help! There’s a radio broadcast that announces details about the runs on both the short and long tracks as they run. That station is 89.7 FM [Edit: in 2017 the station was 88.3 FM… it changes every year, so ask at the gate when you get your pass what the station is this year!], and tuning in while in your car is a really great way to know who’s running if you’re watching from along the track and not at the start line. Buying a program and/or record book from the SCTA is also a good way to learn more about the event–the program will show brief profiles of the vehicles racing that year, and the record book shows the current world records for different car and motorcycle categories. Plus, the money spent when you buy one or both of these from the SCTA goes to supporting the organization! Finally, if you missed any runs that day (or want to see who will be going for record return runs the next morning) you can see the daily results posted on the SCTA website each evening. All of these things can help you have a better-informed experience at Speed Week!
Battling the Elements
– The sun is bright, and the salt, reflecting back the sun, is brighter than you would expect! You will need plenty of sunscreen at Bonneville Speed Week (be sure to apply on your chin and the bottom of your nose too!), and hats with broad brims and sunglasses are NOT optional. You’re there to see the cars, so you don’t want to spend the whole time squinting! You can buy hats of all kinds and sunglasses at the flats, but you’ll pay less if you buy them before you come!
– Before we went we bought $7 lawn chairs at Wal Mart, which turned out to be a great investment! Standing around on the salt (in the heat!) is tiring, so it was nice to be able to pull up a chair to watch the action. Since we were flying back, we just left them by the dumpsters with a “free” sign on them 🙂
– It gets really hot out there, so we liked having the rental car for air-conditioned car breaks when the heat got to be too much. We could park where we could watch one of the courses and cool off, then listen to what was happening on the radio. It was a win-win!
– You should pretty much do what you would do if going to the desert – wear light-colored, breathable clothing, the hats that were mentioned, and be sure to drink lots of water!
Main Things to Do // Suggested Daily Itinerary:
Whether you just have one day at Speed Week or more than that, this is the itinerary we would suggest for your day. It gets you at the most interesting parts of Speed Week at the best times (in our humble opinions).
– Later afternoon: Walk the impound area to see which cars get to go back for records the next morning!
Other things to do near Wendover:
Since the racing ends fairly early, you may find yourself with some extra time to kill in the area. There isn’t much to do that’s as exciting as Speed Week itself, but there are a few things:
– Gambling – as I mentioned, West Wendover has tons of casinos!
– Out east of Wendover on Interstate 80 you can see the Tree of Life sculpture, which has a rather interesting backstory!
– There’s an abandoned air force base and an Air Force Museum near Wendover. The base was important in WWII, as it was the training site for the B-29 unit that carried out the atomic bombings in Japan.
– There’s a Nightly Car Show at the Nugget that really shouldn’t be missed. It’s biggest on Saturday night, but people bring their cool old hot rods and such out every night. If you’re at all interested in car culture (and considering the event you’re attending, you probably are!) then you should definitely stop by!
– We went to the movie theatre in Wendover for something to do (it was nice to escape our car for a while), but it was fairly run-down and so is not highly recommended by us. However, if you’ve run out of things to do, it’s not a terrible option!
– There’s a road near “the Bend” that goes up into the mountains nearby. Ryan and I had a nice scenic drive up there around sunset. The road is gravel and a bit rough though, so be careful, especially if you’re in a rental car!
– The unique landscape of the salt flats is great for photography! You can take interesting perspective shots of the salt, sunrise and sunset photos, and I even tried a bit of astrophotography. If you brought a camera, why not try some new things during down time at Speed Week!
In Conclusion
I went to Bonneville Speed Week because my husband always wanted to go – and I know after our trip he’s formulating plans for how he’ll race out there someday! – but I really enjoyed the experience as well. I loved taking pictures of the colorful cars against the salt, and it was so cool to see people from all over the world coming together to participate. The atmosphere is more congenial than competitive – these gearheads are united by their love of things like hot rods, spinning wrenches, and driving really, really fast! I hope this guide has been helpful to you if you’re planning a trip to Bonneville Speed Week. We just might have to go again this year…
Q&A – If you post a question in the comments I’ll do my best to answer it here!
Where do you buy spectator passes? Do children need a pass?
Spectator passes are sold at the end of the paved road–they’ll catch you before you go out to the salt. As far as I know they only take cash, so be ready with $20 for your daily fee or $50 for the full week, per person. I did check this year and they said that kids under 12 are free!
Are there people to direct you where to camp at the Bend or do you just pick a spot?
It’s pretty much a free for all–you just find a good spot to drive off the pavement, pick your spot on the salt/mud, and set up camp. We tent-camped this year and did leave our tent up the whole time we were there without any issue.
Are there porta-potties at the event for spectators’ use?
There are porta-potties at the event for spectators, but one thing to be aware of is that there is a bank of porta-potties at the Bend for the public and some of the other ones you see scattered about at the Bend were hired privately by people camping, so avoid those ones!
Do they let golf carts into the pit areas and near the courses?
Golf carts, and pretty much any other kind of vehicle–you may see some strange ones, like a giant Radio Flyer wagon, are allowed to drive up to the viewing areas for the rookie, short and long courses. You can also drive parallel to the long course for quite a ways before hitting the pits. Once you are in the pit area though, you will need to park and walk. No spectator vehicles are allowed there (bicycles might get a pass but I am not sure).
Everyone loves it when people get together and share thoughts.
Great site, keep it up!
Thank you for taking the time to write this up I found it very informative since I’ll likely be driving down from Ontario Canada in 2018.
Thanks, Jeff! I’m really glad you found it helpful, and I hope you enjoy Speed Week!
Hey very nice blog!
THANK YOU for all the information. We were planning on going out to the salt flats as part of our Utah road trip. My husband swears that he didn’t know our planned day happened to be the first day of Speed Week.
Do you have any information of where to buy spectator passes? And do children need a pass?
Thanks again for the relevant info!
Hi Karyn! I’m happy to hear the information was helpful. As far as I know, they only sell (and check) the passes on the road on the way out to the race courses on the salt flats. Since we were there for a few days last year, we paid for the full week and they gave us buttons to show. Unfortunately I am not sure if children get in free or not! The day rate is $20/person and the week rate is $50/person I believe… those are the main funds that keep the SCTA going so they can put on the event every year. Anyway, I hope you have a great time at the event! My husband and I are planning to go again this year, so maybe we will see you there!
Hi Karyn! I’m not sure if you’ve already come out or not, but I’m at Speed Week and I asked about kids today. Kids 12 & under are free, otherwise it’s the adult rates 🙂
Excellent write up. This is exactly what I have been looking for. Quick question though-
Do you just drive to the Bend and find a place to put a tent up or are there people that direct you?
Hi Gordon! You pretty much just pick a spot. 🙂 When we got there last year there were already a lot of RVs set up. Luckily there’s plenty of room for everyone on the salt flats!
I’m planning a surprise trip to Bonneville Speed Week for my husband’s 50th birthday and your block was exactly the information I needed. We’ll be coming from the UK, so I guess flying to Las Vegas will be our best option, right? Thank you.
Wow, that sounds like a really cool surprise! 🙂 I’m guessing that the Las Vegas flights will be a bit cheaper, but if you fly to Salt Lake City (which also has an international airport), it will save you 3 hours of driving each way.
Thank you, that’s really good advice ???
Obrigado! Eu só quero dizer.
hi dear ,
my name is Rosaria and i would like to have some info reguarding the next 2018 speed week..my husband would like to try the speed record on his bike but its difficult to undestand if we are on time for the inscriprions or not…we will come from Italy ….do ypou know something about ?
Here’s the website – I recommend buying a rule book so you can get a better idea of what is going on. I am fairly sure that registration is not required in advance for Bonneville Speed Week – at least we talked to several teams that registered when they got to the event, because they weren’t sure if they would make it this year or not. Either way it would be safest to pre-register!
http://www.scta-bni.org/
The AMA and FIM Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials might also be worth looking into – it’s a similar event but for motorcycles only.
https://bonnevillespeedtrials.com/
Thank you for the information .
The wife and i planning to go there in 2019.
Flight from Sweden to New York , rent an RV and drive to Bonneville Speed Week will be wonderful .
My ex wife didn`t understand but my new wife does 🙂
Wow, that sounds like a really long (and potentially really cool) road trip! Hope you can hit some national parks or something along the way. Bon voyage!
Very good article! We will be linking to this great post on our website.
Keep up the great writing.
If you don’t want to drive your car out on the salt, do they have transportation to take you into it?
I’m afraid not, or not that I know of anyway! They will have cones set up to show you where it is safe to drive so if safety is your concern I wouldn’t worry. If it’s the wear and tear (and salt!) on the car, well, there isn’t much you can do about that except clean it off really well when you leave. 🙂
Hallo!! ich einfacch möchten geben Ihnen einen big thumbs uup für die great Informationen Siie haben hier zu diesem Beitrag.
werde ich sein Rückkehr Ihre Website für mehr bald.
Thanks Laura, great information and tips.
Hi!
Parking a motorcycle over there is safe?
The salt is hard enough?
Thanks
Hi Ricardo,
You shouldn’t have any problems! If it rains to the point where the salt isn’t hard enough to race on the event will be cancelled anyway. Otherwise, the salt is quite solid.
– Laura @thexenophilelife
Thanks fornthe great info. Were booked to see the races this year.
My dad has abhard time waliking, so I was going to bring a golf cart to get him around. Do they let golf carts into the pit areas and near the courses? He has a disabled mirror hanger if that sort of access is restricted. There is no way he could do it without the ride.
Hi Philo,
I’m not sure about golf carts in the actual pit area–spectators might need to walk there. But as far as everywhere else I think the golf carts would be allowed, the same way vehicles are allowed. One thing to consider might be bringing a tent/shade and setting up a semi-permanent viewing area for yourself (with lawn chairs, a radio, and some beer). 🙂 That’s what many people do and if you are with someone who has limited mobility that might be a good option. The long course starting line is generally where the most action is. Have a great trip!
– Laura @thexenophilelife
Lots of good information on Speedweeks ! I have a couple questions. I would be traveling/attending in a small Class B Motorhome with bikes on the back. Is it hot at night if you Camp at “ The Bend” with no hook-ups ? Seems like it would be too hot to try and sleep ? Is it too far to ride bikes from there ? Are there Porta-Potties out on the Salt for spectators ? Thanks for your time !
Hi Tony,
Congrats on attending Speed Week this year!
It really wasn’t too hot at night to sleep–once the sun goes down it cools off so it’s more comfortable. Plenty of other people are out there in campers and motorhomes anyway, and we were just fine in our tent!
The Bend spans a good area of the salt along the access road, and I’d say it’s a few miles from the entrance to the event. If you regularly bike you should be fine. You’ll see plenty of people on 4 wheelers or motorcycles heading out to the side of the road as well.
There are porta-potties at the event for spectators, but one thing to be aware of is that there is a bank of porta-potties at the Bend for the public and some of the other ones you see scattered about at the Bend were hired privately by people camping, so avoid those ones!
Happy travels
Laura
I work security on the salt as a volunteer. We monitor everyone who comes through the gate. If you don’t have a pass we know. There are 3 lanes to enter. One for paying spectators, one for paid spectators and racers only. There are a few bad apples that blow through our line without paying and they are usually caught leaving or trying to come back in. The comment you made on this was not accurate and frustrating. We do the best we can and get the line moving as quickly as possible. Just remember everyone is doing their best to get you out on the salt as safely as possible AND you can NOT drive in the pits!
Hi Kaara,
Thanks for your input. I’ve rephrased that part of the guide, and I will say that in 2017 the volunteers seemed a bit better organized and consistently checked badges than they seemed in 2016 when I first attended. I assume the “not driving in the pits” was in response to one of the other comments, because I don’t think I ever implied that it is allowed for spectators to drive in the pits. Do you know if spectators can ride bicycles in the pit area? I’m not sure.
Thanks for reading!
Laura
Bikes are fine for the pits. There is parking outside the pits for convenience. It’s very hot and the pits are usually 3-5 miles out on the salt. You can bike in as well, pricing is the same regardless of how you enter to watch. Some people don’t realize that. Bring plenty of water if you do ride a bike and grapes help with dehydration.
If we are only planning to spend a day, do we need to purchase a patch, pass, or some kind of ticket form in advance? Or can we just purchase a pass for that day we arrive?
Hi Sally,
Daily passes are available if you will only be there for one day. If I remember right a week pass (button) was $50/person and the daily rate was $20/person.
Have a great trip!
– Laura @thexenophilelife
Great blog! Hoping to go this year.
Thank you! I hope you’re able to attend – it’s quite an experience!
– Laura @thexenophilelife
Where do I find a daily schedule of events for speed week? If you wanted to see the long nose cars race which day do they race?
Hi Sally,
All the cars can race every day, and the order is just the order that they line up in. The fastest streamliners (enclosed wheels) and lakesters (open wheels) tend to run on the long course so they have five miles to get to top speed. If you want to see records being set, get to the long course early in the morning (any day but the first day) so you can see people with high speeds from the day before do their record return runs.
– Laura @thexenophilelife
Hi Laura, and anyone who reads this.
Hope to visit Speed Week this year since i’ll be in Slat Lake City for work.
I only have time to visit one day. Either on saturday (11th, all day) or sunday (12th, early morning until around 15.00h)
Any advice wich one to chose?
Do you know if there is already some action on friday or is it better to go saturday?
Thanks for your help, and all the helpfull info on this site.
Oege
(Netherlands)
Hi Oege,
I hope you were able to make it to Speed Week! For future reference, when choosing between Saturday and Sunday I would probably choose Sunday, since they start running earlier in the day. There really isn’t a lot of activity on Friday. Sunday and Monday are probably two of the more exciting days and when a lot of records are set.
Laura @thexenophilelife
Speed week is something everyone should experience at least once in their lives. Such a cool place! This is a really great blog and super helpful. Also, that green ‘29 Model A belongs to my husband and I!💚👍🏻 You can find him on Instagram @sks_pinstriping !
That’s so cool, Lacy! I’ll be sure to look you guys up. 🙂 We are planning to go again this year!
~ Laura @thexenophilelife
Don’t know if this has been asked but, I have problems with my legs for spine issues. I can walk short distances, have been trying to avoid a wheelchair but I might have to. Are there any provisions for people with mobility problems? I have not commented but, it keeps telling me that I have.
Hi Shawn!
I don’t think there are specific provisions for those with disabilities, though you can always reach out to the SCTA and ask. I think generally you shouldn’t have to do too much walking if you don’t want to. There’s usually parking fairly close to the starting line, and if you get there on the early side you can always set up a chair and claim your spot for the day. The other good thing about the salt is it’s nice and flat–nothing to trip over. I hope this helps!
~ Laura @thexenophilelife
We are planning a trip to salt flats this year. We will be renting a class C motorhome, but will not have any other vehicle. I understand that there’s parking close to the start line but if you leave your camping spot, will you be able to find one again in the evening that would be safe and you won’t get stuck in the sand?
Thanks for this blog. It’s very helpful.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I don’t think that will be a problem for you! The camping overnight is near the Bend (just the bend in the road on the way out), which is very safe. There’s plenty of room, so it shouldn’t be a problem to set up camp there each night. Enjoy Speed Week!
~ Laura @thexenophilelife