In recent years, there has also been a 5 mile (8 km) long straightway for qualifying slower vehicles. Usually two tracks are prepared a 10 mile long straightway for speed trials and an oval or circular track for distance runs, which is typically between 10 and 12 miles (16 and 19 km) long depending on the condition of the salt surface. The speedway is marked out by the Utah State Highway Department at the start of each summer. The salt flats were first used for motor sports in 1912, but didn't become truly popular until the 1930s when the Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell competed to set land speed records. It is particularly noted as the venue for numerous land speed records. There are restrooms and a restaurant.Bonneville Speedway is an area of the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, that is marked out for motor sports. There are no services there, but just after you leave the interstate, there is a Sinclair Fuel Center and a C-store selling touristy things, drinks and sandwiches. It's free to visit during the non-season. Most of the water from this spring's snow-melt was gone, but there was much sticky mud alongside the road as we drove out there. We drove out on the flats and took some fun pictures. We were blessed on the weekday we visited in June to not have the drive-in cul-de-sac going out on the flats be crowded, and more importantly, there was light cloud cover, so we were not blinded or baked. We took care to clean off our footwear before getting back in the car. The crust is thinning, but it's still thickest in the center and less than one inch toward the edges. The Flats are 12 miles long and roughly 5 miles wide. Today it's used to set land speed records during the racing season in August. It's the remnants of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville, which also formed the Great Salt Lake. To learn about this very interesting place was fascinating to me.
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