Racer checking his car on a white salt flat
Scene of a car crash on salt flats
Bright yellow race car
Racer putting on his race gear
Motorcyclist passes parked race car
Driver racing a custom-built motorcycle
Black race car on bright white salt flats
A racer sits in his car on the salt flats
Deflated parachute behind car
Racer standing behind his car on salt flats
Man driving race car
Racing crew working on car
Woman shades racer from sun with umbrella
Black line stretches into the distance
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Driver, Bonneville Speed WeekSpeed devotees flock to the Bonneville Salt Flats in western Utah, a blindingly white plain that is one of the flattest, most obstacle-free places on Earth. They gather there several times a year, to chase the land speed record along a 10-mile (16-kilometer) strip called the Bonneville Speedway. In 2009, the American Festivals Project came to the salt flats for Speed Week, a once-a-year event that draws drivers and speed fans from far and wide.

Here, a driver waits for his support vehicle after completing his run. Read more about the Bonneville Speed Week on the American Festivals Project blog.
Photograph by Andrew Owen, American Festivals Project

Bonneville Speed Week

See photos of the 2009 Bonneville Speed Week on the Bonneville Salt Flats in western Utah, in this American Festivals Project travel photo gallery from National Geographic.

April 05, 2010

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