What is happening to the young folks

iam 18 yrs. old and i saved up and had plans..but wen a recent occurance had happend i couldnt afford it, but hey nexy year id rateher go in a hot rod i built from skratch with the freinds that helped me out......there out there...

 

The plan was to be there this year but money is more than a little tight right now, the goal will be for next year.

 

I've been wanting to go since I was about eight years old. I'm pushing fifty now and still have not gone. I've BEEN to the salt flats - several times - just not during Speed Week!

Below is me and the family on the big Summer driving vacation in July 2005,, just three weeks before Speed Week!

I plan on spending my fiftieth birthday there, AT Speed Week!

 

I'm 27 and I seen a bunch of younger people there this year. Maybe not as many as there were in the beginning. I am not sure why more younger people that are not held down with things like Children and Mortgages don't go.

It's definitely worth more then any 6 pot intake or Halibrand rear. The experience of seeing the Salt first hand and hearing the sounds is worth a great deal more then anything you can bolt or weld on your Hot Rod. It's absolutely priceless.

 

Very Well said! If nothing else I'm making memories with my kids, they probably aren't going to forget Bonneville anytime soon.

funny thing is I never went before I had Kids and or mortgage. hmm

 

Aint no excuse not to go. Were there's a will, you WILL find a way. Money is always tight for us, and we still find ways to make it out there.

 

Short answer, I have no job.

Long answer, I have no job because I worked at a place where a ton of old farts who are eligible to retire and would get paid handsomely to retire won't because they wouldn't know what to do with all the free time they would have. Seniority can be a bitch sometimes.

And if I was there you wouldn't see me in my pictures since I hide behind a lens.

 

Anybody can go. Shut down the computer, the cell phones, and the cable TV for a year and have a ball!

 

My son living the dream...

 

im about to turn 30...I crewed for 2 years with Rolling Bones, skipped 07, then went back with a buddies 32 roadster that he, his partner and myself turned into a D street roadster. Donnie and i took turns driving, and after a very eventful week, we both ended up in the high 140's...with less than 300 cubes...I sat out this year...hope to go back with my own car someday...

 

i went for the first time this year. im 17

 

Why does the older generation always screw things up and then wonder why the next generation is so crappy?

 

Hell the place would be packed with young-uns' if they had the money. Yeah its doable on the cheap but your screwed if something breaks on the car when you can only just afford to get there and back.

 

Hmmm... I guess it's just a matter of perception. I felt there were more younger people than ever there this year. Maybe they were just more visible than before?
All I know is, I sure feel a lot older than ever - I'm still recovering from the 18 hour thrash on Thursday, during that storm........

 

20 years old and i would have loved to have been there..myschedule permitted it but my funds didnt...thats my excuse

 

Did you run Son of Godzilla this year? Would love to know how you went if you did?
Doc.

 

All my sons want to be is musicians. sigh...

 

I saw a lot of the guys who were there in the 1940s and 50s, still having fun on the salt. Talked to a few....great stories!

There are a few low buck youngsters racing, but it seems that it's getting expensive and out of reach for many.

 

I'm 40...my first time was at 28 years old. Back in 1998 (my second trip) the trip ran around $450 for shared hotel room, car rental, gas and food. We drove 8 hrs from Northern California to Wendover. It isn't a cheap proposition, but it is worth it. If you have to choose between feeding your family, or taking a family vacation with the kids, or going to Speed Week then you do the right thing as head of the family, but when you finally DO get the chance you either jump at it or regret it forever...

 

LOL, I was laid up in the hospital week before last with nothing to do but watch TV. I got to see a couple of documentaries on speed week and the one thing that came to mind was, jeeez, now days all these guys look like old Burt Munro, (ironically, except for the chick on the Boosa of course )

VonMoldy nailed it.

 

Im 19 and my buddy rory is 21. We went out with our dads, and have been going for 5 years now. We drive our cars 1000 miles round trip to get there. We have no plans to stop going to Bonneville in the future. Its in our blood forever!

 

Damn ...last time was 1998 too....I went from Northern Cali I may have spent $100...that included $5 showers at the truckstop and i splurged for the weeklong pass because the pin was cool!

 

To be honest I never really thought about going we have a few tracks around houston that I go to but im usaully just there to look at the cars when they are parked the races never interest me that much. You know what now I wanna go so yall just fucked my wife out of whatever she had planned next year.

 

if ya want to see the younger crew maybe stay up after 9pm and check out the bars/casinos..just a thought

 

I want to go. At 27 I have a 3 year old, 2 car payments, a mortgage, and a job. Its on my list...and I think I get a pass this year. I convinced 2 buddies to go on a 19hr roadtrip to get me a new hot rod project. We drove from our little home town to LA and back to pick up a 29RPU. With any luck it will be at the salt within a year or two.

Like other have said though...being low-man at work I am just happy to have a job these days. I had to save time off for Thanksgiving to see the wifes family in Utah. I will get to drive through Wendover...just not during speed week.

Save me some sunblock....I'll be the guy smiling from ear to ear when I get there.

 

Man you did that on the cheap. I think I had to contribute $50 in gas alone, $50 salt pass, my share of the van rental was $70, 4 nights (5 days) in hotel at $35 per night ($70 split 2 ways), food was at least $100 and incidentals...
$100 seems crazy...and today there would be NO WAY!

 

Now, that's a lame excuse.

Just kidding

 

Me and a couple of buddies did that too for Death Valley some years back. We didn't have hardly any money. We even rented the car because none us even had a car then. Bought a couple of drinks every now and then, but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was almost all we ate (we got some burritos once). We just slept outside on the rocks. It can be done and done cheap. Sometimes less is more and more fun too. I was pretty tired of peanut butter and jelly by the end of it though. The rental had 125 miles on it when we picked it up and about 3000 when we returned it 4-5 days later if I recall. All I remember is the look on their faces when they asked us if that mileage was right. We said, yeah - thanks for the unlimited miles! Still not sure how we put that many miles on it, but we did drive all over Death Valley back and forth and I guess it added it. But we did it super cheap.

 

I may have spent more than a hundred but not much....I also have 4 kids so money is always in short supply....I also don't remember spending $50 for the pass...seems like it was $5 a day or twenty for the week....I do remember sleeping on a cot next to my truck at the bend and getting rained on....but it was worth whatever I spent! My dad used to drive out from Colorado and meet me there and we would spend the weekend together....he's still alive but can't travel anymore.
All I can say is if you really want something bad enough you can make it happen...hell, save $5 a week for a year ....skip a soda (or beer) a day,quit smoking,whatever put the money in a can and do not raid it for anything but the trip ....start today ...it's worth it!

 

I've been a few times, and I really like being there. I just turned 32, and I've been collecting the necessary parts to build a Bonneville car (roadster class) for the past year. My goal is to go 200+ at Bonneville before I turn 35. Buying parts for a competitive and safe car definitely add up quickly, so it's going to take a little while to get it done.

I decided not to go to Bonneville this year because I run a one-man shop and I couldn't take the time off. I wanted to go badly, but I managed to keep my priorities straight.

There are definitely young people out at Bonneville as spectators. But there are probably only a handful of people under 35 that actually race without having their family (mom, dad, etc.) to help finance it. It is expensive to run in a lot of the classes, and even more so to be competitive.

And in case you haven't noticed...hot rodders seem to be a dying breed. I can't think of many guys younger than me in my area that are even remotely interested in hot rodding at a level greater than being a spectator. The recent economy has done a good job of keeping a lot of young people on the sidelines as well...but an even bigger problem is that few young people seem to want to put in the sweat equity needed to have a street-going hot rod, much less a Bonneville car.