Considering flying out there for speed week and bringing my 8 year old son. 3-4 days max. Never been - would be coming (flying in and renting a car?) from Michigan. I'm thinking try to stay in Wendover or Salt Lake City? Are any days/half of the week better than another? Where does everyone stay? Are they having the event for sure this year? What kind of access can we have as spectators? Looking for any bit of useful info you may have to avert disaster. Thanks in advance
please do a long search here on this topic - has been covered over & over - do everything possible to protect your Son from the elements
Wendover UT will be cheaper than "across the border", but the accommodations leave much to be desired. The car rental folks will tell you NOT to drive on the salt, but there are some gas stations that will have fund raising groups that will clean them off for you. A RV rental might be a good option and there are plenty of places to camp near the track. Take some shade, I found the temperatures not so bad in the shade. The climate is very dry, so drink a lot of water, use sunscreen, sunglasses, and moisturizer for your nose. Most of the action happens early in the event, by Wednesday the activities, and spectators drop off.
I'm sure Wendover hotels are booked solid and have been for months. Might check into last minute cancellations, though. Also, look at hotels in Wells, NV 60 miles west or SLC 120 miles to the east. There's not much in between.
People drop rooms quite often at the Wendover hotels. Best to just call or check online daily at this point. Best days to go are at the beginning (starts Saturday 8/10 this year), to see the most action. Friday is good, too, as far as walking through the pits, checking cars out and visiting with folks. As far as access, you can walk pretty much anywhere -- Just be alert and stay out of the way of moving cars and push/tow rigs. And pay attention to which lines/ropes not to cross near the courses. Right now conditions are looking good and they are grooming courses. More good info here: http://www.scta-bni.org/bonneville.html http://www.scta-bni.org/
What they said,,, and a search will give more. And caution,,, land speed is a big black hole that will suck you in,,,,,,,,,
Sunblock under your chin, nose, eye brows. Don’t wear shorts, your basically standing out in the sun on a mirror
All the above, but pay extra attention to your son. An 8 year old needs to be aware of the danger of the sun. Make sure he has long sleeves and a large sun hat. Bring extra sunscreen and lather him up every hour, it's no joke!
If you have sensitive eyes, I do from forty years of welding, take eye drops, I haven't found any that work good enough. My eyes burn if there's water around. I've stayed in Saltlake City and Aurora, my eye were red and burning within 5 hours.
If you want to go through the pits and look at stuff a couple of cheap bicycles are great as the pits are around two miles long. WE had them last time and have just got two more for this year and just give them away when you leave. Also an fm radio to hear whats running and the results. May see ya there. JW
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