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course prep

To: land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: course prep
From: Daniel Wright <daniel.wright@genetics.utah.edu>
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:25:58 -0600
I received 10 minuets of video shot on (7/11/99) of ongoing Salt Flats
course prep, from Kris Shearer. If a picture is worth a thousand words this
video spoke volumes. The Salt was so dry it was crunchy. It didn't stick to
shoes or tires, didn't accumulate in wheelwells, it was DRY , and HARD. The
newly deposited salt looks well bonded to the racing surface.
Thursday P.M.(7/15/99) Dave Kohler stopped by after a LONG day of draging
the course smooth and setting out cones to guide the surveyors, to give me
a report and a map. He says that he nine mile track is in good shape and
continues a good mile and one half beyone the barrel that used to be the
end of good salt. Some curing and drying out necessary but that should
happen before Speedweek. They dragged a negative two miles from the
proposed start for a safety factor on return runs. The surface is very
rough down there. The five mile short track is bumpy and will need some
luck, some more rain then some careful dragging to have it smooth out. It
was raining when he left that evening. The map Dave drew shows the location
of the long and short courses for '99 and also the location of last years
long course, the old international course, also the Salduro Loop of the
dike and I-80. The course this year is east of the dike and MUCH closer to
I-80 than in years past. I will add the map to the www.saltflats.com site
later today. 
A lot of preparation work goes on that most of us aren't aware of.  Hats
off to those from the SCTA and the USFRA, who spend hard hours in 100
degree heat, very alone out there picking the best location, setting out
cones to guide the surveyors, driving 10 mph drag trucks, fixing rusty
drags, removing foreign objects and obstructions from the courses and
return roads, and all the other tasks that make for a quality event.
Without this kind of dedication, landspeed racing just wouldn't happen.
Dan Wright
Dept. of Human Genetics, University of Utah
dan@saltflats.com
Utah Salt Flats Racing Association
"It's amazing what you can do when you don't know it can't be done"

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