<p>Speed 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 <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/american-festivals/">American Festivals Project</a> came to the salt flats for Speed Week, a once-a-year event that draws drivers and speed fans from far and wide.<br> <br> Here, a driver waits for his support vehicle after completing his run.</p> <p>Read more about the Bonneville Speed Week on the <a href="http://americanfestivalsproject.net">American Festivals Project blog</a>.</p>

Driver, Bonneville Speed Week

Speed 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.

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