Bonneville Drag Strip (Salt Lake City)

In early March 1964 the Salt Lake Valley Quarter Mile Association voted to ask the Salt Lake County Commission to build a drag strip that met NHRA specifications, along with a temporary track to use in the meantime. News reports didn’t say why, but there was probably unhappiness with Salt Lake Raceway. The next February, a group of Salt Lake men (Ralph Reese, Dick Godfrey, Jeff Knapp, Jim Campbell and Gordon Jensen) started building a strip on the south side of 2100 South at 3400 West, on the site of the old Utah Central Airport. Bonneville Drag Strip was NHRA sanctioned, 3,900 feet long, and raced every Sunday in season. It opened on May 2, 1965, and went head to head with Salt Lake Raceway, which gave in and closed.

On May 30, 1965, Harris-Mason’s 1930 Ford A/SR won street eliminator with 11.51 seconds at 119.99 MPH, and other winners included Royce Virgin, Rex Crane and Dennis Madsen. The first night race was Saturday, June 26, 1965. On July 24 Rex and Brent Crane ran 134.31 MPH, just short of the national A/G record of 134.45. At a two-day NHRA regional points meet on July 31 and August 1, 1965, Danny Ongais won top fuel with 7.94 seconds at 191.45 MPH. On Saturday night, June 4, 1966, before 3,000 people, Dan Noorda beat Mike Sorokin in the “Surfers” AA/FD in the first round of a best-of-three match, running 195.60 MPH in 7.57 seconds, the fastest time in Utah to that point, then blew his engine in the second round. On Sunday, May 7, 1967, 4,200 fans saw Don Garlits beat Noorda at 209 MPH and 7.70 seconds, and Harry Allen won top fuel at 7.73 seconds and 195 MPH in the Allen-Aiello-Coombes “Want Bird.” An NHRA divisional points race was held there on August 19-20, 1967, after weather delayed Dick Godfrey’s plan to finish the new Bonneville Raceway in time to host it.