World of speed cancelled

[07R1LSR]

According to USFRA fb page, world of speed has been cancelled for 2023....

[kiwi belly tank]

Well that's too bad but it is what it is.
  Sid.

[Mr. Schimstock]

Will USFRA be posting this officially on their website?

[Stainless1]

Well it is what it is....
This is not the first time we have been weathered out 2 years in a row... probably not the last with the salt so thin... Maybe we need another multi-million dollar study to see why the salt keeps migrating to the other side of I-80 

[Sporty Dan]

Well dang. After reading Monte's statement it shows that during the inspection that there is a lot of issues and soft spots out there. As a motorcycle racer I definitely don't want to hit a soft spot at speed. There is always next year.

[tauruck]

I feel for all you guys.
It's not like you can go anytime.
This sucks.

[USFRAMONTE]

It really was an agonizing day for us yesterday. We took our lunch break and went old school by pulling out a yellow note pad and a pen and then proceeding to list all the pros and cons regarding going forward with the WOS. Many thanks to Dennis and Larry Volk for the hours and hours they have put in over the years to see that WoS has been a successful event. Of course there are many, many others that deserve our thanks as well. We do not take this responsibility lightly.
It is really heartbreaking to see the current condition of the salt. There is hardly anything left for us to work with. The Save the Salt efforts, though pushed by the racers for all these years, have fallen on deaf ears at the federal level. We need to take a different approach. I am not educated nor experienced enough to know what that is, but there are those in the racing community that do. I say time to go after it gentlemen, put on the boxing gloves.
We hope to be back next year and ask Mother Nature to be kind to us. Everyone stay safe and stay positive.

[jl222]

 
 Thanks Monte and USFRA..

  The course is the worst I've seen in 30 yrs. I also heard that salt laydown has not been happening.
 Is that right?

  The grading is not getting the same results as in the past.

  I'm guessing the graders can't use the heavier drags because the salts so thin.

  Pitted at Speedweek I road my E  bike out to inspect the course, on way out a grader went by with a scraper. looking where he had been there was not one loose piece of salt, Looking back on track I could see from the shine where he had been.

Some graders have a cutting edge but when turned around have a smoothing edge, Maybe that's what was going on.

                      JL222   

[USFRAMONTE]

The drags that we use to groom the course have varied in weight and design over the years. We can no longer use the "heavy" or cutting drags as we called them. They are too heavy and the cutting edge just pulls the salt off the surface.
The latest design comes from the guys at Structural Steel & Plate Manufacturing in North Salt Lake, UT. They are medium weight and the leading edge I-beam is tllted downward a scant 2?. This was possible because of their world class fabrication skills. These current drags work well considering how thin the salt can be in places.
When dragging, we drive around 8 mph. We have found that speed gives the drags the best chance to do their smoothing. Each year the moisture content of the salt, the weather conditions, temperature and wind all play a part in how the preparation is done.
In my opinion, the water table is especially high this year and has made it difficult for the salt to dry as it normally would. But that is only a layman's opinion.
Intrepid did pump salt back to the flats this year but their amounts are far less that what Reilly pumped when they owned the potash operation. Back when Reilly was doing the pumping we saw much more improvement from year to year.

[Stan Back]

Never forget that there's an Intrepid Salt Company, too.

[MAYOMAN]

This is very sad to see.
Back in the 1960s and 1970s the salt was beautiful, hard and deep.
I always have to remember that it is the shallow end of the Great Salt Lake.
I am very grateful for the years we could run on the fastest race course on Earth.
Keep on truckin' guys.

[deepindebt]

I wonder if SW had been cancelled, would this still be the decision? Is this purely weather related or to much damage caused by previous meet?

[PorkPie]

looks that the USFRA was spot on....the last days was some smoke around the lake bed....and last night some rain....so it looks this morning....

[deepindebt]

And it looks like rain Sunday also, I think this year is DONE!

[Stainless1]

I guess we will see what the SCTA does for World Finals.  I wish the heat dome that is covering Kansas was a little farther west.... like 1200 miles. 
But we also should remember that WF is cancelled more often than not....