Bonneville Salt Flats Memorials
Never let anyone tell you otherwise – racing at Bonneville is dangerous. Motorsports racing of all kinds is dangerous enough but then when you throw in the aspect of adverse track and weather conditions the danger factor increases quite a bit. There are some who have given their very lives in the pursuit of their dream of setting or breaking a land speed record in their class. With sadness we have posted articles on those who have paid the ultimate price here on this page and those connecting to it. Should you know of someone who you feel should be mentioned on this part of our web site please use the “Email Us” link at the top of the page and let us know.
May 2010 We have been made aware of a quite thorough resource concerning fallen LSR racers appropriately named as Land Speed Racer Deaths. The site is located at https://lsrdeaths.webs.com/. Webmaster Mel Bashore has done such an excellent job of research that we have decided to suspend further work on this page while asking you to visit Mel’s site for more information about racers who lost their lives while racing their hearts out.
Motorcyclist Dies in 239 MPH Crash on Bonneville Salt Flats
Friday, September 05, 2008
WENDOVER, Utah — A 47-year-old record-setting motorcycle racer has died after losing control and crashing while traveling at 239 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
Investigators were not sure what caused Cliff Gullett, of Bozeman, Mont., to lose control of the motorcycle Wednesday during a time trial.
The American Motorcyclist Association said on its Web site that Gullett was competing in the 500cc Streamliner class at the Salt Flats, where drivers go for speed records every summer on the open space just east of the Nevada state line.
Gullett owned Team Bozeman Motorsports, a motorcycle and snowmobile dealership. He had set a handful of world land-speed records and wanted to eventually become the first to reach 400 mph on a two-wheeled Streamliner, according to an interview last week with The Billings Gazette.
Curt Lance, Team Bozeman’s general manager, said “Cliff always told me that if anything happened on the Salt, he wanted it to be quick and not lingering. He died doing the thing he loved to do most — racing at Bonneville.”