If you’ve have a bigger goal in mind than either the 130 mph club or the next step up, the 150 mph club then you’ll be interested in the next logical step up which is the 200 mph club. Think your ride can cut the mustard and take you to 200+? How about you, can the nerves stand the experience of running at speeds of 200 miles per hour on the sometimes uneven Salt Flats? Watching a run on the tube or the Internet is one thing but making a land speed record run of over 200 mph is quite a different issue altogether. One word sums up your harshest competitor – environment. The Salt Flats is a demanding race course, if it isn’t the heat sucking the life out of you or the breath out of your engine then it’s the rain trying to send everyone packing and then you have the salt itself. The salt will drag you tires down like you’ve likely never experienced before.
The coveted 200 mph club is a select group of people who have exceeded the 200 mph mark on the official timers for the Bonneville Salt Flats (or any of the other land speed record tracks). While 200 miles per hour is a commonplace occurrence on a NASCAR track and even more common on a drag strip it comes at a higher price on the Salt. The traction problems with the loose salt, the unevenness of the track itself, the heat of summertime on the Salt Flats along with a host of other issues make entry into the 200 mph club a coveted experience to driver and race team alike.
Tires and the Bonneville Salt Flats will keep you from entering this most coveted land speed record club, especially if you are accustomed to racing on oval or drag racing tracks. Wide tires are a necessity in NASCAR, otherwise the cars could never maneuver around the turns of the various NASCAR courses at speeds of over 200 miles per hour. Likewise, drag racing requires huge tires at the rear of drag cars to keep the car from loosing traction during the violent launches of the cars when the famed “Christmas Tree” turns green and the drag car is launched down the 1320 foot course.
While you might think about taking your twin-turbocharged Mustang out to the Salt to take a run at the 200 mile per hour mark you might want to arm yourself with some important information prior to leaving. As has been said here on this website, and others as well, you have to have everything set up before you r race team arrives at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The car you are attempting to set a land speed run of over 200 miles per hour is only one part of the equation as you need to be concerned about the drivers’ skills as well as the safety of the engineering practices used to build you car. Believe it or not there is a process for entry into the 200 mph club to keep the membership in the 200 mph club as a worthwhile venture for the race teams and the driver alike. There is a website for the organization devoted to the 200 MPH Club and you can read the information below from their website on what it takes to actually get into the 200 mile per hour club.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS: FIM RECORDS
“Any driver or rider of a wheel driven automobile or motorcycle who is timed at the Bonneville Salt Flats on two consecutive runs at an average speed of 200 m.p.h. or more over a straightaway course incorporating a speed trap of not less than one mile in length, in opposite directions if suitable course conditions prevail, to set a new record (or meet a 200 MPH Club minimum) recognized by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Federation Internationale Motocyclisme (FIM), Southern California Timing Association / Bonneville Nationals, Inc. (SCTA/BNI) or Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) UPON PRESENTATION OF CERTIFIED DOCUMENTATION shall automatically become a member.”
To read more about the 200 MPH Club or to send your proof for membership you can visit them at the following:
Bonneville 200 MPH Club
PO Box 27876
Salt Lake City, UT 84127
Phone: 801-451-2951
Fax: 801-451-2089
e-mail: mail@bonneville200mph.org