List,
The salt was dry when it was dragged on Sunday, 9/10. The little bit of
rain on the area since Speedweek has allowed the course to heal and the
dragging pulled down the fluff on top to fill and smooth the surface. With
ten days before racing for the surface to solidify, we should have an
excellent course. The black lines are still there, there is no water at the
end of the access road, the course at the seven is moist but there are not
any standing puddles of water. The weather forecasters say temperatures
will be in the upper eighties and low nineties for the next seven days.
Temperatures will be in the upper eighties as we set up for World of Speed.
Morning temperatures could be in the lower forties and upper thirties so
bring some layers of clothing just in case.
I will be at the end of the access road on Monday for early arrivals to
register.
The people with the pressure washer to remove salt from the underside of
cars will be located (at BLM request) at the bend of the road on the north
east side of that corner. This will keep any oil from the cars at a
distance from the salt and avoid a puddle at the end of the access road.
The Red Flame will be set up on Tuesday with food.
We will not run the 130 and 150 clubs and bar-stools on Wednesday.
The BLM Director will be on the salt on Thursday. If you are given a
chance, please let him know your feelings about the direction the salt
restoration project is going. Also we need to emphasize that we won't be
happy until we have a good eleven mile course where we used to race. This
seven mile course doesn't allow room for two-way record runs and safe
braking. There are still 73 million tons of salt in the Reilly ponds that
could and should be returned to the racing surface. That's over thirty five
years of pumping at the rate they are going. The room is there if the salt
is pumped back.
As a side note, we have had wonderful support from Lou Kirkman and Sarah
Sutherland and the rest of the people from the Salt Lake Office of the BLM
this year. They will be on the salt during World of Speed and will be in
uniform so they will be easily identifiable. Do your best to let them know
how much we appreciate their efforts for us. This has not been an easy year
for BLM people with the "green" attack on western lands and the disruptive
interferences by groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and their
people. They are dictating to the Forest Service how they should handle
their lands and being critical of everyone else in western lands management.
Not a good year to work for the feds in western lands management of any
type.
I, for one, appreciate that the BLM people are trying to be fair to all and
even handed in the way they conduct their affairs. We can't ask or expect
more of them.
Wes Potter Secretary, USFRA
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