This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It was great to get back on the Bonneville Salt Flats Tuesday for Speed Week.

Few events are as colorful. The white salt coupled with all sorts of custom race cars and motorcycles of varied colors make a unique scene.

Add to that the general friendliness of the drivers, crew and organizers from the Southern California Timing Association. Plus, the fact that competitors do not win any money keep the land speed trials a truly amateur event.

Yet, there is an undercurrent of concern from everyone involved about the disappearing and thin salt. That could make racing on the salt flats that has been around for over 100 years a thing of the past.

Remember that Speed Week and most of the other racing events were cancelled the past two years due to wet conditions, mud on the course and deteriorating salt.

That has to take a toll on car and motorcycle builders who spend thousands of dollars modifying their vehicles or inventing one-of-a-kind autos and motorcycles. They need a place to set records and the salt flats have been an ideal location for generations.

Utahns Mike Nish and Rick Vesco said volunteer crews were rusty. A French crew shipped their motorcycle all the way to the United States in 2014, only to have the event cancelled.

To the naked eye, things looked great this year. The salt was white, bright and dry. In fact, it seemed better than the last time the event was held because there was less standing water.

But racers said the course was soft and that there was worry about the thickness of the salt. One driver scratched the surface to show that there was only about an inch of salt crust.

Kathleen Clarke, the director of the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office for Utah governor Gary Herbert was taking a tour with some of the racers to get a first-hand look. She is a former director of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the salt flats.

The problem is that while there are many theories about why the salt is deteriorating including such things as the construction of Interstate 80 and area mining operations, there isn't great science on how to restore the salt.

The Tribune's Emma Penrod, who has done a wonderful job covering this story from all sides, reported Saturday that the BLM is waiting for the results of a University of Utah study of the salt flats, which kicked off earlier this year but begins in earnest this September, when researchers begin collecting sediment cores to study the salt crust.

For now, it was great to see the colorful racing scene on the famed race course again after a two-year layoff.