Speed Racing at El Mirage Dry Lake

El Mirage Lake is a dry lake bed in the northwestern Victor Valley of the central Mojave Desert, within San Bernardino County, California. The dry lake, at an elevation of 2,840 ft (870 m), is approximately 6 mi (9.7 km) long. For 50 years the lakebed has been used by the Southern California Timing Association for timed speed runs. The club also operates the Bonneville Salt Flats speed runs. Land speed racing is a form of motorsport. The sport’s origins date to the 1930s in California, when the Southern California Timing Association first held meets for a variety of hot rodded vehicles. Land Speed Racing is about inventing, creating, experiencing and learning. It’s about exceeding boundaries, natural, technical and personal. For some people, even finding their purpose in life. The official land-speed record is 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mi/h) (Mach 1.020), set by Andy Green on 15 October 1997 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA, in Thrust SSC.

credit: Mike Palmer