Need for Speed_P02_higher

If Stock Car racing not fast enough for you, you need to check out the cars that hold the title of the Land Speed Record. Believe it or not, many of the speed records were set on Daytona Beach. The hard-packed smooth surface of the beach sand make it a perfect place to reach very high speeds.

Daytona Beach is in north Florida, located on the eastern side of the state. Its beaches are covered with particles of sand made of a mineral called quartzite. Quartzite is a very hard material, and when slightly damp, like when the tide goes out, it creates a surface that is almost like cement. Daytona Beach sand is unique as most Florida beaches have sand particles made up of the mineral calcite.

Calcite does not pack as tightly together, and the surface is not as hard as the quartzite sand. You need a special vehicle to be able to drive on most of the beaches in South Florida.

Many speed records were set on Daytona Beach up until the year 1935. In 1935, a racer named Malcolm Campbell set a land speed record of 276 miles per hour! The next year, Malcolm took his car, the Bluebird, to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. There his car went even faster, breaking the 300 mph barrier. Ever since that record-breaking speed was recorded, Bonneville in Utah has been the choice location for record attempts.

Its smooth surface and ample space make it a perfect location compared to Daytona.

The Bonneville Salt Flats is an area once covered by a large lake, Lake Bonneville. Lake Bonneville was actually an inland sea, containing salt water. The salty lake has not been there since before the last ice age, but where did it go? Over time, the salty water in the lake evaporated, and what is left are the salt deposits as the salt water evaporated. Therefore, instead of driving on the smoother quartzite sand, drivers and their teams now set their records on a more textured salt surface.