--- title: "2022 Speed Week Canceled, Bonneville Salt Flats Flooded by Heavy Rain" description: "This year's Speed Week has been called off at the last minute after the Bonneville Salt Flats were flooded by unusually heavy rain." date: "2022-08-07" modified: "2022-08-07" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/2022-speed-week-canceled-bonneville-salt-flats-flooded-by-heavy-rain" categories: - "News" - "Racing" --- # 2022 Speed Week Canceled, Bonneville Salt Flats Flooded by Heavy Rain ![]() In a sudden, major blow to hundreds of fans, the 2022 Speed Week at the [Bonneville Salt Flats]() is cancelled due to flooding. Over the weekend, the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA)—who hosts and coordinates Speed Week—had been watching the weather. After heavy rain fall Friday night into Saturday morning, the SCTA decided to cancel only Sunday's race, to give the tracks time to dry. However, by midday Sunday, the tracks were still completely flooded, forcing the SCTA to cancel all of Speed Week. "Due to unforeseen weather conditions Speedweek 2022 is officially cancelled." the SCTA said in a *[Facebook ]()*post. "We are doing our best to recover what we can find out on the lakebed. Missing items can be found in the registration area." The SCTA was originally trying to be optimistic, thinking that the desert heat and occasionally intense winds would dry up the salt flats in time for racing on Monday. However, the standing water just didn't evaporate as the SCTA had hoped it would, due to a lack of sun and wind. Social media images from Speed Week attendees show severe flooding covering the vast landscape. The flooding didn't just make the tracks unusable though, it also destroyed a lot of personal equipment. More than anything, though, the flooding ruined the year for hundreds of attendees. ![]() ![]() Every year, literally hundreds of people go to Speed Week, from all over the world, both as fans and participants. Often times, it takes years of work, planning, and saving for people to attend Speed Week. Only this year, all of that was undone by unusually heavy rain. This isn't the first time flooding has cancelled Speed Week, as several people commented on the SCTA's post to offer sympathy and share their own flooding experiences, but that doesn't soften the blow for this year's group. For the past few hours, attendees have been trying to leave but it hasn't been easy. There are some reports of people getting stuck in the cement-like flooded salt. It's almost literally pouring salt in the wound of Speed Week's cancellation. https://twitter.com/evergreenghost/status/1556350421605593089 People plan their lives around Speed Week. Whether they're trying to best a [personal record](), attempting to create a new one, or just fulfilling a dream of seeing Speed Week in person, hundreds of people give so much to be there. To go through all of that, just for it to be cancelled on race day, must be devastating. ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()