It has been a challenge, he suggested halfheartedly. "The car was designed for a 19 horsepower engine and a top speed of 40 mph. I've taken it up to more than 400 horsepower and 160 mph.

"It's fun now, but for years, while we were trying to work things out, it was horrible."

The car holds records at the dry lakebeds at El Mirage and Murdoc. He is hoping to get a trifecta with a land-speed record at Bonneville.

Probably the most attractive entry is the pickup truck owned by Bob Ida of New Jersey. It is a recycled show truck — forest green with gold flames — that in its earlier life appeared in several magazines.

It was not built for speed, said a friend, George Schults, also from New Jersey, "But we hope to go over 200 (mph). It's pretty now, but it'll be a whole lot prettier if we can go 200."

This was the first time to Bonneville for the two men, who drove 2,400 miles to run. Schults describe the salt as being "nothing like I expected. It's like being on the moon and on a beach at the same time."

Back for another try is Don Lemmons of Kelso, Wash. He has been coming to Bonneville since 1991 and bringing with him his 16-cylinder, 4,000-horsepower diesel truck that holds the current class record of 228.804 mph. He goal this year is to hit around 235.

Cars and trucks begin lining up for record runs at first light and continue to run until record lanes are shut down late in the afternoon.

Under international rules, a car must exceed the miles per hour of the existing record to qualify. On the record run, a car will run one direction and then must return over the same track within one hour. The two speeds are then averaged for the official posting.

Every year cars go faster and faster, which is, as they say, what draws them back to Bonneville year after year after year.

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