two places in the western USA to land speed race that I hadn't heard of before, the Alvord Desert of southeastern Oregon, and Diamond Valley Playa (alkali flat) in Nevada. Expect that Bonneville will soon be unusable, and more racing will go to these places

Ed Shadle had went 515 mph with the North American Eagle on the Alvord straightaway, and  Kitty O’Neil went 512.7 mph there in 1976 in the SMI Motivator, which I just covered in https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/08/once-upon-hollywood-there-was-as.html

However, feeling that the surface of Alvord was too soft for over 700 mph, Shadle chose Diamond Valley Playa, a dry lake bed about 25 miles north of Eureka, for supersonic speed runs.

Of course, the other places that are lesser known than Bonneville for that level of runs is Black Rock, Nevada, where Burning Man happens, and the Nevada State Route 160 near Pahrump where Koenigsegg just went 277.9

Thurst SSC officially broke the sound barrier 21 years ago when accelerating to 763.035 mph at Black Rock, and still trying to get funding to run in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa for the Bloodhound SSC.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/team-leaders-death-doesnt-end-quest-for-land-speed-record-in-nevada/
https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/thrill-seeker-gets-ok-to-try-for-land-speed-record-in-nevada/

By the way, the Environmental Assessment request to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/nepa/92024/128254/156103/20171218_NAE_Land_Speed_EA_FINAL.pdf  shows that the only considerations for using a lifeless dry lake bed, that the US Govt labels "an area of flat, dried-up land, especially a desert basin" where there is NOTHING, not even water or grass, still has to be judged against the imagined needs of the great sage grouse

To minimize or avoid potential impacts to fish, aquatic invertebrates, wildlife, special status species, migratory birds, raptors, and great sage-grouse. Hard to believe the govt is this stupid, but there you have it, on a govt document.

. Not that ANY are on the dry lake, but, you know... govt regulations:
• American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (42 USC 1996)
• BLM Shoshone-Eureka Resource Management Plan, as amended (2002)
• Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940, as amended (16 USC 669-668d)
• Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 USC 1251 et seq.)
• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980(42 USC 9615)
• Diamond Valley Weed Control District (NRS [Nevada Revised Statutes] 555.202)
• Eureka County Master Plan, as amended (2010)
• Eureka County Water Resources Master Plan (2016)
• Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management, as amended (1977)
• Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands (1977)
• Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks (1997)  which you'll remember, wasn't a factor they assessed when the FBI killed all the kids at Waco.
• Executive Order 13112, Safeguarding the Nation from Impacts of Invasive Species (1999)
• Executive Order 13186, Responsibilities of Federal Agencies to Protect Migratory Birds (2001)
• Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (Pub.L. [Public Law] 94-579)
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (16 USC 703-711)
• National Environment Protection Act of 1976 (42 USC 4321)
• National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (16 USC 470 et seq.)
• Nevada and Northeastern California Greater Sage-Grouse Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment (2015)
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 USC 6901 et seq.)
• Safe Drinking Water Act of 1977, as amended (42 USC 300f et seq.)

And here's an idea of how varied the American Indian Religious Freedom Act is:
Traditional social activities important to the Western Shoshone include pine nut gathering, edible and medical plant gathering, hunting and fishing, and spiritual/ceremonial practices. Such sites of importance include, but are not limited to, existing antelope traps; certain mountain tops used for vision questing and prayer; medicinal and edible plant gathering locations; prehistoric and historic village sites and gravesites; sites associated with creation stories; hot and cold springs; material used for basketry and cradle board making; locations of stone tools such as projectile points and grinding stones; toolstone quarries; hunting sites; sweat lodge locations; locations that of consistent pine nut harvesting and ceremonies; boulders used for offerings and medicine gathering; rock shelters; and petroglyph locations; and tribally identified TCPs.

None of which are on the desert alkali flat. However, if they were, the govt would still put an oil pipeline through, but they wouldn't allow dry lakebed racing.

Anyway, it's fascinating to read the govt report which spells out every plant, soil sample, all 23 birds, fish and critter that possibly could be in the area. HOW anyone ever gets an oil drilling operation going, which WILL pollute the area, is a mystery to me