Utah man builds epic DIY machine that uses real salt to hit 240mph speeds

At the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, a homegrown racer has built a DIY machine capable of hitting blistering speeds on one of the flattest race surfaces in the world.

Known as Superfast Matt on YouTube, the inventive builder has been working on a streamlined contraption designed to push past 266mph.

His machine, which he built in his own garage, recently managed to hit around 240mph on the salt.

The effort highlights the mix of ingenuity, danger, and raw speed that makes Speed Week one of the wildest motorsport events in the world.

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The Bonneville Salt Flats are a natural race track

As race tracks go, the Bonneville Salt Flats aren’t just a pretty backdrop; they’re among of the best natural tracks on Earth.

The surface is almost perfectly flat, stretching across 30,000 acres, and it offers miles of unobstructed space with excellent traction.

That combination makes it ideal for land speed racing, where acceleration and stability matter more than tight turns.

For over 70 years, racers from across the world have come here to push the limits of engineering, setting records in everything from jet-powered streamliners to turbocharged semi-trucks.

But racing on salt also brings unique challenges.

Salt crystals can shift beneath tires, causing vehicles to slide or bounce, and the harsh environment makes it tough to keep machines running at full tilt.

In addition, there is a lack of good infrastructure.

There are no nearby power lines, shade, or cooling, and you even need special trailers to deliver your vehicles.

That’s where Zack Nelson, also known as JerryRigEverything on YouTube, stepped in.

If you’re unfamiliar with Nelson, he previously made the world’s first 24-karat gold-plated Cybertruck, which was pretty wild.

This time, however, he’s on support duty.

He brought a tracked solar power station called the Komodo Power Tank to provide energy for the event’s trailers, air-conditioning units, and electronics.

With a 100kWh battery and 14kW of solar generation, it quietly kept operations running in the middle of nowhere.

It may have been the slowest machine on the flats, but it played a crucial role in keeping Speed Week functional.

Crazy speeds for a DIY machine

Meanwhile, Superfast Matt focused on his record attempt.

His DIY machine was just two feet tall, two feet wide, and nearly 22 feet long, running on a one-liter motorcycle engine boosted by nitrous oxide.

Built in a garage with parts that included duct tape and sheet metal salvaged from an old cabinet, it’s proof that passion counts as much as money in land speed racing.

But enough of the details. The real question is, did Matt manage to beat the 266mph record?

Well, not quite.

Matt’s run topped out at 240 mph, and while it’s disappointing, it was a remarkable achievement for a homemade car.

In a way, this is exactly the kind of story that explains why racers keep returning to Bonneville: it’s a place where ordinary people can attempt extraordinary things.

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