Friday, September 5, 2008

Montana motorcyclist dies in 239 mph crash at the salt flats

A 47-year-old record-setting motorcycle racer from Montana has died when he lost control and crashed while traveling at 239 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Investigators weren't sure what caused Cliff Gullett, of Bozeman, Mont., to lose control of the motorcycle Wednesday during a time trial.

The American Motorcyclist Association said on its Web site that Gullett was competing in the 500cc Streamliner class at the Salt Flats, where drivers go for speed records every summer on the flat, open space just east of the Nevada state line.

Gullett owned Team Bozeman Motorsports, a motorcycle and snowmobile dealership. He had set a handful of world land-speed records and wanted to eventually become the first to reach 400 mph on a two-wheeled Streamliner, according to an interview last week with The Billings Gazette.

Curt Lance, Team Bozeman's general manager, said "Cliff always told me that if anything happened on the Salt, he wanted it to be quick and not lingering. He died doing the thing he loved to do most _ racing at Bonneville."

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