From another board when i asked, "why not bonneville?"
"Spoke with some racers in Tonopah over the weekend that were just returning from Boneville Salt Flats. They told me Steve F. was looking for another dry lake that was longer. His car, the old Breedlove Boneville race car, is now retrofitted with much larger twin et engines> It is owned by Branson (Virgin),& needs more room to beat the world's record.
So that answers the question of "Why was he not going to Boneville?", and why he was scouting locations in NV near Silver Peak."