Do you have a need for speed? If so, you might have appreciated my recent story about which U.S. states can offer you an interstate with an 80-mph (or even 85-mph) speed limit. For those who need a little more adrenaline, even triple-digit-speeds, the best way to scratch that itch is to sign up for an “open-road race.”

Two such events are held in rural Nevada each year: The Nevada Open Road Challenge (slated for this coming May 14-17), and the Silver State Classic Challenge (scheduled for September 17-20). Rather than serving as all-out races, these events are instead geared toward achieving a target average speed over the course of a remote stretch of Nevada Highway 318. That highway, of course, is closed to the public for the occasion.

How fast are you allowed to go? There are available speed classes ranging all the way from 95 mph to 170 mph, and there’s a high level of scrutiny around safety equipment and skill (for both driver and car), especially in the speediest of divisions.

Now for a bit of story time: I participated in the 105-mph class of an open-road race in 2008 called the “Bonneville 100.” Following some rookie training, tech inspections, and pre-race briefings in advance, my navigator Branson and I were staged at the grid just outside of Wendover, Nevada (near the Bonneville Salt Flats) according to speed class. I was in my (then-329,000-mile) 1994 Acura Legend.

As the event got underway, each car was released from the start line in about 30-second intervals. With that much of a head start, it was unlikely anyone would need to overtake the car ahead, although it happened from time to time. The route included 50 miles down, a stop and re-stage, and a 50-mile return leg. The times from each leg were both taken into consideration in the final standings (which I’ll share below).

And there was a catch: In the 105-mph class, my navigator and I were instructed that we would be subject to disqualification if at any point during the event we slowed down to 85 mph or slower, and similarly, we were not allowed to exceed 124 mph. Otherwise, participants could conceivably haul butt to within a few miles of the finish, then take their time leisurely crossing the line at their target average.

The whole point of the rally for me was to finish at an average speed of exactly 105 mph, but as one would expect, it wasn’t as easy as just getting up to 105-ish and setting the cruise control for the rest of the trip. There were a lot of variables to consider, like road conditions, turns, and making up for the few seconds of time lost during acceleration. And of course, back in 2008, we had primitive help from technology; we used a simple Garmin GPS device that was probably not nearly as precise or easy to interpret as some of today’s navigation equipment.

On one particular straightaway, aptly named the “speed trap,” I was clocked at 116.4 mph, and I received a certificate to that effect. The fastest car through the speed trap all day, by the way, was a relatively new 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 that hit at 171.8 mph. I could have easily hit my 124 max, but I wanted to add a buffer and avoid risking disqualification (not that it ended up mattering, as you’ll see).

Here were the Bonneville 100 race standings for the 105-mph division from the 2008 event:

First Place: 0.011-mph (0:00.365+t)

• Number, Driver, and Car: 402, Michael Keegan, Chevrolet Corvette
• Leg 1: 29:32.296 @ 104.915 mph
• Leg 2: 28:31.498 @ 105.066 mph

Second Place: 0.026+mph (0:00.875-t)

• Number, Driver, and Car: 299, William Rice, Chevrolet Corvette
• Leg 1: 29:30.577 @ 105.017 mph
• Leg 2: 28:31.977 @ 105.036 mph

Third Place: 0.049-mph (0:01.639+t)

• Number, Driver, and Car: 104, Stan Jennings, Dodge Van
• Leg 1: 29:17.897 @ 105.774 mph
• Leg 2: 28:47.171 @ 104.112 mph

Fourth Place: 0.630-mph (0:21.017+t)

• Number, Driver, and Car: 351, Mark Rice, Dodge Charger
• Leg 1: 29:30.644 @ 105.013 mph
• Leg 2: 28:53.802 @ 103.714 mph

Fifth Place: 1.577+mph (0:51.531-t)

• Number, Driver, and Car: 194, Tyson Hugie, Acura Legend
• Leg 1: 29:04.671 @ 106.576 mph
• Leg 2: 28:07.227 @ 106.577 mph

So, at the end of the day, we were about 1.5 mph (or 51 seconds in elapsed time) too fast, and that was only good enough for fifth place (out of five entries). Mike Borders, who put on the event, was astounded by how closely timed our first and second legs were (off by just a thousandth of a mile per hour). At least we were consistent!

Even with a last-place finish, it was an invigorating experience to drive my own car flat-out on a public highway — especially when I saw that the only law enforcement officials watching were the ones on the side of the road egging me on. I highly recommend that every driving enthusiast participate in an event like this at least once in his or her lifetime!