Miller Motorsports Park

Miller Motorsports Park

Location	Tooele County, at 2901 N. Sheep Lane Tooele, Utah 84074
Time zone	UTC-7 (UTC-6 DST)
Capacity	8,000 Grandstand Seats + Trackside Seating
Owner	Karen Gail Miller and children (The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies)
Broke ground	2004
Opened	2006
Construction cost	US$100 million
Architect	Alan Wilson
Major events	FIM: Superbike World Championship Grand-Am: Rolex Sports Car Series AMA Superbike Championship Utah Grand Prix: NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Pirelli World Challenge UCI America Tour: Tour de Utah
Full Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	4.48 mi (7.220 km)
Turns	23
Lap record	2:18.128 (Timo Bernhard, Penske Racing, 2007, LMP2)
Outer Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	3.048 mi (4.876 km)
Turns	14
Lap record	1:31.050 (Timo Bernhard, Penske Racing, 2008, LMP2)
East Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.2 mi (3.52 km)
Turns	12
West Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.2 mi (3.52 km)
Turns	13

Miller Motorsports Park is an auto, motorcycle, bicycle and kart racing facility located in the unincorporated Erda area just outside Tooele, Utah.

The Track

The Full course is a 23-turn (28-apex), 4.486 mi (7.220 km) road circuit run counter-clockwise. The front stretch can see vehicles reaching speeds of 200 mph (321.9 km/h). Smaller configurations of the track can be made from the full course, including a 3.048 miles (4.905 km) outer course that does not use the tighter infield lay-out, as well as two 2.2 miles (3.5 km) layouts that each use half of the full course and can be run simultaneously. At almost 4.5 miles (7.2 km), it is the longest road racing facility in North America. It is about ½ mile (0.8 km) longer than the previous holder, Road America. The Outer course is one of the fastest road courses in North America, with AMA Superbikes posting average speeds over 100 miles per hour (160.9 km/h).

Its corner names (in order) are Sunset Bend, Dreamboat, Work Out, Scream, Black Rock Hairpin, Right Hook, Knock Out, Demon, Devil, Diablo, Indecision, Precision, Fast, Faster, Gotcha, Mabey Y'll Makit, Satisfaction, Agony, Ecstasy, 1st Attitude, 2nd Attitude, Bad Attitude, Tooele Turn, Kink, Club House Corner, Wind-Up, and Release.

Located to the North of the main track Miller Motorsports Park also contains a 0.89 miles (1.43 km) kart track that can be configured as a first-rate supermoto track with the inclusion of two dirt sections. The main straight approaches 900 feet (270 m) in length and 30 feet (9.1 m) in width.

The facility has a 24 acres (97,124.6 m²) paddock that contains 220 team garages, 40 day garages, 27 grand prix garages located along the hot pits, an on-site medical facility, five million dollar Club House, vintage car museum, and a helicopter pad.

Miller Motorsports Park has been named as the exclusive Ford High Performance Driving School providing a wide range of driver training programs including an opportunity to drive one of four Ford GT's on course.

During the annual Tour de Utah bicycle race, the park is known for hosting the tour's "trademark" time-trial stage.^[1]

History

This track was originally conceived as a novelty track for Larry H. Miller, owner of the NBA's Utah Jazz and various automobile dealerships in the area, to use as a personal playground, with a budget of about $5 million. Due to enormous local motorcycle and auto industry support the concept gradually grew into an $85 million plus project, one of a kind in the U.S.

The track was designed by world renowned engineer Alan Wilson. The kart track was opened in September, 2005 and the large track was opened to the public on 1 April 2006 when APEXtrackdays hosted the first motorcycle track day. A ceremony conducted by Miller kicked off this inaugural event.

In 2006, the track's first year of operation, it hosted the Utah Grand Prix with the American Le Mans Series, a Honda Summit of Speed AMA Superbike double-header event, and the Discount Tire Sunchaser 1000, a nine-hour endurance race held by the Grand American Road Racing Association (since shortened to 250 miles). It was unusual for a race track to attract so many relatively big-budget race events in its first year of operation. The track is also host to a WERA Grand National motorcycle roadracing event and the regional motorcycle roadracing series Masters of the Mountains, promoted by the Utah sport bike association.

The facility was named Motorsports Facility of the Year on 8 November 2006 by the Professional Motorsport World Expo in Cologne, Germany.^[2]

On 14 July 2007, the track hosted its first-ever NASCAR event with a 150 miles (241.4 km) Grand National West Series race on the 3.048-mile (4.905 km) Outer Track. The series has visited Miller every year since than, having switched to the outer course.

On 22 August 2007, Miller Motorsports Park announced a three-year deal to bring the FIM Superbike World Championship to the track; the Superbike World Championship will race at the track for the first time on 1 June 2008 with the AMA Superbike Championship. To avoid direct comparisons between World Superbike and AMA Superbike, and because of sponsorship issues, the two championships will race on different configurations of the circuit. World Superbike will use the Outer course, while AMA Superbike and its support classes will use the Full course.^[3]

The American Le Mans Series did not return to the Utah Grand Prix for 2011, and a K&N Pro Series West race was substituted. It was also announced that AMA Superbike would return to the track in 2011 with World Superbike.

Maps

• 

  "East Course"

• 

  "Main Course"

• 

  "Outer Course"

• 

  "West Course"

Simulations and video games

Simulation / Video Game	Year	Configuration
		Full	Outer	East	West
rFactor	2007	Y	Y
SBK-09: Superbike World Championship	2009		Y
SBK X: Superbike World Championship	2010		Y

References

1. ^ http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/08/news/tour-of-utah-already-americas-toughest-stage-race-opens-tuesday-with-its-best-field-yet_187403
2. ^ 2007 Miller Motorsports Park schedule announced motorsport.com retrieved on September 23, 2007
3. ^ World Superbike And AMA To Run Different Courses During 2008 Event At Miller roadracingworld.com retrieved on September 14, 2007

External links

• Miller Motorsports Park website
• Miller Motorsports Park Performance Schools website
• Yamaha Champions Riding School at Miller Motorsports Park website
• SBK USA, FIM World Superbike at Miller Motorsports Park website
• Lap Battle Time Attack Series at Miller Motorsports Park website
• APEXtrackdays, Motorcycle Trackdays at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah
• 1tail Resource Database: Miller Motorsports Park
• Trackpedia guide to driving this track
• Miller Motorsports Park Kart website

Coordinates: 40°34′30″N 112°22′29″W / 40.575°N 112.37472°W / 40.575; -112.37472