Miller Motorsports Park

[bpanther]

As promised, here is a writeup of our visit to the new Miller Motorsports Track in Salt Lake City.

I started off the week by having lunch with Mitch Wright who is the Director of Racing for Miller. If the name sounds familiar, Mitch was the head of SCCA Pro Racing and was largely responsible for getting their World Challenge program to what it is today. We spoke about several items, but much of it was how the track will help to promote our events. Since the track owner also owns a TV station, radio stations, two SLC sports teams and about 35 car dealerships, there are many advertising opportunities. All of our events will be open to the public and should be promoted. He is very much behind NASA events at the track is is willing to help make our events happen.

Revkah and I were to meet with Jack, one of the track managers for a tour on Thursday.

The track is located at the southern edge of the Great Salt Lake tucked away in a valley in Tooele county. The area is mostly farm land and is green part of the year. Many people (including us), were under the impression that the track was going to be located in the arid desert somewhere on the salt flats... nope. Right at the I80 exit is a large TA truck stop, several gas stations and fast food places. We didn't make it into the actual towns of Tooele or Grantsville, but we have a huge list of hotels, motels, stores and restaurants. It might be a bit difficult to find car parts on a Sunday, so plan accordingly. The motels are a bit limited in number right near the track, but there are probably 1500+ rooms near the airport at the various places. We stayed near the airport and the drive to the track took about 25 minutes or so. Our room at the Comfort Suites (microwave, fridge, stove, etc) was $59.

Right next door is the Deseret Regional Recreation area. There is a large arena (cows/horses/destruction derby/etc), three motocross tracks, 4 softball diamonds and this is where the Tooele county fair is held. Also on this property is a huge firefighter museum that houses all kinds of antique firetrucks. If the firetrucks don't impress your kids, Utah's largest swimming pool is also in the park.... I'm pretty sure it had waterslides/etc.


Jack gave us a quick overview of the map, current construction update, overview of the medical facilities, etc in the Media trailer. Then we headed out for the tour of this 500 acre facility.

One of the first stops was to get a close up view of the tire wall construction. The guardrail is 3 rails high in most places and then 4 high in others. In the impact zones it has tires 3 or 4 high and 2 deep. They are all bolted vertical and horizontal forming one structure for the entire length. It's then covered with a rubber which is also bolted to the tires. If someone hits the tire wall it won't be a big mess of tires. What happens to the car is still to be seen (we didn't bother to test it out :p). Come to think of it, if you hit a wall, you seriously screwed up and probably deserve it. Most of the walls are a good 200 feet or so off the track surface and even further in areas where cars might go off.

We took a look at the site where the rental garages are being built. These are the garages that are leased/rented to tennents who will store their cars at the track. They are all wired for 110/220 and plumbed. I don't remember if they are heated/cooled.

We briefly took a swing by the West Timing/Control building. Since the track can be confgured to run two simultaneous events, they have the 2nd smaller building for the west side of the track. This secondary building is larger than most main control towers at many tracks.

The "day garages" were next on the tour. There are spots for ~80 cars if you double up or 40 cars if you spread out "NASCAR" style. These are also wired for 110/220 and have air conditioning (heating too?). These will be availble to rent for our events.

The Control/T&S and hospitality suite building appears to be the largest building on the property. It will be three stories high and if I remember correctly also house grand stands. Here is where it gets really cool..... :eek: At the bottom of this building are European F1 style garages. That's right - full size garages right on pit lane. It was at this point that I knew we weren't looking at just another "new track in the desert".

We swung around to look at the location for the club house where they were pouring the foundation. For pro events this is where the big parties are going to happen. It's also available for us to rent if we want to have a large sit down dinner for 500 of us :rolleyes:. A grass sitting area and more grandstands are planned as part of the club house. They said the people here should be able to see at least 80% of the track.

Next... the track

[bpanther]

Since the infied of the track (sprinklers/irrigation?) and tirewalls are under construction we weren't able to do anything fast on the track surface. Still the slow tour in Jack's truck was good enough to see how FAST this place is going to be.

50 feet wide and 4.5 miles long. According to Miller there isn't another track like it in North or South America. There is enough room to go 5 cars wide down the front straight and 4 cars wide in the corners. The track doesn't have a lot of elevation changes but what they do have they have made good use of it. It appears that they have moved a lot of dirt to shape the track as well. For those in the road construction business, we were told it has an 8" road base, a layer of asphalt and then it will have a top layer as well. From the initial testing they did, the grip was very good and tire wear was minimal.

The track can be configured in 4 different ways. A 2.2 mile west track (fast side), a 2.2 mile east track (technical side), a 3.06 mile outer loop or the complete 4.5 miles.

The front straight is about 3/4 miles in length. If you haven't seen the speed projections on their website, this puts a Viper (WCGT spec) at about 175mph before getting on the binders for the relativly slow 80mhp Turn 1. According to their calculations, the next 3 corners are 96, 108 and 115mph. The slowest corner on the west side is projected at 55mph. No matter what you race, you will run out of gears on this track.

The east side of the track, while being labeled as "technical" is by no means slow. I've raced at tracks that they refer to as technical, but what they really meant is it's slow like an auto-x course. For Miller, it means changing elevation, cambered turns and turn that require throwing away the ideal line to get the next section perfect. There is a right-left-right downhill combination that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The S-shaped last two turns which lead onto the front straight are banked and should reward those drivers that can nail it.

As mentioned earlier, if you screw up bad you may hit something. A typical 4 wheels off will result in getting slowed down, but no damage should result. There is about 25-30 feet of "verge" just off the racing surface. It's compacted and shouldn't be subject to ruts. Between the verge and the walls is smooth compacted dirt - no big rocks, no ditches, no boulders. The day we were there they were starting to form the curbs which will be FIA spec and from what I saw they are being located properly. I don't know if they had planned sand traps or not.

There will be plenty of passing opportunities for all types of cars and drivers. If you can pass 'em on power you're good. If you can pass 'em in the corners you're good. If you can pass 'em under braking you're good.

We can't wait to turn some open laps on this track. We were getting excited riding in a truck at 30mph!!!

Next - The Wrap Up

[bpanther]

We left the track and drove back towards I70. The first word out of my mouth was just "wow". I didn't really know how to put into words what we had just seen.

We ate breakfast at the TA truck stop (good all you can eat buffet for $6.95) and talked about the track. We've raced at well known tracks like Sears Point, Laguna, Road America and many that are just as fun but aren't well known. This place is going to be something special once it is ready.


Downsides:

Expensive. People in CO are used to renting a track for $1500 a day. Even the club tracks in CA are less expensive. This is on par with Laguna's and CA Speedway's fees.

It's in SLC. There isn't a big racing community in Utah (yet). Most cars will come from out of the area. Sundays will have a lower turnout due to the high LDS population. It's not an "easy" tow from anywhere.

It's big. Is that a downside? Maybe. In order to make things work and give people lots of track time we will need to put a lot of cars on track at the same time. We also need a lot more workers to cover all the stations. Beginning students may be overwhelmed it is so big (no kidding).

Positives:

World class. With $50mil being spent and the amoutn of work going into this it will be big. Consider the fact that 4 major pro groups booked dates for next year just by seeing the plan on paper tells you it will be well accepted in the world of motorsports. When a track tells you there will be no porta-potties and shows you the location for the medical center and helipad - you know they are serious.

Track surface. It's being built to last. The surface shouldn't be showing signs of crumbling after a few winters. The asphault is being mixed for good adhesion without chewing up tires.

It's big. It was listed as a downside, but it's also a positive thing. As mentioned we can fit a lot of cars on the track to get everybody their $$ worth. Since it's so wide you won't have to get stuck in a train of cars like you do on a 25' wide track.





I had promised pictures, but didn't really bother taking any. I found that the pictures we took would be as good as what Miller has on their website and they just don't do the track justice. Even the in-car video I saw doesn't do it justice. You have to see it in person to fully appreciate it. See you in May!!!!:cool:

[ker]

dang. to bad they didn't build it here.

did you drive from here to there? if so, how long a drive (hours/miles). the route there - is it 4 lane interstate or two lane highway? will the rout allow for an 18 wheeler set up from here to there?

[95R#177]

you mentioned it's right off I-80? It sounds really nice...order of magnitude better than what I'm used to around here

[bpanther]

We left Parker around 1pm and were at our hotel by 10pm. This included stopping for Starbucks in Laramie (30 min) and gas/dinner in Rocky Springs (45 min). Total miles came out to about 625. We weren't towing this time, but when we towed our 26ft enclosed from Nevada back to Denver I seem to remember it took about the same 9-10 hours.

I80 from Cheyenne to SLC is all 4 lane and is the major northern route for trucks. There are hills, but no major vertical climbs like trying to go over Vail pass or through the tunnel on I70. I can get very windy however. The worst traffic is getting from Denver to Ft. Collins.

[bpanther]

dang. to bad they didn't build it here.

Weld County was supposed to be the original location for this track. The surrounding cities, county and state of CO threw up so many roadblocks, redtape and resistance that Miller told them to go pound sand.

[ker]

Weld County was supposed to be the original location for this track. The surrounding cities, county and state of CO threw up so many roadblocks, redtape and resistance that Miller told them to go pound sand.

i also heard that the then owners of ppir spread some discontent around as well to limit competition.

[ker]

625 miles is just a little over half a load of fuel. so i would guess a 9 hour pull. i would take e470 up to the north side of i-25. i would think that would avoid alot of the north bound congestion.

[motobum]

i can not wait to go to this track. i will more then likely only go there once or twice next season, but man to think i will be able to ride a track that is a real live professional track.

[raybob9289]

Dave, will we have enouph people in Rocky Mountain region to have this track for weekend? Or do you think this new track will atract NASA California Racers?

[95R#177]

625 miles is just a little over half a load of fuel. so i would guess a 9 hour pull. i would take e470 up to the north side of i-25. i would think that would avoid alot of the north bound congestion.

kevin,
if you have space, and would like some cost sharing/company for a trip, let me know.

[bpanther]

Dave, will we have enouph people in Rocky Mountain region to have this track for weekend? Or do you think this new track will atract NASA California Racers?

To start with? No, not enough people in the RM region. There are a handfull of people in Utah, but still not enough to make it a go.

The weekend in May will be highly populated by the CA folks and there are quite a few from Vegas as well. Phoenix isn't an easy tow (twisty from what I've heard), but it isn't "too far" for them either.

We're bringing in two of NASA's pro groups, 25-30 USTCC cars and about 20-25 FormulaTR cars. These are primarily west coast teams, but there are people coming from all over the US. Legends cars are wanting 30-40 spots as well - we're still working on that.

The GTS field should be rather large as the west coast BMW cars have spoken for about 30 spots and it is open to all the PCA and BMW cars from here as well. I've gotten pretty good feedback from the local BMW/PCA racers. BTW, GTS is open to all German makes (Audi and VW as well).

Most of our HPDE will come from the Utah area and they are chomping at the bit to run this new track. I've also gotten requests from some GrandAm cup teams wanting to stopby and test on their way to LimeRock.

We should see at least 175 cars if not more :D.

[Warrtalon]

I had pretty much decided not to do this track since it's so far away, but if it's really this awesome, I might make my first long-range racing venture.

[raybob9289]

Dave,
So do you think this will bring AI cars from California as well? I guess if I am moving from SCCA AS to NASA AI What better place to get my first spankin than a brand new track.:D

[ker]

kevin,
if you have space, and would like some cost sharing/company for a trip, let me know.

if you mean space for a car? afraid not. the trailer is packed with the car and spare parts. if you mean a ride for yoursellf, probably not a problem.

[bpanther]

Dave,
So do you think this will bring AI cars from California as well? I guess if I am moving from SCCA AS to NASA AI What better place to get my first spankin than a brand new track.:D

There should be some. You might want to bounce over to the national forums and start talking smack. Here's the link for the AI forum.

http://www.nasaforums.com/viewforum.php?f=3

[JLMounce]

North on I-25 to I80 doesn't sound too bad

How is the grade going there. All I've got for a tow vehicle is a 97 Tacoma with a v6. I'm not sure it'll pull my 3500 lb Cobra up anything incredibly steep. Otherwise I'd love to hit this track.

[95R#177]

North on I-25 to I80 doesn't sound too bad

How is the grade going there. All I've got for a tow vehicle is a 97 Tacoma with a v6. I'm not sure it'll pull my 3500 lb Cobra up anything incredibly steep. Otherwise I'd love to hit this track.

grade isn't real steep, but parts are high altitude...maybe you should swap engines :)

[ker]

dave, will they have the su class?

[JLMounce]

grade isn't real steep, but parts are high altitude...maybe you should swap engines :)


I'll use the Firebird as a doner car. I'm sure the 455 would handle it ;)

[bpanther]

dave, will they have the su class?

Yes. Super Unlimited will be at Miller. I think the 2005 West Coast SU champ will be attending (Collier - you out there?).

In general, all of the recognized NASA classes are able to run at pretty much any race weekend.

[raybob9289]

North on I-25 to I80 doesn't sound too bad

How is the grade going there. All I've got for a tow vehicle is a 97 Tacoma with a v6. I'm not sure it'll pull my 3500 lb Cobra up anything incredibly steep. Otherwise I'd love to hit this track.


Jason, if you are gonna tow an A sedan or any other 3000# plus car, you should definetly invest in a real truck.

[Biggie]

Any word on entry fees for this event? As was mentioned, this is a somewhat expensive track. Just wondering how many aluminum cans I should tell all the kids they will each need to collect.:cool:

[bpanther]

I'd hate to make any firm price quotes, but if you can gather "about" 300 cans at a buck a piece....:rolleyes:

This is quite a bit more than our typical RM entry fee since we are running the full 4.5 miles, but it will be worth it. Future events at the track can be less if we limit ourselves to one half of the facility.

[ker]

just back of the envelope calculating here: 3mpg (in race form), 15 gallons of 108 octane (assuming i use the fuel in the filler neck)........................dang, i hope it's aa short race :)

[bpanther]

just back of the envelope calculating here: 3mpg (in race form), 15 gallons of 108 octane (assuming i use the fuel in the filler neck)........................dang, i hope it's aa short race :)

Are you saying that you're good for about 10 laps?

Should I include the cool down lap when setting the race length, or should we just plan to tow you in after the checkered :eek:?

[ker]

Are you saying that you're good for about 10 laps?

Should I include the cool down lap when setting the race length, or should we just plan to tow you in after the checkered :eek:?

better be only one pace lap :eek: cause i CAN'T stay off the throttle:D

[JLMounce]

Jason, if you are gonna tow an A sedan or any other 3000# plus car, you should definetly invest in a real truck.


You're not even kidding. Budget unfortunately doesn't allow for a "real" truck.

When you're 23, paying for college, paying a mortgage, trying to race a car and still have money left over to eat, a nice full sized diesel pickup just isn't in the cards.

On the plus side, I could always sell my condo. After all, you can live in a car, you can't drive a house. :eek:

[ker]

.

On the plus side, I could always sell my condo. After all, you can live in a car, you can't drive a house. :eek:

there ya go, problem solved:D ;)

[JLMounce]

And I'll have everything at the track that I would have at home!

[Warrtalon]

I'd hate to make any firm price quotes, but if you can gather "about" 300 cans at a buck a piece

Wow, that would be fine with me. I haven't paid less than $299 for HPDE here in NASA Mid-Atlantic, so I certainly wouldn't mind paying $300 for an awesome track. If the events at PMI and such are less, that would be icing on the cake.

[FOXBAT]

This track sounds like a dream and is so much closer than a trek to Road America.

[380ss]

I can do this. Count me in.