Utah Motorsports Campus is an auto, motorcycle, bicycle and kart racing facility located in the unincorporated Erda area just outside Tooele, Utah. It previously operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015.
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The track
The Full course is a 23-turn (28-apex), 4.486 mi (7.220 km) road circuit run counterclockwise. 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 was the longest road racing facility in North America until the 2014 extension of Thunderhill Raceway Park. 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 Utah Motorsports Campus 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.
During the annual Tour of Utah bicycle race, the park is known for hosting the tour's "trademark" time-trial stage.
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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 track designer Alan Wilson. The kart track was opened in September 2005 and the large track was opened to the public on 1 April 2006 for the first motorcycle track day.
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, a nine-hour endurance race of the Rolex Sports Car Series. The Sunchaser was shortened to 1,000 km (620 miles) for 2007 and 2008, and to 250 miles for 2009 and 2010.
The track is also host to a WERA Grand National motorcycle roadracing event and the regional motorcycle road racing 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.
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 then, 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.
The American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car 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.
Ownership change
It was announced on May 8, 2015 that the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies would not renew the lease on the land in Tooele County, Utah on which the park sits. The last day of operation will be October 31, 2015.
According to local news sources, as of July 17, 2015, there were several offers being considered by the Tooele County commissioners that would provide for the facility to continue operation.
On October 13, 2015, Tooele County voted to approve the sale of Miller Motorsports Park to Mitime Investment and Development Group (subsidiary of Chinese car manufacturer Geely) for $20 million dollars. The track will be renamed, and known as Utah Motorsports Campus. Mitime officially took over the property on October 31, 2015.
On December 17, 2015, an order filed in 3rd District Court vacated the sale of Miller Motorsports Park to Mitime Investment and Development Group, saying Tooele County shortchanged another bidder by unlawfully selling the property at a price significantly below fair market value. Two days later, Tooele County's commissioners said that the bidding for the purchase of the property would be reopened.
On February 1, 2016, Mitime took over the management of the facility on behalf of Tooele County. This is a temporary agreement for 2016 while the county goes through the process of selling the facility. As of May 2016, there were pending legal challenges to the sale, but the facility opened for business as the Utah Motorsports Campus.
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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