Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015.[1] The course has hosted auto, motorcycle, bicycle and kart racing, along with corporate events.
Location | Grantsville 2901 North Sheep Lane Grantsville, Utah 84074 United States |
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Time zone | UTC-7 (UTC-6 DST) |
Coordinates | 40°34′30″N 112°22′29″W |
Capacity | 8,000 Grandstand Seats + Trackside Seating |
Owner | Mitime Investment and Development Group (Subsidiary of Geely) |
Broke ground | 26 April 2005; 17 years ago (2005-04-26) |
Opened | 1 April 2006; 16 years ago (2006-04-01) |
Construction cost | US$100 million |
Architect | Alan Wilson |
Former names | Miller Motorsports Park (April 2006–October 2015) |
Major events | Current:
Former:
|
Full Course (2006–present) | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 4.486 miles (7.220 km) |
Turns | 23 |
Race lap record | 2:18.128 ( Timo Bernhard, Porsche RS Spyder Evo, 2007, LMP2) |
Outer Course (2006–present) | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 3.048 miles (4.905 km) |
Turns | 14 |
Race lap record | 1:32.815 ( Simon Pagenaud, Acura ARX-02a, 2009, LMP1) |
East Course (2006–present) | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 2.200 miles (3.539 km) |
Turns | 15 |
Race lap record | 1:30.355 ( Garrett Gerloff, Yamaha YZF-R1, 2019, MotoAmerica (Superbike)) |
West Course (2006–present) | |
Surface | Asphalt |
Length | 2.200 miles (3.52 km) |
Turns | 10 |
Website | www |
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 mi (4.905 km) outer course that does not use the tighter infield lay-out, as well as two 2.2 mi (3.5 km) layouts that each use half of the full course and can be run simultaneously. The Full course was the longest road racing facility in North America until the 2014 extension of Thunderhill Raceway Park. It is about 0.5 mi (0.80 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 mph (160 km/h).
During the annual Tour of Utah bicycle race, the park is known for hosting the tour's "trademark" time-trial stage.[2]
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,[citation needed] with a budget of about $5 million. Due to enormous local motorcycle and auto industry support, the concept gradually grew into a $100 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 April 1, 2006, when APEXtrackdays ran 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 mi) for 2007 and 2008, and to 250 mi (400 km) for 2009 and 2010.
The track is also host to a WERA Grand National motorcycle road racing event and the regional motorcycle road racing series Masters of the Mountains, promoted by the Utah Sportbike Association.
The facility was named Motorsports Facility of the Year on November 8, 2006, by the Professional Motorsport World Expo in Cologne, Germany.[3]
On July 14, 2007, the track hosted its first NASCAR event with a 150 mi (240 km) NASCAR Camping World West Series race on the 3.048 mi (4.905 km) Outer Track. The series switched to the outer course for later editions.
On August 22, 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 June 1, 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 Outercourse, while AMA Superbike and its support classes will use the Full course.[4]
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.
The off-road racetrack hosted a round of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series from 2010 to 2018. A return was scheduled for 2020 prior to its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6] The inaugural Nitro Rallycross round will take place at the track in September 2021.[7]
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 would be October 31, 2015.[8]
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.[9]
On October 13, 2015, Tooele County voted to approve the sale of Miller Motorsports Park to Mitime Investment and Development Group (a subsidiary of Chinese car manufacturer Geely) for $20 million. The track will be renamed and known as Utah Motorsports Campus. Mitime officially took over the property on October 31, 2015.[10]
On December 17, 2015, an order filed in the 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.[11]
On February 1, 2016, Mitime took over the management of the facility on behalf of Tooele County. This was a temporary agreement for 2016 while the county went through the process of selling the facility. In May 2016, there were pending legal challenges to the sale, but the facility opened for business as the Utah Motorsports Campus.[12] In November 2018, the sale to Mitime was completed. Mitime is a subsidiary of the Geely Holding Group of China [13]
The fastest official race lap records on the Utah Motorsports Campus (formerly Miller Motorsports Park) are listed as:
Category | Time | Driver | Vehicle | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Full Course: 7.220 km (2006–present) | ||||
LMP2 | 2:21.749[14] | Timo Bernhard | Porsche RS Spyder Evo | 2007 Utah Grand Prix |
LMP1 | 2:22.919[14] | Allan McNish | Audi R10 TDI | 2007 Utah Grand Prix |
Formula Atlantic | 2:29.564[15] | Carl Skerlong | Swift 016.a | 2008 Utah Formula Atlantic round |
GT1 (GTS) | 2:36.650[16] | Stéphane Sarrazin | Aston Martin DBR9 | 2006 Utah Grand Prix |
DP | 2:37.323[17] | Raphael Matos | Riley Mk XX | 2008 Porsche 250 Presented by Bradley Arant |
GT2 | 2:44.403[16] | Jaime Melo | Ferrari F430 GTC | 2006 Utah Grand Prix |
Outer Course: 4.905 km (2006–present) | ||||
LMP1 | 1:32.815[18] | Simon Pagenaud | Acura ARX-02a | 2009 Utah Grand Prix |
LMP2 | 1:32.816[19] | Simon Pagenaud | Acura ARX-01b | 2008 Utah Grand Prix |
Formula Atlantic | 1:38.553[20] | Simona de Silvestro | Swift 016.a | 2009 Utah Formula Atlantic round |
GT1 (GTS) | 1:43.434[19] | Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | 2008 Utah Grand Prix |
LMPC | 1:43.881[21] | Gunnar Jeannette | Oreca FLM09 | 2010 Utah Grand Prix |
DP | 1:43.908[22] | Scott Pruett | Riley Mk XX | 2010 Utah 250 |
Star Mazda | 1:44.471[23] | John Edwards | Star Formula Mazda 'Pro' | 2008 Utah Star Mazda round |
World SBK | 1:48.045 | Carlos Checa | Ducati 1098R | 2010 Utah World SBK round |
GT2 | 1:48.305[19] | Patrick Pilet | Porsche 911 (997) GT3-RSR | 2008 Utah Grand Prix |
MotoAmerica (Superbike) | 1:49.200[24] | Cameron Beaubier | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 2018 MotoAmerica Championship of Utah |
GT3 | 1:49.409[25] | Álvaro Parente | Bentley Continental GT3 | 2018 Utah Pirelli World Challenge round |
MotoAmerica (Stock 1000) | 1:49.776[26] | Cameron Beaubier | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 2016 MotoAmerica Championship of Utah |
World SSP | 1:51.702 | Kenan Sofuoğlu | Honda CBR600RR | 2010 Utah World SSP round |
MotoAmerica (Supersport) | 1:52.264[27] | J. D. Beach | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2017 MotoAmerica Championship of Utah |
GT4 | 1:58.977[28] | George Kurtz | Audi R8 LMS GT4 | 2018 Utah Pirelli World Challenge round |
TCR Touring Car | 1:59.212[29] | Michael James Lewis | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 2018 Utah Pirelli World Challenge round |
East Course: 3.539 km (2006–present) | ||||
MotoAmerica (Superbike) | 1:30.355[30] | Garrett Gerloff | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 2019 MotoAmerica Championship of Utah |
MotoAmerica (Supersport) | 1:32.256[31] | Hayden Gillim | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 2019 MotoAmerica Championship of Utah |
MotoAmerica (Stock 1000) | 1:32.353[32] | Andrew Lee | Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R | 2019 MotoAmerica Championship of Utah |
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