Miller Motorsports Park announces weak 2011 schedule

Miller Motorsports Park has lost both Grand-Am and ALMS and has no top racing series event. The track proves that if built in the middle of nowhere the fans won't come.

Miller Motorsports Park will offer an unparalleled variety of racing activities during the 2011 season. As the track enters its sixth year of operation there will be something for everyone, ranging from road racing automobiles and motorcycles to off-road racing and karting.

“We think the 2011 season is going to be our most successful yet," said John Larson, General Manager of Miller Motorsports Park. “We had a very strong response to our off-road events last year. As a result we have added more off-road events to our calendar. Those, combined with our road racing events for cars and motorcycles and our karting events, are going to make it a great year for fans of almost every type of motorsport you can think of. We can’t wait to get started."

The first big event of the season will be the Utah Grand Prix, headlined by the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, over the weekend of April 28 – May 1. Supporting events include the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge Championship, the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Championship, the IMSA Patron GT3 Challenge and the Pirelli Challenge.

One month later, over Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30, will be Miller Motorsports Park’s biggest event of the year, the USA Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship. Once again, this will be the only appearance in the Western Hemisphere of the world’s third-biggest racing organization, making its fourth appearance in Utah. Supporting events will include AMA Pro Racing’s National Guard American Superbike Championship, Daytona SportBike Championship presented by Amsoil and Vance & Hines XR1200 Series as well as the third annual Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge pro-am race. The weekend will include two rock concerts at the track on Saturday and Sunday nights, with feature races being held on Memorial Day Monday, May 30.

The incredible rock-crawling machines of the World Extreme Rock Crawling Championship (WE ROCK) will again make two visits to Miller Motorsports Park in 2011. The first visit, over the weekend of June 11-12, will be a round of the series’ Western Region championship. The second visit, over the weekend of October 1-2, will be the Grand National Championship event, bringing together the top competitors from the Eastern and Western regions.

Making a return appearance to Miller Motorsports Park over the weekend of June 24-26 will be the Lucas Oil Offroad Racing Series, which was a phenomenal success in its Utah debut last year. Rather than use the infield of the road racing track as in 2010, Miller Motorsports Park is building a dedicated off-road course for the Lucas Offroad trucks and buggies that will also be used for other off-road events. Joining the weekend will be the third annual CruiserFest, a gathering for Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiasts.

A unique new event will take place over the weekend of July 15-17, as the King of the Hammers off-road group comes to Utah for the first time. This unusual competition combines rock-crawling with high-speed off-road racing, and will utilize both MMP’s existing rock-crawling course and the new off-road racing course.

Motorcycle enthusiasts will return to Miller Motorsports Park over Labor Day weekend, September 3-4, for the sixth annual BikeFest, featuring the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association. The vintage motorcycle races and concours d’elegance have become a must-do event for motorcycle fans in the Intermountain West.

In addition to the major events, there will also be an entertaining mix of mid-level events at Miller Motorsports Park during 2011. These include WERA Motorcycle Road Racing, June 18-19; the Rotax Grand Nationals, one of America’s most prestigious karting events, July 21-23; The SCCA Utah Region’s “Great Salt Race," August 6-7; the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah bicycle race, August 12; Redline Time Attack, August 27-28; and the Intermountain Region of the Porsche Club of America, September 23-25.

Miller Motorsports Park’s local amateur racing championships will continue in force in 2011. The Miller Park Racing Association for automobiles will contest a seven-round championship in 2011, plus two non-points endurance races. The Masters of the Mountains Championship for motorcycles will also contest a seven-round championship. MMP’s ever-growing road-racing kart program has combined two championships into one, 15-round Utah Kart Championship Series, and the Speedway Karts and Quarter-Midgets championship, new in 2010, expands to a 10-round series to be held on the MMP Kart Center’s oval track.

Miller Motorsports Park will also continue to offer non-competitive track time to enthusiasts in 2011, with five rounds of the popular Wide-Open Wednesday program scheduled plus 19 Open Track Days for automobiles and seven Open Track Days for motorcycles.

For information regarding Miller Motorsports Park, call 435-277-RACE (7223) or visit the track’s website at www.MillerMotorsportsPark.com. For specific information on the USA Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship, visit the event website at www.SBKUSA.com.