NASCAR comes to Tooele County!
This past weekend saw stock cars racing on the outer course at Miller Motorsports park in Tooele Utah. Imagine that!
Now, before you all go running for your TiVo's, or write me a nasty letter explaining to me that Nascar was in Chicago yesterday, let me explain. On Friday and Saturday, the Nascar Grand National West series came to Tooele. These are cars very similar to the Cup cars we see every week, that have roughly 100-150 horsepower less. I liken this series to a AA pro baseball team, a couple of rungs down the ladder from the elite. It is a training series with drivers as young as 17 years old trying to work their way up to the big leagues. Kevin Harvick, the driver that replaced Dale Earnhardt when he died, came through this series, as did several other cup regulars.
They ran on the outer course at Miller, a length of something over 3 miles, reaching speeds down the main straight of well over 150 miles per hour. However, as we sat in 105 degree temperatures at the start of the race,
I found myself actually wishing I'd left after the other 3 support races, which were exciting to watch. The main event started as a real bore as 11 of the first 22 laps of the 40 lap distance were run under a yellow caution flag. With yellow flag speeds in 35-40 mph range on a 3 mile track, you can see why myself and others were struggling to stay connected. The biggest cheer of the first half of the race was for a rabbit that managed to run through the traffic at Sunset Bend without becoming part of the racing surface. Many fans started to head for the exits. Those that stayed got to watch some very exciting racing action as the top 3 cars ran nose to tail for the last 11 laps, changing the lead several times. The cars behind created lots of excitement as they tried to catch up. It was well worth staying.
The Salt Lake Tribune figured about 7000 people in attendance, although it seemed like more to me. I wish Millers would announce attendance, but they never do. All in all, a very fine day of racing, with 2 different open wheel races, as well as the Ken Garff Porsche Cup race.
However, this weekend did expose a couple of weaknesses in the facility. First and foremost, Larry will have to spring for more track response personnel & equipment if he wants to ever realize his (apparent) dream of hosting a real Busch series or Nextel Cup event. Many of the delays in the racing action were, in my opinion, a result of track resources being stretched too thin. It's simply a matter of the sheer size of the facility. An incident happening at Tooele Turn is a couple of MILES from another incident happening at Sunset Bend. A blown engine 2/3 of the way down the main straight took place in the middle of the race. It took crews almost 3 minutes to get to the car, as they'd been dealing with another incident on a different part of the track a few minutes earlier. Once they get there, they do a great job, but a 20 minute delay is too long to clean up the mess.
But perhaps the most annoying thing that took place, was the track announcers. I believe they are affiliated with the series, not the track. At any rate, they were absolutely horrible. They were completely unable to watch any of the action out their own window and were only able to announce what they were seeing on the computer, or on TV. It was comical to hear them announce something that the rest of us had seen happen a half lap before, or completely make up something that they didn't see happen at all. I've been to many of the events at Miller, but never heard announcers so lousy. Luckily, we had eyes of our own.
Anyway, it was great fun to watch overall. Those people that are worried that we will be having a Cup series race, with the 150,000 fans that go with it, shouldn't worry. It'll be some time (if ever) before we are ready for anything of that magnitude. The track itself is plenty ready, but the support services that go with it aren't. Keep praying for the new Mid Valley highway......