TOOELE - It is massive. It is busy. It cost Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller nearly $100 million to build and it will bring the international motorsports spotlight to Utah in 2008 more than ever before.
    Yet, relatively few people along the Wasatch Front know anything about Miller Motorsports Park, and even fewer have been out to the ever-growing 511-acre facility a half-hour's drive from downtown Salt Lake City.
    Track officials came to that conclusion in assessing the track's general health and place in the Utah entertainment consumer's consciousness over the winter, general manager and CEO Alan Wilson said as the road course in the west desert embarks on its third season.
    "This is our third year and everything is on an upward trend," Wilson said. "But like we've always said, it will take three to five years to get where we want to be. This year, our main goal is to get people to recognize that we are not a hundred miles from anywhere, and we are just trying to get people to understand that this is a fun place."
    Anyone with a television or radio likely knows more about the park now, though, thanks to a huge marketing campaign that focuses on Floyd and Lloyd, a pair of fictional Tooele farmers, and racing cows.
    The campaign's goal is to convince those in the Salt Lake Valley that a trip to MMP is as close, if not closer, than a trip
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to Park City, Thanksgiving Point or Lagoon.
    "We decided to go the humor route because we know it works, and we know people are going to enjoy it," Wilson said.
    Still, 2008 will be about racing, Wilson said, promising the best year yet in that regard.
    The park attracted some of the top motorsports series in North America in its first two seasons. This year, it has drawn one of the premier series in the world, as the FIM Superbike World Championship returns to the continent after a four-year absence.
    Superbike is considered the No. 3 motorsports series in the world, behind only Formula One racing and GP Moto (Formula One bikes) racing.
    "We have the same schedule as last year, but on steroids," Wilson said. "Getting the Superbike Championship here has been a lot of work."
    Wilson and John Gardner, media manager for MMP, said the FIM Superbike World Championship, May 29-June 1, not only will be the biggest event in the track's brief history, but the biggest international sporting event in Utah since the 2002 Games.
    Close to 2 billion viewers will watch the event live in 173 countries on 95 TV networks, Gardner said. The facility will have to add up to six broadcast booths.
    "It's going to shine a big light on Utah, and a big light on our facility," Gardner said.
    Last year, officials gave the facility a $10 million face-lift, pushing the total price tag over the $90 million mark in an attempt to make MMP the premier road-racing venue in North America. Enhancements included doubling the grandstand seating capacity, adding new rest rooms, upgrading the public address system and landscaping.
    This year, they've spent about $1 million on the facility, not counting the new administration building. Most of the changes are safety upgrades requested by the Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme (FIM), the sanctioning body for motorcycle racing that runs the Superbike World Championships.
    "Some of them we planned to do. Others were specifically to meet some of the needs of the [FIM]," Wilson said.
    Most notably, the pit lane has been extended to Turn 1 (just for World Superbike), some runoff areas have been paved and gravel traps in some areas were enlarged. Also, guard rails, corner posts and corner worker stations were moved.
    It all goes to show how important it was to MMP to land a three-year deal with the series. Next year, the Supersport bikes series will join the Superbikes.
    The new administration building is due to be completed by May 1, Wilson said, in time for the season's first big spectator event. The American Le Mans Series' Utah Grand Prix Presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels is May 16-18.
    The three-story building, 8,000 square feet, cost an estimated $5 million and will house all the offices for MMP's staff of nearly 80. Existing office space will be turned into corporate suites and hospitality centers.
    drew@sltrib.com
   
    2008 racing schedule
    Weekend Major Event
    April 25-27 Snap-On Stars of Karting presented by the Indy Racing League
    May 16-18 American Le Mans Series' Utah Grand Prix
    May 23-25 Great Salt Race (SCCA Double National)
    May 30-June 1 FIM Superbike World Championship, Honda Summit of Speed AMA Superbikes
    June 6-8 WERA Motorcycles, Utah Kart Championship Series Round 2
    June 13-15 National Auto Sports Association (NASA) Rocky Mountain Regionals
    June 27-29 GT LIVE West
    July 4-6 The Thriller at Miller (Nostalgia Racing)
    Aug. 1-3 NASCAR Camping World Series (West)
    Aug. 8-10 Utah Region SCCA Regional
    Sept. 5-7 Bonneville Vintage GP (AHMRA)
    Sept. 12-14 Heroes of Speed (Historic Sportscar Racing)
    Sept. 19-21 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series' Sunchaser 1000