Miller Motorsports Track Description and Video

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Hi guys, Robb Holland here. I race the Speed World Challenge series with 3R Racing and I am also a NASA instructor in the Rocky Mountain Region. Earlier this week the team went to Miller Motorsports Park to do a two day test with other TC and GT World Challenge teams, as well as several Grand Am DP teams and a few Porsche Cup guys thrown in for some variety. I spoke with Dave Ballingit when I got back and he thought it would be cool for me to download some in car video and give you guys a brief (as possible with 4.5 miles and 23 turns) course description so you had some idea of what you’re going to be getting into in a few weeks time. (Cue evil maniacal laughter)

 

First off let me say that, with out reservation, this will be the finest motorsport facility that you will ever visit, let alone have the chance to turn a wheel in anger on. Everything that Larry Miller did was top shelf all the way (now I know what $85,000,000 looks like and it looks good). For example the garages have their own bathrooms. Not one bathroom for all the garages but one bathroom per bay! We had three bays and we figured that we had more bathrooms for the team then Pueblo has total!!! Also Alan Wilson (the track designer) and his team were unbelievable. We were the first pro level drivers to ever run the track and Alan spent hours with us figuring out how to make the track even better! Not only did he really listen to all our issues but some, if not most of our suggestions will be in place by the time you guys run there in a couple of weeks (I’m not talking about small changes either, like moving a tire wall back a few feet but stuff like making the entrance to the track from pit out more gradual which means regrading and relaying about 150 ft of pavement). In fact some of the changes we suggested were made overnight!. Alan and his crew were so receptive you kind of worried about saying anything at all, lest you say something really stupid and come back in the morning to find that your dumb idea was now a permanent part of the track, drawing the ire of racers for the next couple of generations! OK, I’ve run out of my allotment of exclamation points for the day lets get on to the track description.

 

First a warning: this track is loooooooong, no I mean reeeeeeeeeally loooooooong. It’s not just the distance (4.5 miles) but the 23 corners, which makes it hard to get it right. On top of that it is fairly featureless making it very easy to get lost on. No less a driver then Randy Pobst went off 5 times (that I saw and he will admit to). Until you get a feel for things it is very easy to get completely turned around and think that you’re coming into a fast right hander when it’s really a slow left. (Mayhem and hilarity ensue) The good news in all of this is that if you do get it really wrong (and you will) it is impossible to hit anything, the runoff is VAST. You pretty much have to drive halfway back to Salt Lake City to find anything to hit. On top of that the gravel traps are hard packed and completely smooth. The only thing you have to do after an off is clean all of the gravel and dust out of your car. (Remember when coming back on to the track after an off try not to come back on the racing line and drag all of that gravel with you). I found what worked for me was to work on the west loop first (Turns 1 thru 9) and just kind of cruise the east loop (10-23). Then as I got a handle on the west track I started to work on the east. Do what works best for you. All right on to business.

 

Turns 1-4 I am going to treat these 4 corners as one complex because they are all linked, in that what you do in turn 1 effects the next 3 proceeding corners. After the long front straight make sure you get the car slowed early and are off the brakes at turn in. This is a fairly fast turn and if you trail the brakes you will get very lose on turn in (at 70 mph!) so make sure the car is settled before turn in. After you’ve got the car pointed you can roll back on the throttle almost immediately to get some weight transferred back onto the rear wheels. This corner has a very late apex (almost at the end of the curbing) and it’s important that you hit it otherwise you won’t be able to get the car back to the left to set up for 2 or you’ll run out of road and visit the countryside for a bit). You can carry a good bit of speed through the turn as the exit widens quite a bit at track out. Out of 1 you have to hustle the car back over to the left and brake lightly (or just roll off the throttle depending on the driver/car) Once again you can carry good speed through this corner as well. Make sure you use all of the track at the exit if you pinch the exit you’ll feel that the car is cornering as hard as it can when in reality if you straighten the wheel to use all of the track you’ll start to realize that the is more speed to be found. Once again hustle the car back over to the right and brake lightly for turn 3. Do not trail brake (or lift mid corner), as you will again get very lose. (See the idiot in the video). Turn 4 is just a kink but make sure that you use the entire track on both entry and exit.

 

Turn 5 One of my least favorite turns on the track mainly because I haven’t figured it out yet. You have to get slowed down enough to make the tight left hand turn but once you’re in the corner it immediately opens up and you have acres of room left which makes you feel that you’ve over slowed the corner. I’ve tried several lines/ speeds through here but I’m not happy with any of them so I’ll have to get back to you on this one. If any one else gets it let me know.

 

Turn 6 If you take 5 anything like I take 5 you’ll find yourself in the middle of the road at track out. Drift back to the left for 6. This corner is basically a long double apex hairpin. Stay wide on entry and ignore the first apex and set up for a slightly late apex out of the corner (careful that you don’t carry to much mid corner speed as the corner is decreasing radius) there is a bit of a straight leading into one of the most unique turns on the course.

 

Turn 7 This is a triple apex left hand corner. The entry is very deceptive and tough to get right. You can carry quite a bit of speed into the first part of the corner if you hit the first apex, ignore the second apex, and treat the corner like one constant radius turn. The problem comes in that you can’t get your head turned far enough to locate the second apex (really the third apex but you're ignoring the second one) which you need to hit in order to get set up for 8 and 9. Because you can’t see your second apex and it’s a long corner with lots of random curbing in the corner it’s easy to get lost and not carry enough speed or miss your second apex. (Things should be easier by the time you guys get there as some rubber should be laid down on the line by then and that should help with locating yourself within the turn. Just don’t follow the tracks that go off the road after the first apex, those are mine and that didn’t work out to well for me)

 

Turns 8-9 On the track map 8 and 9 look like they’re two separate corners but on track they are very much linked. Out of 7 get the car to the middle of the road. Look for the seam in the pavement for a reference. If you are on the seam going into 8 and you hit your apex you can carry lots of speed into this complex. In the video I was lifting but by the last sessions I was close to flat for 8 and 9 with just a light lift at turn in (Work your way up to speed. Once again very car/ driver dependant). You want to make sure you late apex nine as the following straight is the second longest on the track. If you get 8 and 9 wrong you could be 8- 10 mph (.8 seconds) slower by the end of the straight (ask me how I know)(sometimes Motec sucks).

 

Turn 10 You can completely ignore this turn. It’s just a kink and will be taken flat out. You never have to get down to the curbing, the important thing is to be all the way to the left coming in to 11 and I’ll tell you why in a second.

 

Turn 11-13 Turn 11 can be taken flat out (it’s only slightly tighter than 10) but it shouldn’t. Why you ask? Well my friends this is where you actually have to think a bit. If you take 11 flat you’ll end up at the exit on the very left edge of the road going like a bat out of hell with all of your weight still moving left. Where does that leave you? The correct answer is: screwed if you’re trying to make turn 12. You’re on the opposite side of the track from where you should be to make 12 and carrying WAY too much speed with the car not balanced correctly to get the it turned. If, however, you tap the brakes going into 11 and hit a late apex you end up in the middle of the road on exit and can easily get the car over to the right and slowed in plenty of time to carry good speed into 12, which will gain you huge time on all those who tried it the other way. (I caught a Daytona Prototype here with my touring car because the DP driver took the wrong line and I have to say it was very embarrassing for both of us). Control your speed through 12 (hey look we’re half way through) and you should exit about the middle of the track coming into 13. Hustle the car back over to the left and set up for 13, which is a constant radius right hander. Nothing special here just use all of the track on exit.

 

Turn 14 Is very similar to 13 but it opens a bit more. You want to be a little late on the apex as this corner leads onto another straight. If you look at the track map and look at all the corners that lead onto straights and get them right, with good exit speed, you’ll gain much more than trying to get the slow corners right.

 

Turn 15 Another corner that leads onto a straight. The way they have it laid out though is a little weird. It should be a double apex turn however there is no curbing at what should be the first apex but there is curbing on the outside of the turn where you’ll never be unless your doing something really wrong. They also placed an apex cone on the outside curbing as well and for the first 4 sessions I couldn’t figure out what the heck I was doing wrong. Then I followed Tommy Archer through there in the Viper and he was running the exact line I was so I said oh well and just ran it my way. The cool thing about this corner though is that is goes slightly uphill and if you get down to the apex here there is also a bit of camber, so you can really carry pretty good speed out of this one. Be careful though the track flattens out at the exit so you might get a bit of push if you’re really movin’.

 

Turn 16-18 Call em’ the Corkscrew, call em’ the S’s, I call em’ fun. This series is kind of like the corkscrew at Laguna Seca but without the huge elevation change. Coming into 16 the road goes uphill which means that you can get on the brakes very late because of all the traction you gain from the hill. Late apex 16 and get yourself set up for the downhill right- left combo. If you get it right you can get to full power just before the apex of 17 and carry that speed all the way up the hill into 19. The track drops downhill from 16 so look for the yellow posts that they use to keep cars from jumping the curbs and running this section straight. They are set at the back of the curbing and are easy to spot because they stick up about 2 feet or so. Spot them and they should help you locate the track as it goes downhill.

 

Turn 19 Is a classic corner. It’s uphill and if you get down to the apex it’s got a good bit of camber to it so you can get some really good grip. However beware there are a couple of things which make this corner very deceptive (and my favorite on this track). First if you look at the track map this is another one of those corners that lead on to a straight so your first thought is to carry as much speed as you can through this turn. That’s where you will get bit. If you notice there is a huge runoff area off to driver’s right. It’s there for a reason. First if you carry to much speed into this corner you will get a bit of push, which will make you run wide of the apex. If you don’t get your car down to within about a foot of the apex, all of the camber goes away and so does your grip (and so does the track after you go off at 60 mph). Also after you get through the corner the track flattens out quickly before exit and the car gets a bit light. Also if you carry to much speed through the apex where you have camber and good grip you will push off at track out where you have neither. Get it right you’re a hero; get it wrong you’ll be picking gravel out of your ride for the next several weeks. (Ask me how I know).

 

Turn 20 Why they numbered this kink (more like a slight bend in the road) I’ll never know. (I guess 23 corners sounds more impressive than 22)

 

Turn 21-23 Get way to the right to set up for 21. You can carry good speed through this one. Just make sure you can get the car back to the left to set up for 22 which is the important one as it sets you up for 23 which leads on to the front straight. Turning in to 22 you want very slow hands. You must be very patient in this corner as the apex is at the very end of the curbing and you need to make sure keep the car all of the way to the right as you exit 22 to give you the clean line into 23. 23 is the single most important corner on the whole track as it is the fastest corner leading on to the longest straight. Fortunately it is also the easiest and most fun. It is a huge on camber carousel that will literally slingshot you onto the main straight. Enter 23 a quarter to half the way up the track and then (this is the really important part) get your car down to the curbing about half way through the corner and hug it until the apex. All of the camber in the turn is down by the curbing and if you don’t get down there early it will delay when you can go to full throttle and you will be slow at the exit and then all the way down the straight. Get to full throttle early and stay on it all the way down the straight.

 

Well I hope this helps some. Have fun out there. I wish I could be with you guys but duty calls that same weekend at Mid Ohio. Thanks for reading.