TOOELE COUNTY, Utah — When T. Abbott saw FOX 13’s story showing hundreds of cars taking over a Salt Lake City street, the local racer recognized the attraction.
He also saw something missing from the conversation.
Abbott contacted FOX 13 after the story aired, saying drivers who want to race may not realize there is a legal place to push their cars — Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele County.
“As racer, you’re gonna have a closed-course setting, you’re gonna have safety,” Abbott said. “Street racing, you’re gonna be out in the public.”
FOX 13’s earlier report showed video recorded by truck driver Michael Nicewander near 1100 South and 4800 West. Hundreds of cars lined the industrial street as drivers raced and did burnouts, at times making it difficult for Nicewander to get his truck through.
Abbott said he understands the draw better than most.
“When I was a kid, I did some dumb stuff,” Abbott said. “I did street racing and stuff.”
Today, Abbott races on a track and hopes to eventually compete professionally. He said one challenge for Utah’s car community is that some younger drivers may not know what legal options remain after the 2018 closure of Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City.
Utah Motorsports Campus isn’t a traditional drag strip like Rocky Mountain Raceways was, but it offers drivers other ways to get on a closed course — including road-course driving, drifting and roll racing.
And the people running the track say they want them there.
“Come back out. Get off the streets,” Utah Motorsports Campus CEO Joe Atkin said. “It’s safer here. It’s more fun. There’s no speed limits.”
A track built for Utah racers
The idea of giving Utah drivers a place to race legally isn’t new to the Tooele track. In fact, it was part of the concept from the beginning.
Utah businessman Larry H. Miller began working with Tooele County on plans for a motorsports park in late 2004. Early plans envisioned a relatively modest facility where local clubs and individual drivers could race their cars. As interest grew, so did the project.
Miller Motorsports Park opened in 2006 and quickly became much more than a local track. The 511-acre facility included a 4.5-mile road course, karting and off-road facilities and went on to host major national and international racing series.
It was named Motorsports Facility of the Year during its first season.
But the world-class facility struggled financially.
When the Miller family’s lease expired in 2015, the Larry H. Miller Group chose not to renew it, leaving Tooele County to determine what would happen to the track.
What followed was a yearslong and sometimes contentious effort to sell it.
Tooele County initially selected Mitime Investment and Development Group, affiliated with Chinese automaker Geely, as the buyer in 2015. A competing bidder challenged the deal, and a judge later set the sale aside.
Rather than allowing the track to sit idle while the legal fight continued, Tooele County hired Mitime to operate it beginning in 2016. The facility was renamed Utah Motorsports Campus.
After additional legal challenges and another sale process, the county ultimately sold the facility to Mitime in late 2018. A subsequent Utah legislative audit examined the county’s handling of the complicated sale process.
Through those ownership battles, however, racing continued.
Back under Utah ownership
The track changed hands again this year.
Atkin said he and his partners purchased Utah Motorsports Campus in January, bringing it back under Utah ownership and beginning what he describes as an effort to reconnect the facility with the community.
The new owners are also putting money into the 20-year-old campus.
Atkin told FOX 13 they are spending more than $1 million this month alone refreshing the facility, with work including additional shade, awnings and water fountains.
But one of the biggest changes isn’t something being built.
It’s access.
Atkin said the goal is to make the track feel like a place for everyday car enthusiasts, not just professional racers.
Every other Wednesday, the facility holds Wide Open Wednesday, when drivers can reserve a spot and bring their own cars onto the track for about $100.
“Every other Wednesday, we allow the public for $100 to come out here and rip around the track,” Atkin said.
Fire and emergency personnel are on site, and drivers are on a closed course rather than sharing a roadway with unsuspecting motorists.
When FOX 13 asked Atkin directly whether someone driving one of the cars seen in the Salt Lake City street-racing video could bring that same car to UMC, his answer was immediate.
“Absolutely,” Atkin said. “Every other week your Wide Open Wednesdays are waiting for you.”
Can a track stop street racing?
Neither Abbott nor Atkin argues that opening a racetrack will make illegal racing disappear.
Abbott said cost can be a factor for younger drivers. Street gatherings can also serve a social purpose, giving car enthusiasts a place to meet late at night.
And Atkin acknowledged there is one thing a controlled racetrack cannot duplicate: the appeal of breaking the law.
“Where do you have no police, no speed limits, and it’s safe?” Atkin said. “It should eliminate it.”
But, he added, if someone is specifically chasing “the illegal draw” of street racing, a legal track may not change that behavior.
Abbott believes some drivers can make the transition because he did.
Now, instead of racing on public streets, he sees Utah Motorsports Campus as a place to build his future.
“The goal is to make this my home and put Utah on the map,” Abbott said.
The facility will celebrate its 20th anniversary Sept. 19 with what its owners are calling a grand reopening. Plans include a car show, karting, hot laps and roll racing.
For Abbott, the larger message is simpler: Utah drivers don’t have to choose between enjoying fast cars and keeping them off public streets.
There is still a place to race.
