photography / Troy Boman Tourists from Belgium have breakfast at the Oquirrh Inn in Lake Point Tuesday morning. Events like the Utah Grand Prix and the Superbike Championships at Miller Motorsports Park have boosted to number of Tooele County visitors.

by Doug Radunich

STAFF WRITER

The race season at Miller Motorsports Park gets underway in full this weekend with the American LeMans Series Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix, but many local businesses say they've already gotten an economic boost from the track heading into the summer tourism season

Ginger Martin, manager of the Oquirrh Motor Inn in Lake Point, said her motel is completely booked up for the Utah Grand Prix this weekend and the "HANNSpree Superbike World Championship," which runs May 29 to June 1.

"People had been calling to reserve rooms for these events since the beginning of this year, and we're even already booked up for the weekend of the Miller event in September called the 'Sunchaser 1000,'" Martin said. "A good number of people have also called to reserve rooms for the events in between now and September. It helps that we're easily found if someone searches for both Miller Motorsports and motels on the Internet, and we also have a link to Miller Motorsports Park for those who go to the Oquirrh Motor Inn's Web site."

Rayda Tegen, manager of Best Western Inn in Tooele, agreed that the track and its Web site are driving bookings.

"We're all filled up for the weekends of both the Grand Prix and the Superbike event, and people had been calling to reserve rooms for these events starting in September," Tegen said. "Whenever there's a big race we get people from Canada, Europe and all over the world who flood Tooele County, so we're going to have a lot of international visitors this weekend. We've also been advertising for Miller Motorsports Park on our Web site."

Liz Wagner, manager of the Villa Motel, said people started calling her motel to make reservations for the Superbike event six or seven months ago. She also said that people will usually fill up the motel during the middle of the week for other track events as well.

"We're usually all filled up Wednesday through the end of the week, so tomorrow is when we expect to get our big crowd of guests coming in," she said.

Local restaurants have also been getting a bump from MMP fans. Lisa LaFleur, general manager at Denny's, said she has seen a noticeable customer increase at her restaurant since the races began. She also mentioned that Denny's has been offering a 10 percent discount for all first-time visitors who are involved with Miller Motorsports Park.

"We've had a number of pit crews and racing fans come in, as well as a lot of people driving out from Salt Lake, so we've noticed a major impact with our increase in sales," LaFleur said. "Back in April, we even had one person tell us to expect 180 to 250 people who were out for the 'Snap-on Stars of Karting' races to come in sporadically throughout the day. I expect to get even more customers when the Superbike event happens."

Local tire stores have also benefited. Jay Miller, owner of Big O Tires, said he has seen the events at MMP bring more customers into his store.

"We've been seeing a good amount of customers, whether it be people who need to buy tires for their trailer or RV, or people who need to get their race tires mounted," he said. "People who may have blown a tire on their trailer or rig and need a new one will come here as well."

Justin Lewis, assistant manager of Les Schwab Tire Center in Tooele, also said his store has received extra business from MMP.

"We've been getting a lot of racers into our store who bring in their race car and trailer tires for fixing or swapping, and we've also been doing a lot of mounts, dismounts and fixing of problems with trailers," he said. "We'll also help the guys if there's ever an accident or flat during the practice runs or actual races."

Dixon Hunt, promotions coordinator for MMP, said he has also been doing his part to make sure local businesses let their customers know of all that's happening at the track.

"We've been giving away several things like banners, event posters, flags with the Miller Motorsports logo and checkered flags to several of the motels, restaurants and smaller businesses in the area," he said. "A lot of the businesses also say they have benefited pretty heavily from the events we put on out here."

dougrad@tooeletranscript.com