As the weather starts to heat up so will the action at Miller Motorpsorts Park (MMP). The track will open this weekend and events are slated nearly every weekend from now until mid-October.

"It's our third season and will be our biggest season so far," said MMP media manager John Gardner. "We take a major step forward by adding the FIM Superbike World Championships which is one of the biggest racing series in the world. We've spent nearly a million dollars getting the track ready for this series."

Track officials expect a big crowd for the Superbike event which mostly includes racers from outside the United States.

"We have a great advertising campaign planned for this spring to help bring in fans from along the Wasatch Front and we believe the FIM Superbike Championships will help put us on the racing map internationally and here in the state of Utah," Gardner added.

He also mentioned that construction has begun on a new 18,000 square-foot administration building near the main entrance at MMP. Administrative offices used to be in the Grand Prix building overlooking the track, but MMP will transform those offices into suites for viewing the races.

Another major step forward for MMP is the launch of a new racing series sponsored by track and its owner Larry H. Miller -- the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup.

On Saturday, approximately 25 examples of the brand-new Ford Mustang FR500S will be delivered to their new owners at MMP. Priced at $75,000 race-ready, the 325-hp Ford Mustang FR500S is the first racing car in the long history of the Ford Motor Company to be built on an assembly line.

The Grand American Road Racing Association, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., will sanction the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires, which will serve as a support race to many of the top professional road racing series in North America. The inaugural season will consist of eight races at high-profile venues throughout the United States and Canada.

The new racing series will come to MMP during the final major event of the year Sept. 19-21.

Major events this year include the American LeMans Series May 16-18, the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship May 29-June 1, the GT Live interactive motorsports festival June 28-29, the NASCAR Camping World Series Aug. 1-2 and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Sept. 19-21.

The American Le Mans Series returns to Miller with the most exotic, high-tech sports cars on the planet. Fans can watch the V10 diesel-powered, 200 mph Audi R10s take on the Porsche and Acura prototypes for championship points and bragging rights, with some of the world's best drivers at the controls.

The FIM Superbike World Championships makes its return to the United States for the first time in four years, bringing one of the top three international racing series to MMP in what promises to be the most significant racing event in the history of the state of Utah, according to officials at the track.

GT LIVE is an "interactive motorsports festival," combining drifting, racing, karting, stunt bikes, car shows and music. What makes it most unique is that fans not only spectate, they can actually participate in much of the action.

The thundering stock cars of the NASCAR Camping World Series (formerly Grand National West Series) return for a second year to tackle the demanding 3.08-mile perimeter course. These heavy cars are difficult to manhandle around a road course, and last year's event was thrilling from start to finish.

The third annual Sunchaser 1000 brings the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series to MMP for its 2008 season finale. The series is comprised of two classes: Daytona Prototypes, a closed-cockpit, rear-engined sports prototype; and GT, for production-based coupes and sedans. Both classes will race simultaneously in the Sunchaser 1000, which will be the series' second-longest race of the year at 7.5 hours.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com