Program March 14th- Tim Booth Michigan International Speedway

     Standing in for Carol, past-president Kathye introduced Tim Booth who is the head of guest services at MIS.  Tim first thanked us for our club's dedication to the tram driving program then he went on to give us some history on MIS.  Around 1966 a Detroiter named Larry Lopatin had a dream of creating a series of professional race tracks.  At the time, there were very few tracks and they were hardly professional.  In search of land outside Detroit, he followed US 12 from town to town being turned down for his venture in every one of them.  By the time he reached the Irish Hills area, he took a different tact........don't tell the land owners/townspeople what he is up to until the land is secured.  He met with a realtor whom he felt he could trust with his secret and was soon able to purchase 7 parcels amounting to 800 acres.  This would be enough land to suffice for many lifetimes (MIS is now 1400 acres).  Within three years his company, American Raceways, had built about six tracks around the country before going bankrupt.  Roger Penske bought the five million dollar track in 1972 for 2.5 million and owned it until 1999 when he sold to International Speedway Corporation for 756 million (this did include some other assets, but is still quite impressive).  While Penske owned it, the track was used and earning income daily primarily for automotive testing.  This presented a problem in the winter time with all the snow, so someone thought to strap a jet engine to a cart and tow it around to blow the snow off.  The modern Jet Dryer was born and is now used at all the tracks to dry them faster after it rains to get the race cars back out there sooner.

     Currently, MIS hosts two Nascar races, a college formula event, Wine Fest, a car show, the State Cross Country Track Finals and a 9/11 event.  New this year is a Tough Mudder competition (like a military tough man endurance contest), and a three day country music event "Fast Horses" featuring top names and sponsored by Live Nation.

     Tim was asked about camping facilities and the economic impact MIS makes. To which he answered that there are 8800 camp sites and the MIS season has been compared to hosting a Super Bowl every year.