Bike racing bigamy? Miller will host WSC and AMA races in the same weekend. image by gary davidson

Miller Motorsport's Park announcement of an American World Superbike round came yesterday, confirming buzz that had been going around the industry for weeks.

The US hasn't had a World Superbike round since 2004 and the earlier races were successful events. The time has come for the series to return to the US.

The rumors the series was coming back to the States have been burning overtime this spring and summer. Miller, Barber, and Laguna Seca all were said to be in the mix for World Superbike.

In the end, Miller Motorsports Park agreed to make changes requested by Claude Danis of the FIM. Changing the pit in and out were among the alterations required to the circuit. Committing to make the changes was the sticking point in green lighting the race and the reason the announcement did not come earlier.

The track had a powerful ally in racing fan and Utah Governor John Huntsman. We're told Huntsman, who spends a lot of time at the facility and attended both the AMA Superbike races held at the track, is an avid motorcyclist and was a big help in landing the race.

The AMA series will support World Superbike, making the event a four-day happening. The AMA races will be run using the full course as opposed to the 3.08-mile outside course the World Superbike stars will run and the course the two AMA events have utilized to this point.

There are two reasons for the change. The first is commercial. World Superbike, like MotoGP, has signage regulations. The track and AMA advertising will go in the infield section not used for the World SUperbike events.

There's also the matter of comparing lap times with the machines. The World Superbikes, using Pirelli 'control tires', understandably don't want to potentially be outpaced by AMA Superbikes on Dunlops.

The US factory team folks we talked to weren't too thrilled to be racing the full 4.485-mile course, since two years' worth of testing and racing data is down the tubes. But such is life.

The biggest question surrounding the even is how well will World Superbike pull in the fans? Despite the nice facility, the races haven't pulled in the huge spectator numbers yet. There will also be two MotoGP races in the US next year, including one at Indianapolis.

One idea we've been told has been bandied about is facilitating fans shipping their bikes to Utah to enjoy riding on two wheels while they are attending the races.

World Superbike racing is probably the most competitive series going right now, and the races should be attractive to fans -- especially on a track with a great layout like MMP. The series coming back to the US at Miller is a great way to jump-start things at the track and the commitment from the circuit to hold the event shows they want to be a big part of the American motorcycle racing scene.