Miller Motorsports Park has been taken off of the chopping block and sold for $20 million to the China-based MiTime Investment Group. MiTime is a subsidiary of Geely Automotive, the largest independent auto manufacturer in China, and is expecting to use Miller Motorsports Park as a campus of sorts for “drivers, mechanics and track personnel who work for Geely — or aspire to work in China’s emerging automotive racing industry”, as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune.

On the surface, the deal has saved Miller Motorsports Park from shutting down operations, which not only would put about 90 people out of a job, but would have radiating effects in and around Tooele County, Utah’s economy. Those jobs are now safe, and in addition MiTime is planning on adding on to the park, with plans in place to add an oval track and a dragstrip, as well as apartment buildings for students to stay at. On the other side of the coin, questions arose immediately from the public that attended the announcement meeting as to whether or not MiTime had been the highest bidder for the project. County Comissioner Wade Bitner noted that only proposals, not bids, had been reviewed by Tooele County, and that the MiTime proposal would add $1 billion into the economy over the next 25 years.