Red Miley always seems to be the target of criticism from fans, drivers and sometimes even the media. He's not oblivious to it, he simply believes strongly in what he does.

Miley is early in his third year of ownership at Motordrome Speedway and in his 17th year of running Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in a lease agreement with owner Emma Garin. There is no doubt Miley's decisions have impacted dirt racing since he has overseen PPMS, and there is little movement in his conviction to lower the cost of racing on asphalt at Motordrome.

So after a series of three-year leases to run PPMS, it was no surprise he agreed to the one-year deal Garin offered over the winter if for no other reason than to make sure the track remained open. Miley and his family started racing at storied Heidelburg Speedway in the late 1960s and watched as it was turned into a shopping center. He is determined not to let that happen to PPMS, which features many elements of Heidelburg that were moved to the speedway in Imperial.

"I always say I'm a long-term survivor and everything I do is for long term," Miley said. "I think that with the lease here, if you're not here you're out of the game. By signing the one-year lease, at least we're in the game. We just have to hope for a better tomorrow. I'm an eternal optimist. You couldn't be in this game if you're not an optimist. I love racing, and so to try to preserve this place as a speedway is where we're coming from to some degree."

Miley calls Motordrome, a NASCAR Weekly Series-sanctioned oval in Smithton, the toughest job he has ever had. Fans have complained about ticket prices, drivers complained about sealed engines, and the amount of marketing involved in running a NASCAR track was somewhat overwhelming at first.

"Obviously, Motordrome Speedway is a whole new frontier," Miley said. "That's the fun. It's a challenge. The marketing side takes a tremendous amount of time with the NASCAR deal. With the cost of that speedway, the marketing side has to play into it. [At PPMS] it doesn't, so we have to be out there pushing [Motordrome] and selling it. For the racers, it's been tough on the competitive side. We've been trying to introduce the sealed motor and trying to adjust for some of the mistakes that were made. It's a very humbling experience from my point of view. I really think we have the interest of the fans and the sponsors and the racers at heart. Some days they don't think that, but I think we do. We try to look at it from all sides. Everybody's competitive and everybody wants to win. I just ask that people give us a chance to build it more."

Back at PPMS, the biggest issue has nothing to do with the weekly program. Rather it's the season-ending Pittsburgher 100 weekend that has people talking. Traditionally one of the biggest annual events in Western Pennsylvania racing, this year's race has yet to be sanctioned.

"We've been trying to figure it out since Daytona," Miley said. "We spoke to [the Xtreme Series and the World of Outlaws] in Florida. The Pittsburgher is not cast. We haven't been talking about it because we think we have some options here. The Pittsburgher is a special race. I think the best thing to say is that we're well aware, we're very cognizant of what's going on. We are actively pursuing the possibilities of what we can do and we've been doing that since Florida. The reason we haven't had a lot to say about it is because we are negotiating and we don't want to negotiate through the press."

Lugnuts

Lernerville Speedway returns to a normal schedule tomorrow night a week after Chub Frank raced to his first World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory at the Sarver oval. ... Jennerstown Speedway will open for practice May 8 and racing May 15. ... Mercer Raceway Park features a regular program Saturday night in addition to a sportsman modified make-up feature that was fogged out April 17. ... Sharon Speedway opens its 75th season Saturday with sprints, modifieds, e-mods and pure stocks. ... Latrobe Speedway opens Sunday with super late models, e-mods, street stocks, chargers and a new four-cylinder class.