In an ordinary-looking, single-floor beige building at the end of a gravel driveway, Dwight Miller and his team are creating what he calls "a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

He can imagine one day some summer driving past the creation on his way through Delaware to the shore and hearing his grandchildren say, "Wow, grandpa did that!"

Miller is smiling as he takes an early, preliminary look at "Miles the Monster" who, once completed, will be way bigger than the building in which he is taking shape.

The 46-foot-tall fiberglass monument to the character known to race fans far and wide will soon stand at Dover International Speedway's new Victory Plaza.

Miles is on track to be the largest attraction at any NASCAR racetrack and one of the largest fiberglass structures in the world.

Miller's East Lampeter Township company, ACI Composites Inc., has started the work on Miles and will be working feverishly to finish it up by May.

The 46-year-old Miller calls the whole process amazing.

"I mean, when I get this thing out there, it's going to be bigger than my building, it's going to be higher than anything around here!"

Miles is now being assembled in pieces at Miller's warehouse east of Lancaster, just a short sprint from Route 30 East.

When finished, the remarkable piece will be transported this spring on flatbed trucks and reassembled at the world-famous racetrack in Dover, Del.

Hundreds of thousands, eventually millions, of fans will see the finished project, says Miller, whose Lancaster company has been chosen to create the "monster monument."

And with the hundreds of thousands of fans who throng to the Delaware track every year, the work will mean lots of visibility for Miller's firm at 1883 Commerce Park Road East.

The monument will depict Miles the Monster, the intimidating, car-crushing figure with glowing red eyes and a menacing grin. His fiberglass physique, clearly visible from nearby Route 1, will be bursting out of the concrete ground and holding a full-scale stock car in his right hand as he hovers over race fans below.

The 60-foot-round base of the monument will serve as a tribute to all Dover race winners and legendary drivers who have made their mark at Dover's "Monster Mile."

The base also will include a chronological listing of Dover winners by race and series.

Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, each with seven career wins at Dover, will be the first drivers to be honored.

The monument will be completed before the May 30-June 1 race weekend, and will become a new focal point for race fans visiting Dover.

For 2008, NASCAR returns to Dover the weekends of May 30-June 1 and then Sept. 19-21.

At Dover, the expansion of the FanZone, which has doubled in size since last year, eliminates the road formerly known as Old Leipsic Road.

The FanZone features interactive attractions and frequent appearances by drivers, and is free and open to the public every day of race weekend.

The ACI monument will be an additional attraction for race fans who come to Dover each summer, said the track's public relations director, Gary Camp.

"I can picture fans saying, 'Meet me at the monument,' the same way Phillies' fans say, 'Meet me at the Mike Schmidt statue' in Philadelphia," said Camp.

The Miles statue is in line with Dover's philosophy: "Anything we can do on the property to improve the experience for fans, that's what we want to do ... the focus to improve (the speedway) is all about the fans," Camp said.

Miller's company was chosen from four bidders for the contract. He declined to give the price of the contract, saying that should come from Dover.

Dover officials decline to give the specific cost for the contract to build Miles, but do say ACI's work is part of an overall $6.5 million in improvements at the raceway in 2008. Dover is able to seat 135,000 fans.

In terms of dollars, it's not the biggest project the 18-employee ACI has done. But in terms of size, "it is certainly the biggest piece we've made," Miller said.

Other large pieces have included a 40-foot-diameter dome and a 26-foot-tall figure that Miller's company once did of AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young, which the band took along with them on tour.

The company has done fiberglass projects for everything from aircraft, trains and helicopters to fiberglass Hershey's kisses and two Reese's peanut-butter cups for Hersheypark.

ACI Composites was started in 1973 as DDI Industries. Miller, who grew up near Mount Joy and now lives in Strasburg, bought the firm in 1992, changing the name in 1997.

As for Miles, one thing's for sure, Miller says: "Once it's up, it's not going anywhere."

CONTACT US: doconnor@LNPnews.com or 481-6033