Motocross returns to Plains ahead of fair

It looks like motocross is coming back to Plains. It’s been nearly 10 years since the rumble of cycles could be heard rounding the fairgrounds arena, but now an organization from Kalispell is looking to put on a motocross competition in August.

On Friday, the Sanders County Fair Commission voted unanimously in favor of allowing Top Dawg Arena Cross to have motocross racing Friday and Saturday, August 20 and 21, in the fairgrounds main arena. Fair board members discussed Top Dawg Arena Cross’ request at its regular meeting last Wednesday, but tabled it so each could look into it more thoroughly, casting their votes by email Friday.

Top Dawg Arena Cross owners Jamie and Tyler Larsen of Kalispell will be running the competition. “We have excellent reach with riders and can’t wait to watch this event grow and return year after year,” said Jamie in a letter to Melissa Cady, the fairgrounds manager. “We are a motocross family, excited to bring this event back to Sanders County Fairgrounds,” she said.

Plains resident Ron Warren conducted arena motocross racing for three or four years during fair time. He had seen that the motocross subject was on the fair agenda and attended the meeting out of curiosity. From 1998 to 2012, Warren ran motocross competition on a 5,400-foot track at the fairgrounds in an area that is presently used for parking. Warren alternated the competition with a track in Niarada. It was a nonprofit enterprise, running races in the spring and fall and averaged 50 to 100 racers each week, along with a handful of Sanders County competitors, including Warren’s son, Jessie. He said the fair arena races usually drew only between 500 and 1,000 spectators, mainly because Thursday’s were traditionally a tough draw at the fair.

Warren said it usually took two weeks to set up the arena for the fair motocross competition with a dozen bails of hay and 250 truckloads of dirt, which had to be removed the next day for the Friday evening rodeo. “I think arena racing is neat. It was a lot of work, but we had a nice show,” said Warren. He added that it might be tough for Top Dawg Arena Cross to draw a big crowd on a Friday, but he believes Saturday could do it.

The Larsens will be leasing the arena for the two days for $3,000, but they also must provide a $3,000 deposit to ensure the arena would be put back in the original condition, according to Cady. “We are a moto crazy family, excited to bring this event back to the Sanders County Fairgrounds,” said Larsen. “We just live for moto. We put our hearts into it for other racers,” said Jamie, whose husband raced for 10 years in Plains when Warren ran the competition and nabbed a state championship title in 2002. It’s a new company for the Larsens, who held their first arena race June 18-19 at Kalispell with more than 100 racers.

For the Plains competition, they will have 18 different classes from 4-6-year-olds, including boys and girls classes, to senior classes for 50-year-olds and over, for both men and women. The cost to preregister is $40 or $50 on race day, said Jamie. There is also online registration at http://www.topdawgarenacross.com. People can also call (406) 210-3665 for more information.

Signup for racers each day will be noon to 2 p.m. Larsen said the arena will be available for practice each day from 2-4 p.m. Race time for Friday and Saturday is 7-10 p.m. The event cost is $15 for adults and $10 for those 6-12 years old and is free for children 5 years old and younger.

“I think having motocross back is another great event for the community and usage of the fairgrounds,” said Cady. The Larsens would have to bring in their own dirt, build the ramps and provide all their own equipment and insurance and tear it down by the end of the weekend, said Cady. The Larsens would also like to eventually construct a practice track on fairgrounds property and lease it for five years. Cady said that if that is approved, they would have to man it, maintain it, and install irrigation, which is what Warren did when he first started. However, because the site Warren had used is now used for parking, Top Dawg Arena Cross would have build the practice track on a different section of property, possibly on the south parcel, said Randy Woods, the board chairman.

The Wednesday fair board meeting also included updates on the preparations for this year’s fair, scheduled for September 1-6. Woods said plans are going well and there are only minor improvements and repairs to be done. The agriculture building recently received new siding and nearly all the other buildings were repainted. Woods said plexiglass for the food and drink booths have been ordered and he hopes to have them installed by fairtime. All contracts — rodeo, cleaning, demolition derby, parking, and carnival have been completed. The Sanders County Concessions Group, a nonprofit organization, has only four booths this year, possibly the lowest number it has ever had. The fair board also decided that the concessions group would have to pay the fair the same percentage cut as the for-profit entities, said Woods. Cady said they already have more than 25 food and drink vendors and some 150 commercial vendors signed up, which might be a record number.

This year, the fair will be running the demolition derby, with the help of numerous volunteers. Woods said they have 65 cars signed up and have a standby list. The demo derby is the fair’s biggest moneymaker, but Woods wants to make it more efficient with fewer delays between heats.

Board member Kim McMahon (formerly Burgess) wrote a Communicable Disease Plan for last year’s fair, which was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. She said there will be some minor changes to the document and it will be presented to the board at its August 18 meeting.