FARMINGTON -- As the weather cools, the winter motocross season in Davis County is heating up.
The Davis County Commission recently approved a $20,400 rental agreement with Throttle 215 MX Park for a series of winter motocross events to be held at the Legacy Events Center indoor arena.
The contract allows the Centerville company to rent the indoor arena in west Farmington for a series of four motocross events beginning in November and ending in February.
The Saturday-Sunday race dates are Nov. 19-20; Dec. 10-11; Jan. 14-15; and Feb. 18-19.
"With every event, there will be a new track or design," said Chad R. Bangerter, owner of Throttle 215 MX Park and Full Throttle Power Sports in Centerville.
"This year should be a good year," Bangerter said of the series now in its third year. He is in his first year of managing it.
Throttle 215 MX Park is organizing the events in partnership with two local clubs, Wild West Nationals and Utah Sportsman Racing Association.
The series will offer a track that will take riders outside the Legacy Events Center indoor arena and into the adjacent outdoor arena on the center grounds before coming back inside, Bangerter said.
That track design will be offered weather permitting, he said.
This year, more of the weekend racing events will be held during the day to reduce the amount of cold air spectators encounter, Bangerter said.
Because of the engine exhaust from the motorcycles, to protect the public, the doors to the indoor arena remain open during the practice sessions and racing events, he said.
More than 300 bikers generally participate in the weekend races that draw roughly about that same number of spectators, Bangerter said.
The cost to attend a race is $5 per person, while children 3 years old and younger get in free. The practice sessions, which take place the two days before the race, are open and free to the public.
Throttle 215 MX Park continues to bring its racing to the Legacy Events Center in Farmington because the facility is centrally located and is an "easy-on and easy-off" from Interstate 15, Bangerter said.
The Legacy Events Center staff are also very cooperative, he said.
The county's focus for the Legacy Events Center continues to be horse events, but the staff is trying to fill in the scheduling gaps as horse events have fallen off some because of the cost of feeding the animals, said Commissioner John Petroff Jr.
The commission's task is make the arena as cost-efficient as possible, he said.
"We don't have the same group of horse people we had five or six years ago," Petroff said.
Because the races are affordable, the downturn in the economy has had little impact on motocross rider participation or event attendance, Bangerter said. Upon the economy improving, he said, he can envision rider participation and attendance doubling in size.
Those interested in participating in the races can contact Throttle 215 MX Park through Facebook.
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