VOL. 51 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 14, 2014 P33
EX IN THE SLC
T
he AMA EnduroCross
Championship visited
Salt Lake City for the very
first time and the locals wel-
comed the EnduroCross
racer with open arms and
supported the race by filling
up the Energy Solutions Are-
na in downtown SLC. Mark
Powell, the general manager
of the arena, played a big
role of getting the series to
visit the city.
Powell is a big fan of En-
duroCross and was trying to
get the series to come here
for a few years.
"We got a few phone calls
from Mark that he wanted to
bring the event here for the last
two years," said Mike Karsting of
the EnduroCross Series.
"Yeah, it was two years,"
Powell said. "We went to Vegas
and saw the great crowd and it
was real exciting and [thought]
we have do that here! But we
couldn't find dates."
It turned out that Powell and
the AMA EnduroCross promot-
ers actually had much more in
common than they originally
knew.
"It turns out Powell's son,
Landon, is roommates with
Colton Haaker," said Karsting.
"Landon races in the AMA
Supercross Series, so he lives
with Colton during the winter and
trains for Supercross," Powell
said. "He and Colton Haaker are
roommates."
Landon had been wanting to
try an EnduroCross event, and
wanted to do it in front of his
home crowd—another inspira-
tion for Powell to get the series
to come to his arena.
Of course, putting on an En-
duroCross takes more than a
venue, but through help from
Edge Powersports—promoters
of the Herriman Endurocross—
the crew was able to round up
the necessary resources.
"We actually did a partnership
with the Edge Powersports," said
Karsting. "Those are the guys
that put on the Herriman race as
well as the Mesquite race—and
so we used all their materials,
brought everything in."
There was only one other chal-
lenge in bringing EnduroCross
into the Energy Solutions Arena,
home of the NBA's Utah Jazz.
"They had a Jazz game on
Tuesday night so we didn't get
the building until Wednesday,"
Karsting said. "And they have
a Jazz game on Monday so we
have to get the heck out of here
as soon as the event is over!
[laughs]"
The successful event, the
healthy crowd turnout and the
great teamwork have ensured
that GEICO AMA EnduroCross
will be back next season, and
maybe even beyond.
"Oh yeah, we've already got
dates held for next year," Powell
stated. "This is more than a one-
year plan."
Jean Turner
The AMA GEICO EnduroCross
Series visited Salt Lake City for the
first time and was well received by
the local fans.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
DREW
RUIZ