by Hummie,from the blog, www.HummiesWorld.com

Saturday, July 3rd, we went to the events at Arena Park and enjoyed our time together.


There were several concessions set up, similar to what comes to the Semo District Fair.


We decided to blow a little money on ourselves with a few treats. I love funnel cake!


We also had the curly fries with cheese. Now, I'm certain that this was not good for calorie counting,but somehow I did not care!


Inside the Arena building, during the afternoon, there were several local bands playing. It was a very small crowd. It wasn't the kind of music I enjoy, but I could really see the younger audience liking it. I wondered what it would take to get the word out to the younger crowd and whether this would have been better as a late night evening show.


That evening we came back for the arenacross.

I tried to get a panorama of the whole track, but it did not work very well. Hopefully, this will give you a little bit of an idea of the layout of an arenacross track.

Some of you may recall that my nephew does motorcross (and does quite well at winning too!), so I was curious as to what the difference was between arenacross and motorcross. This was a good experience for me to witness.

Arenacross is a real race and competition for trophies, but the tracks are always held at arenas(indoor and outdoor) where the track is built especially for that one event. Sometimes they are referred to as "artificial tracks." In addition, arenacross has more of a show factor for the audience. The track is much smaller as it has to fit into an arena, so the turns can be much tighter than in motorcross, which could make it more difficult.Another factor which makes it more difficult for the rider is that each track is different. Unlike motorcross which has a set track for an entire season where riders can practice and get comfortable with the track, arenacross only provides a one time practice before the live race.

It was explained to me Motorcross is a step-up from arenacross. This is what my nephew participates in. Motorcross tracks sprawl out over the countryside and it is most often difficult to seethe entire track from any one location. The terrain is more difficult.One track I visited to watch my nephew took the riders up a hill into the woods and where we lost site of them and then the riders came flying down this huge hill on the other side. From my experience, there were many more major spills and injuries and calls from the ambulance with motorcross.

As explained to me, professional riders participate in the Supercross. These riders are paid and make their living in supercross shows. It is much like arenacross as it is more for a show for the audience.

I asked twogroups of people and this is what I learned about the difference between arenacross, motorcross, and supercross. It may not be a totally correct concept, but it is more knowledge than I had prior to this event. Since both groups of people said spoke similarly, I'm assuming there has to be some correctness to the above.


Twice during the show, the army guys came out with their blow gun and shot shirts into the audience. From what I learned, the shirts had logos from the various sponsors of the event, the same ones with signs along the concrete wall. The second time they came out, all the young children gathered down front and it was a big sea of raised arms in front of us. It made us laugh to see their excitement. I think the idea of "winning" is more fun for them than the actual shirt.


This is something that I never saw done in motorcross. Arenacross seems to be a lot more about putting on a show. The audience was invited down to get autographs from the riders. I was surprised at how the crowd quickly gathered. I guess for a young girl, it would be an exciting thing to get an autograph from such a cool guy!

I had fun playing with my camera settings. I was trying to use manual settings just to learn, since these photos did not really matter. I did not get too many good ones! The darker the night became,the less I was able to get a good shot. I need more practice and learning time.


The four-wheelers came out first. After having watched motorcross, their short track was a little hard for me to adjust to as a spectator.


The little guys came out second and they were just so adorable to watch!


This little guy has his name on his behind!


The little guys crashed a lot and they were so determined and always got right back up, but their bikes were too big for them, so the men out there sure did get a work out running all over the track.


I found it endearing to watch all the men and/or fathers out there helping the little guys. There was just something touching about the gentle and caring, yet strong and protective connection.



Each time a local rider came out,the master of ceremonies would announce the same. We tried to write down the local riders on hubby's cell phone, but only got four of them, so those are the four I will show in this post. We were excited to see two names that we knew, two brothers who had been in boy scouts with our boys.


Number 710 was Jordan Weiss.


Number 710 was Jordan Weiss.


Number 583 was Jared Weiss.


Number 583 was Jared Weiss.


Number 756 was Brian Huckstep.


Number 176 was Tucker Thrower.

Thank you to Hummie for sharing her experiences at Arenacross on July 3rd, 2010, with our site!!!

If you would like to read other stories from Hummie, her blog is www.HummiesWorld.com