AMA Arenacross: Bar Banging at the Ballroom

Year number two of the rejuvenated AMA Arenacross Series kicks off in Boise, ID on Friday, December 1 with a party you won’t want to miss. Watching four-time and defending champion Kyle Peters navigate a Supercross track stuffed into a shoe box is an elegant sight. Toss 11 other riders on the 20-something second laptime track with him and things immediately look more like a street fight than a ballet.

Let’s take a look at why this opening double-header weekend will create more headlines than Taylor Swift attending a football game.

Cocktail Hour – Setting the Stage for a Great Night

A few adult sodas and some tasty hors d’oeuvres often kick off the best parties. It’s a little preview of the action to come and in the case of AMA Arenacross this would be the heat races. The top talent in the series is spread across four separate heat races with the top two heading to the main event. It’s great racing and fun to start to see who the main players are and who is already getting a little loose and might want to settle down before ending the night face first in a punch bowl filled with regret. We promise this is just wetting your tongue and loosening you up for the rest of the evening’s activities.

The Entertainment – A Show You’ll Never Forget

Following heat racing, the lights go down along with the racers chances to make the main event. The band takes the stage and the competitors head to the starting gate looking for a transfer spot like a bunch of frat boys prowling the dance floor for some arm candy for the evening. In the Semis and LCQs it is winner take all and rules seemingly don’t exist. Cross the checkered flag first or plan to find your seat in the audience watching helplessly as the guy who cleaned you out makes the move to second base with Wendy Peffercorn.

Just when you thought the action couldn’t get any hotter, the band comes back on stage for an encore and they bust out a classic hit from their debut album with a slight re-mix. The 1 vs. 1 plus 1 is a modern take on the original Arenacross Dash-for-Cash. Three riders, two laps, and a ton of money on the line… it’s Hunger Games on dirt bikes and as they say, “You paid for the whole seat, but you’re only going to need the edge of it!”

The Main Course – Dinner and Dessert

After the scuffles commence and the shrapnel of crushed dreams and despair are swept to the side, racers will pick their main event starting spots, it is time for the main course! Of course in Arenacross that always means all you can eat t-bones. Enough money and points on the line to cure anyone’s appetite, but don’t get too full on the main course.

Dessert in Arenacross is something special and ALWAYS served upside down. After the conclusion of Main Event #1, the line-up is inverted putting the winner of the first race on the outside of the back-row for main event number two. Championship points and purse money are on the line during both main events.

The VIP Room – Exclusive Perks for Special Guests

If you join the Arenacross All Access VIP Club before the opening round you’ll get exclusive access to sweet perfume, a private musical performance, and a high-dollar champagne celebration. The opening round of Arenacross will fill the arena with the wonderful aroma of pre-mix, the sweet sounds of 2-strokes blitzing the whoops, and a champagne celebration from the competitors gunning for their share of the $10,000 2-Stroke Brawl payout.

The Hosts – The Made Man, The Champ and The Bridesmaid

The live on-stage MC is the fearless leader of the Wes Kain Mafia. The longtime voice of Arenacross will be keeping the action fired up and doing his best to blow the roof off the Ford Center as the party rocks on all night long.

Behind the scenes the greatest Arenacross racer of all-time: five-time champion Buddy Antunez will be calling all the action for those at home. Budman will be joined by perhaps the greatest bridesmaid of all-time with more second place finishes than he’d care to admit, David Pingree.

The Guest List – Who is Walking the Red Carpet?

The Arenacross dinner party is packing more star power than a planetarium for 2023-2024. Four-time and defending champion Kyle Peters is coming to party on his Phoenix Honda, but in order to snag the best bottle of champagne he’ll have to beat former champion Jace Owen [Ed note: Jace is currently injured and won’t race this weekend] and a host of other thirsty competitors.

Doing his best Pingree impression by finishing runner-up again last season, Kyle Bitterman is making another run at the cup. His stablemate for the season on the Lasting Impressions team will be young up-and-comer Izaih Clark. Aaron Siminoe and Preston Taylor also finished up last season top five in the standings and are in Boise for the opener.

Supercross regulars Robbie Wageman, Chance Blackburn, Chad Saultz, Mason Kerr, Austin Politelli, and Justin Rodbell are set to attend. Ryan Breece will make his return to Arenacross along with Northwest hotshoe Collin Jurin. A real wildcard, Anthony Rodriquez has tossed his name on the entry list for the weekend.

Rookies Slade Varola and Crockett Myers have had successful amateur careers thus far and will be trying to make a name for themselves this season.

No AMA Arenacross Guest List is complete without the Entertainer of the Year, Carlos “The Flying Taco” Short.

We are sure there are a ton of other notable racers ready to walk the red carpet straight to the podium, but we will have to find out when the gate drops in Idaho.