30 Million Pounds Of Dirt In One Week: How LA Coliseum Got Ready For The 'Superbowl Of Motocross'

Before the triumphant return of the "Superbowl of Motocross" can happen on Saturday at the L.A. Coliseum, there needed to be dirt — lots and lots of dirt.

"We're going to have roughly 30 million pounds of dirt that ends up being, oh my goodness, probably about a thousand dump truck loads for this track here," said Sean Brennen, a spokesperson for the SuperMotocross World Championship.

SuperMotocross combines elements of Motocross and Supercross. Rough translation: it's basically super dirt bike racing on an outdoor, custom-built track with monster jumps and tricky obstacles.

And it's all about the race track.

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The race track

The track map of this Saturady's SuperMotocross World Championship final at the L.A Coliseum

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Courtesy of SMX

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Another view

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Courtesy of SMX

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Thus.... The dirt.

"We're going to go outside of the stadium, so of course you need additional dirt for that, but also because this is a SuperMotocross track... that dirt is very, very thick," Brennen continued. "So, we have to bring in extra dirt to mimic ... being at an outdoor natural terrain."

Construction started Monday. After the dirt was trucked in from various sources around downtown L.A., the crew began by laying down plywood to protect the venue's grass field before piling 30 million pounds of the stuff. Then, the bulldozers and skid steers went to work to shape the course.

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Courtesy of BZA PR

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By midweek, three-quarters of the track was completed — the lanes, many of the obstacles, plus the loop that goes through the Coliseum's signature columns and comes back down the audience stands.

"It's one of the neatest features of this track, for sure," Brennen said.

The L.A. Connection

The championship final on Saturday marks a big homecoming for the sport.

Motocross — outdoor dirt bike racing on natural terrain — was born in the U.K. at the turn of the century. Skip to the 1960s, European motocross teams were doing exhibitions in America. They caught the eye of an L.A. rock music promoter named Mike Goodwin, who convinced the Coliseum to hold a race in 1972 called — what else? — the "Superbowl of Motocross".

It was a resounding success, and gave rise to an American version of the sport — one that's held on a manmade track, called Supercross.

The Superbowl of Motocross at L.A. Coliseum in 1974, two years after the event first debuted at the stadium

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Racer X Illustrated

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"So Motocross emigrated from Europe, but Supercross was born right here in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum," Brennen said.

A funny little story about the dirt

Five decades later, the SuperMotocross World Championship series today boasts the sport's biggest prize haul.

The championship final will features two race divisions: 450cc and 250cc, and the winner of each class will take home $1 million, and $500,000, respectively.

After the race, Brennen said the crew has until the better part of Monday to get the dirt out. Most likely, it'll be stored around L.A. for future races.

The 1978 Superbowl of Motocross race

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Racer X Illustrated

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"We are the unofficially the biggest dirt owner in the world," Brennen said. "We own dirt everywhere we go for our motosports. You know, we source all of that dirt locally."

In a few months time, Brennen said the crew will be converting the Angel Stadium of Anaheim for the Supercross season kick off. The dirt they'll be using will be extra hyperlocal.

"In Anaheim, our dirt, we store it underneath the employee parking lot," Brennen said.

Every December, the team would rip off the layer of asphalt, dig up the dirt beneath, prep it, and take it into the stadium to build the track. And once the race is done, the dirt is returned.

"It becomes the employee parking lot and then we asphalt over it again for the baseball season. It's pretty cool," Brennen said.