Rice-Eccles Stadium served as the site of the first professional sports bubble experiment when the entire Monster Energy AMA Supercross season was held there over three weeks in June. That worked so well, the series will stop at the University of Utah venue again in 2021.
Only this time, it will be only one day — for the finals — and fans might get to go.
Though the coronavirus outbreak may not be under control by then, organizers are following the NFL’s blueprint in their plan to expand the tour to multiple locations around the country. Fans are expected to be allowed at each site, though capacity varies and regulations may change to be in accordance with city, county and state restrictions.
“Supercross is excited to follow [the NFL’s] lead,”a press release announcing the schedule said, “while also using some of their own bubble-environment tactics in the 2021 season by hosting multiple races in a single location.”
The first three rounds will be held Jan. 16, 19 and 23 in Houston. The tour is then scheduled to make stops in Indianapolis, Arizona and Florida before returning to Texas for Rounds 10-12 in late March. No date or location has been set for the four rounds before the finale in Salt Lake City. The date of the finale also hasn’t been announced, though the series typically ends in May.
In addition to serving as the AMA Supercross championship in the 250SX East, 250SX West and 450SX classes, an FIM World Champion will be crowned.
Last year while racing in a mostly vacant stadium, Garrett Marchbanks of Coalville placed fourth in the final 250SX East standings and Pierce Brown of Sandy took ninth. Chase Sexton of Clermont, Fla., won that title; Dylan Ferrandis of France won the 250SX West series, and Eli Tomac of Cortez, Colo., finished atop the 450SX class.
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