The Coliseum’s green football field gets dirty for SuperMotocross

Every track is different, and this one will go up the stairs at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for Saturday’s SuperMotocross World Championship finals — but not before 40 million pounds of dirt, brought in 750 truckloads, is used to cover USC football’s grass field.

The truckloads of dirt have been used over and over again, even for the X Games, according to Dirtwurx owner Alex Gillespie, the designer of the track for the Saturday, Sept. 23 event. In one area of the dirt track, the “rhythm section,” riders can jump in different patterns. The Coliseum was the site of the inaugural “Superbowl of Motocross” race on July 8, 1972, marking the birth of Supercross.

A bulldozer operator, with DirtWurx, walks the “rhythm section,” where riders can jump in different patterns, as a dirt track is made on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Monday, September 18, 2023 for Saturday’s SuperMotocross World Championship finals. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Excavator and bulldozer operators, with DirtWurx, make a dirt track on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Monday, September 18, 2023 for Saturday’s SuperMotocross World Championship finals. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A bulldozer operator, with DirtWurx, works on a dirt track on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Monday, September 18, 2023 for Saturday’s SuperMotocross World Championship finals. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Excavator operator Tyler Taylor, of DirtWurx, comes out of an excavator as DirtWurx makes a dirt track on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Monday, September 18, 2023 for Saturday’s SuperMotocross World Championship finals. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)