Arenacross Roars Back to Oklahoma in January

The cold months in Oklahoma always feel like someone hit the slow-motion button on life. Everything gets quieter, the days drag, and you start looking for anything that doesn’t involve staring out the window waiting on spring. Luckily, this is exactly when the loud stuff moves indoors.

I was in the studio the other day, pretending to be productive when something popped up in my feed. Motocross is coming back to Oklahoma in January. Sort of. Arenacross is rolling into the Lazy E Arena again.

What Arenacross Actually Is

If you’re rusty on the terminology, motocross is the fast and dirty outdoor stuff. Supercross is the big stadium version. Arenacross is their scrappy little brother in a tighter arena. The tracks are smaller, the racing is tighter, and the riders are usually the ones who end up on the Supercross broadcast a few years later. It’s future talent on full display.

And honestly, it doesn’t matter what the weather decides to do. Your kids will eat this up. Mine always did. Even kids who have never cared about motorcycles start leaning forward in their seats once those engines crack open. My own sister, who panics every time I get a nephew near a bike, used to gear up and race around with us when we were little. The tracks in Elk City and Lawton felt like our whole world back then.

Why Kids Go Wild For Arenacross

There’s a smell to it. Pre-mix gas. Two-stroke exhaust. That warm, earthy haze hanging over the arena tells your brain something exciting is about to happen. The sound builds up, the gate drops, and everyone just goes quiet, watching these bikes float and crash and scramble through the chaos. Every kid should get to feel that buzz once.

This year’s Arenacross stop at Lazy E Arena runs two nights, January 25 and January 26. Tickets run about thirty to sixty bucks, depending on how close you want to be, but the arena is small enough that every seat is pretty good. AMA will point you to Ticketmaster, but you can grab tickets from places like TicketSmarter if you want to avoid the usual headaches... when they become available.

If you really want to make memories, swing by a local bike shop beforehand and grab a cheap jersey for the kids. Bring a couple of Sharpies too. Riders usually hang around after the races, and a signed jersey becomes the kind of thing they won’t let you throw away even when they’re grown.