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Nitro arenacross in Du Quoin this weekend

Anyone curious about the success of this weekend's motocross event at the SI Center located just south of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds, might want to spend five minutes -- no, better make that ten -- visiting with Jay Reynolds. He's the main man with Motorhead Events, sponsors of the rapidly growing Arctic Cat Nitro Arenacross Tour.

Not having a clue as to what was involved in the "Nitro Arenacross Tour" scheduled for Friday and Saturday night shows here, we did visit with Reynolds and walked away dazed with what we learned.

Reynolds is a true professional. His organization -- Motorhead Events -- is likewise. Located in Springfield, Mo., and in existence for several years, the event is growing and spreading, now for the first time east of the Mississippi River.

Fans expecting to see eight, ten or 12 events are in for a treat. Twenty-five are scheduled for Friday night's opening session. Seven more, like 32, are listed for Saturday night.

Each has a slightly different something-or-other. There are listed classes for novices, school boys, college boys, women and obviously many determined by size and power of the individual bikes. And, if that's not enough to attract what Reynolds is hoping will be a capacity crowd, country music star Jason Pritchett ("Good Show") will be performing in a relatively brief concert to open activities both nights at 7:30.

The tour is relatively new and involves professional and amateur arenacross and UTV racing. For everyone. Males and females, young and old. Cash prize money will be distributed each night. Gates open at 6 p.m., 30 minutes prior to a pre-party at 6:30. Kids, 11-and-under, are admitted free when accompanied by an adult ($18).

When asked about crowd size, Reynolds matter-of-factly answered, "Well, we know we'll have more than 600. We have that many entries."