Northern Nevada has become the capital of Moto X sports of sorts and four Northern Nevada motocross athletes will be on display this weekend during the Moto X World Champions.
Minden's Matt Buyten, who has also lived in Carson City, Minden's Adam Jones, Carson City's Mike Mason and Sparks' Drake McElroy, who comes from Fernley, will all compete in this weekend's event. The event will be held on Satuday and Sunday at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium.
Eight hours of live coverage will be provided on ESPNHD and ESPN2HD. There will be 85 world class riders competing in best trick, freestyle, step up, speed and style and SuperMoto.
Buyten will compete in step up, Jones will compete in best trick and freestyle, Mason will compete in freestyle and speed and style and McElroy will compete in SuperMoto. All four riders have medaled in the X Games and Buyten has won numerous medals and is a multiple gold medal winner in the X Games in the step up.
In best trick, each of the 12 riders will take two jumps and be judged on the difficulty and execution of their trick.
In freestyle, there will be an elimination round in which the 12 riders will take two 90-second runs where will they will do tricks over a motocross course. The top four will qualify for the semifinals where the No. 1 seed will face the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed will face the No. 3 seed. The two winners will meet in the finals.
In step up, the five riders will attempt to jump over an initial height between 26 and 29 feet. After each round, the bar will be raised six inches.
In supermoto, the 32 riders will compete in a motocross style race with the top two finishers in each race advancing to the finals. The third through eighth place finishers will advance to two second-round heats of about six laps long. The top two finishers of each heat will make it to the finals, so 12 racers will advance to the finals.
In speed and style, each rider battles in a head-to-head format over a motocross course, which will include steel freestyle ramps. Scores will be based on 50 percent racing and 50 percent on freestyle judging.
ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise the event from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Extending coverage will be provided by ESPN360.com and EXPN.com.