On Jan. 24, the Starkville Horse Park was filled with the revving of two-stroke engines, and the air inside the arena was a haze of exhaust from the gasoline and oil mixtures.
It was round eight of the Axtour ArenaCross 2015 series, and the Horse Park arena had been converted into a dirt bike race track for pros and amateurs alike to gather and test their skill for pride and money. 
Axtour, which is presented by Artrax, is a 10 round series of races that takes place in the Southeast region.
It exists as an effort by Artrax owner and professional rider Justin Thompson to provide a sort of stepping stone for amateurs and new professional riders between traditional, outdoor Motocross races and the relatively new, indoor Supercross events.
The victor of Saturday’s final and most important race, the Clash for Cash, was two-time champ Johnny Moore, from Madison, Mississippi, whose bike bore the ‘#1’ he earned in 2014. 
Zach Bishop-Burnett (No. 54), from Arlington, Tennessee came in second place. Bishop-Burnett is 19 and has been riding since he was 10. He said he has spent several weeks living with another pro rider, Heath Harrison, and the two have been training together daily. 
Harrison (No. 224), from Silverhill, Alabama, crossed the finish line after Bishop-Burnett, but officially placed fourth after a collision he was in during the course of the race was ruled as too aggressive. Tyler Medaglia (#3), all the way from Brookfield, Nova Scotia, officially placed third. 
A mishap at the starting line saw Harrison initially left behind by the pack, but over the following 20 laps, he battled from last past the slew of other riders to finish third. Harrison has raced in every round in the series thus far and before Saturday was ranked first in the Clash for Cash races. 
The Clash for Cash name is not misleading. There is a lot of money tied up in professional motorbike racing. According to “Motocross Action Magazine,” Supercross Riders, the big-league of indoor series, can net hundreds of thousands of dollars if they are the best of the best. 
In its self-ascribed role as a launching pad for regional younger pros, the Axtour purses are not nearly that big. 
Moore said he made about $1,700 Saturday night. While thats not exactly chump change, according to Taylor Dressler, Artrax’s media coordinator, what makes Axtour valuable to the riders is that the winnings are not just based on how many riders they have paying entry fees. 
With most series, a race with 40 paying riders would have a huge winnings purse, while one with about 12 professional participants, similar to the one in Starkville, would have much less money to hand out to the winners. Axtour pays out the same, regardless of how many racers show up, and the riders, especially the newer ones, depend on that. 
“That’s another thing Justin does is to make sure there is consistent payout,” Dressler said. “It keeps them all coming back. It lets them keep doing what they are doing.”
Dressler said Axtour runs from November to the first week of February, ending two weeks before east coast Supercross kicks off.  Axtour also serves as a way for established pros from all over to train during the off-season between Motocross and Supercross, such is the case with Medaglia.
For the riders who plan on competing, once Supercross begins it is almost a whole different lifestyle.
“These aren’t that bad because its pretty close, so I actually get to go home during the week,” Harrison said. “During Supercross and outdoors, you have to stay on the road in a motorhome and that puts a toll on you for sure.”
Harrison said the longest he has spent on the road has been about three to four months, although he did mention sometimes the tours take him close enough to take a pit stop at home and sleep in his own bed for a week or two. 
While riders like Medaglia and Harrison plan on moving on to other series, that is not the case with Moore, who at age 26 now works full time at B&B Electric in Canton, Mississippi and can now only ride on the weekends. Despite not being free to devote as much time into the sport as some of the other riders, Moore seems to be able to coast off of years of previous experience. 
“These younger kids, they have that training facility so its kind of tough to keep up with them,” Moore said. “To come out here, compete with these guys and keep up with them feels pretty good.”
The tenth and final round of the Axtour series will be held in Tunica, Mississippi on Feb. 7. Starkville’s Horse Park will also host its annual Rotary Classic PRCA Rodeo on Feb. 13.