Get your moto running: Heart Bar Motocross Ranch, Moriarty Motocross look to help keep the sport alive in the state

This past November, motocross enthusiasts in New Mexico received some good news.

That’s when Heart Bar Motocross Ranch officially opened for business, holding its first race weekend in Tularosa. It’s not the first time motocross has been held in the southern New Mexico village. That’s thanks to co-owners Che Mallery and Deanna Pohl, who have also operated Moriarty Motocross for the past 10 years. According to Pohl, the previous owners in Tularosa were operating their track without a valid lease through the state, which ultimately led to it going dormant.

“So for about a year, it stayed vacant. It was closed to everybody,” Pohl said. “And then the state approached us at one of our events at Moriarty, and they liked the way that we were running and doing business. And so at that point, they offered to start working on a lease with us if we were interested, or they were gonna flatten out the facility down there in Tularosa.

“To keep the motocross community going, we figured one less track is gonna be really bad for us. So we need to keep it strong and try to keep it running. We went ahead and took on the challenge, and we completed all of the tasks that we needed to do for the lease. And we’ve signed a five-year agreement with the state to go ahead and try to get this track off the ground.”

With two tracks under solid ownership it allows for motocross events to be held in the Land of Enchantment throughout the year. During the warmer weather — April through November — races will run at Moriarty MX, and when the weather cools — November through March — Heart Bar MX will take over.

“We don’t have a month off this year,” Pohl said.

The type of continuity is a good thing for the motocross community. According to Pohl, there are only three official tracks in the state, including another in Aztec under different ownership. With Heart Bar MX and Moriarty MX under the same umbrella, Pohl hopes to see increased unity in the coming months.

“What we’ve tried to do is put a state championship series together,” Pohl said. “We didn’t include Aztec in that one because it’s kind of far away from us, so we just decided to open with our tracks for now.

“We’re doing two state championship rounds down in (Tularosa), and we’re doing three rounds at Moriarty, and those are American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) sanctioned events. We’re hoping that it’ll get people to travel more and it’ll build up the community. So that way the events get bigger and they start being more successful. Right now, we’re at about anywhere between 250 or over 300 entries, depending on the event. Every event is different and has different themes to it.”

Currently ongoing at Heart Bar MX is the Magnificent “7” race series, which includes championship series events on Jan. 25-26 and March 22-23. While each individual event includes what Pohl calls a “dash for cash” with monetary prizes, points are also tallied for the entirety of the series, leading to an awards ceremony at the conclusion. The winners typically receive plaques as well as equipment such as personalized bike stands, tires, gas cans and more.

Entry fees for riders and gate fees for spectators go toward insurance for events, employee salaries, equipment and general track maintenance. A recent event had approximately 300 fans in attendance over the course of the weekend, Pohl said.

Heart Bar MX is typically open for practice ahead of races, while Moriarty MX has open riding on Sundays, depending on weather. There are occasional opportunities for instruction in Moriarty, with AMA-certified trainers teaching courses a couple times a year, but there are currently no such courses at Heart Bar.

“We usually only do more top-tier trainers,” Pohl said. “We don’t really do local training.”

For interested riders, it’s best to visit heartbarmx.com, where registration links and event dates are available. According to Pohl, saving the track in Tularosa is a positive for both the owners and motocross enthusiasts alike.

“We took over down there to give them their track back. We take pride in that and the fact that it was just gonna probably die out in that part of the state, and we were able to save it,” Pohl said. “We’re grateful to be able to give them the opportunity to ride again.”

Get your moto running: Heart Bar Motocross Ranch, Moriarty Motocross look to help keep the sport alive in the state