Tom Glanzer of Bethesda Church, Huron, South Dakota, has established a 30-year professional career in media and public relations, but that has never been enough for this serial entrepreneur. His latest side gig? An indoor motocross event called MX @ the DeX that has brought crowds to his small community of Huron for some midwinter entertainment. They started their first four-race series in December 2024. Season two kicked off Dec. 20, 2025.
What is motocross?
Basically, you put a bunch of athletes on dirt bikes on a groomed track with jumps, corners and other features to see who can go the fastest. In the spring, summer and fall we race outdoors, but in this four-state region, we had no indoor winter race series within 400 miles.
What prompted you to try it in Huron?
A couple of years ago, the State Fairgrounds built The DeX, a state-of-the-art, 150,000-square-foot event center. The state built it for rodeos and livestock events, but I saw how high the ceiling was and thought, “We can race dirt bikes in here.” Ben Wipf is one of our main sponsors with his business, Wipf Excavating of Huron. They brought us the extra dirt for the track and additional energy to make this happen.
What kind of response did you get?
We saw about 9,200 people at our events last year, and I would say that, for most of the fans, this was the first motocross event they had ever been to. It created a buzz in the region.
Do you ride motocross?
I ride a dirt bike, but I don’t race it. I wanted a dirt bike when I was a kid, but my dad was a rodeo guy, so he put me on bulls and horses. So what do you do when your dad doesn’t buy you the bike? When your kid turns 4, you buy him a dirt bike, right? Our middle son was building jumps and ripping around the yard on his second day of riding his little 50, so we knew that was something he was going to do. He had no fear.
You have said that God has guided the process in this endeavor. What do you see as his purpose?
It’s a pretty weird mission field. Our entire family is involved in the race program, and from the beginning we wanted to make it a family-safe event, but put on a show—a rock show where we also race dirt bikes. We are probably a little too punk rock for all the church people, but race families see that we’re different from other motocross promoters and families they’ve been around. We are very intentional on doing prayer with a message of salvation prior to our event. We’re connecting with people that do not usually go to church, since most outdoor races happen on Sundays.
What can Christians learn from the motocross community?
The people that are involved in moto are 100% in. You don’t just “kind of” race dirt bikes. You’re putting your life on the line every time the gate drops, every time you jump on. If somebody lived their Christian life as sold out to Christ as these people do to motocross, the world would be a much different place.
Learn more at mxatthedex.com, and check out the MX @ the DeX 2026 theme song.
Kathy Heinrichs Wiest is a freelance writer who loves the smell of whole wheat bread in the oven, the feel of an orange being plucked from the tree and the view from her front porch in Kingsburg, California. She and her husband, Steve, own Dovetail Remodeling. They have two grown daughters, one son-in-law and a precious granddaughter.
