The motocross race series was founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in 1972.
Source:[14] In the 1970s, promoters such as Bill France started bringing motocross races in from the country to stadiums within cities.
Instead of being built upon natural terrain, dirt was imported into the stadiums where promoters tried to emulate the motocross tracks.
In 1972 Mike Goodwin and Terry Tiernan, the president of the AMA, put on one of these stadium races in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Eventually this form of racing evolved into its own sport and series with the name Supercross which was a shortening of the original "Super Bowl of Motocross".
Heat races and LCQs are used to bring the field down to 22 riders for a points-paying main event for each round.