Nearly 200 motorcyclists from across the East Coast descended on Wareham to kick up some dirt and snow in Sunday's Loud Fuel Cranberry GP.

The all-day set of dirt bike races was the first leg of the three-race J Day Off Road Winter Series. It was the biggest winter event ever held at the Wareham MX facility, located behind a cranberry bog at 3070 Cranberry Highway.

John Day, the head of Rhode Island-based J Day Off Road, puts together dirt bike races up and down the eastern seaboard and decided to bring two races in his winter series to Wareham MX, which is owned by his good friend Jacob Morrison.

"He really stepped it up and turned it into a facility instead of just a track," Day said.

Morrison said one the reasons Day liked the facility is because of the terrain.

"It's easy to make it what you want," Morrison said.

Sunday's race saw a few inches of snow covering the sandy motocross track, but 60 percent of the race was on the new cross country course that blazed through the woods adjacent to the track. The course also included a short "XTreme" section with logs laid out to test the riders technical skills.

But for their course building and gas guzzling, the riders gave back too. Every rider donated a dollar to Reforest the Tropics, a non-profit group that plants forests in Costa Rica. Scott Keller, a representative for the group, said the money raised by the riders would offset the carbon they put in the air, creating a green dirt bike event.

The winner of the championship race was Jon Girroir of Southwick, Mass., who took first place in both championship race heats. The event had races all day for riders of every skill level, from beginners to pros like Girroir.

Morrison said next year he wants to turn the racetrack into a real racing facility with a starting gate and 15 events a year.

Day said race day went very smooth and he's looking forward to doing it all again next Sunday morning at 8 a.m. when the second leg of the winter series kicks off again in Wareham.