Jeff Stanton of Sherwood is one of few who climbed onto a dirt bike as a child and was able to turn the love of motorcycle racing into a successful Motocross and Supercross career.
Stanton is called “one of the greatest racers of all time,” in an article on racerxonline.com.
“I started in the early ’70s racing at Log Road (in Bronson) and numerous other tracks around Michigan,” he said. “Amateur racing was a family sport. My mom raced, my brother raced, my dad worked on bikes.”
When they weren’t racing on weekends, they went to northern Michigan to ride through the national forest in the Baldwin area.
Stanton kept riding and gathering awards along the way. Even as an amateur, he was sponsored by Yamaha, which provided bikes and parts. Without such a sponsorship, the sport can be astronomically expensive, Stanton said.
To get to the professional level, a racer has to earn multiple state and national amateur titles. Stanton did.
While most who love the sport don’t rise to this level, Stanton earned six national championships by the time he was 25, racing for American Honda.
“I started 1989 on a Honda and have been with them ever since. I won two titles in ’89, two titles in ’90, two titles in ’92,” Stanton said. “Once I got on Honda, it all clicked. I surrounded myself by the right people, trainers, personnel and I had a few breaks and some luck.”
But luck is created by the hard work and dedication, he said.
“To make it in this sport, you have to have a severe work ethic and dedication,” Stanton said. “It was a great run from ’89 to ’94. A solid run of championships.”
The motocross season has 16 races in the summer. Supercross season takes place in winter, also with 16 races, on shorter courses built in sports arenas across the nation.
At the end of 1994, Stanton retired from racing.
“It’s a young man’s sport,” he said.
There is no offseason for the sport, and finally he was ready to pull back from traveling to 50 races a year.
“I was in a different state and different country every week,” Stanton said.
By the time of his retirement, he was married to Sara, and although he had a home in California so he could train all winter, “I never left Sherwood,” he said.
Nearly continuous travel continued for the next 10 years as he continued to work as a consultant for American Honda and the Stantons two children, Siana and Toren, had come along.
When he started missing his children’s sporting events, Stanton found other things to do with his time, such as coaching their sports in Athens, working on the family farm and starting a whitetail deer breeding facility.
About 10 years ago, he opened The Stone Barn, a wedding and event center at 994 Blossom Road. After attending a wedding held in a barn, Stanton told his wife he wanted to create a venue.
They had a perfect stone barn on their property. Sara was less-enthusiastic, busy with her career in the medical field, but Stanton grabbed the opportunity by the handlebars and took off on another successful race.
And he loves it. Although there is staff to cover the event center, the Stantons like to offer another layer of quality assurance.
“I tell my wife every weekend, ‘What an outstanding business to have when 99.9 percent of the people are happy-laughing and crying.’ They are there to celebrate and enjoy,” Stanton said. “It’s just been a fun, fun business.”
That eventually led to Jeff Stanton Adventure, his newest business of offering customized vacations for those who love cycling.
“I’ve had this passion to showcase Michigan. I know what’s up there. I know the riding that’s up there. I know the fall colors,” Stanton said.
Now, he is sharing that knowledge.
There are plenty of motorcycle tours in the nation, he said.
“But no one has ever done one in Michigan,” he said. “It’s time for me to showcase Jeff Stanton and showcase Michigan.”
Fans of the sport who know the name of Jeff Stanton, and they love motorcycle riding. Those are his new clients.
Vacationers customize their package to meet the desires of the group. Some might want to ride the whole time. Some might prefer to include water sports, such as canoeing and kayaking. Others might choose charter fishing, fly fishing or pheasant-hunting.
They stay at Two Hats Ranch, a 5-star hospitality facility in Big Rapids and venture out from there.
By leaving food-preparation in the hands of chefs, Stanton is able to spend six hours per day on the motorcycle, riding with customers, return to take a shower, then sit by the fire and tell stories.
He offers three-day adventures, every other week in August, September and October. It isn’t always enjoyable to ride during the heat of summer, so he books limited dates in May and June.
Like a cruise, once booked, everything needed for the adventure comes with the package including the tour bikes supplied by Triumph Motorcycles.
Although he enjoys these business ventures, Stanton doesn’t take them for granted.
“I had a great family that gave me a great work ethic. I was able to come back and start a couple successful things here, be my own boss and pick and choose what I want to do,” Stanton said.
Part of that is offering places for others to create good memories.
Online: jeffstantonadventures.com; theoldstonebarn.com.
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