Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Motocrosser Jeff Stanton ~ 0"\ 0"\ rl 00 Q) § ....., 20 age thing is a facto r, then it will be, but I d on't consider that a factor. Past history has kind of played it to be that way, but I guess if you believe in tha t and you think that's true, it will happen. .I don't think it's that way. I still feel I'm as competitive as the next person. Kiedrowski and laRocco are pretty much my age, too, so if that's true, they're going to be hurting in the next couple of years, too." Of the up and coming riders, Stanton pegs Suzuki 's Damon Huffman as the one with the best shot at success, citing his lanky bod y and flaw less s tyle as h is greatest assets. "Ezra (Lusk) is doing a good job, too," he says. "He's kind of go t one check against him, though; he's kind of small. He 's on the short side, so (whether) he can adapt to a 250 or not is a different story. I would say those are the two guys." Like Jeremy McGrath, both Huffman and Lusk have enjoyed more success indoors than out, but Stanton feels that their best is yet to come. One thing he does not feel, is that manufacturers should begin drawing up supercross-only contracts, as McGrath is rumored to have requested from Team Honda. "1 think the manufacturers would be stupid if they did it . They don't sell bikes and parts to that many people (who are) sitting in the stands at a supercross . They're not hard -core fans . The y sell bikes to people tha t are racing at outdoor nationals - tha t come Saturday before a national and race. Th at's who they sell their bikes and parts to. I'm not saying that a manufacturer won't (des ign such contracts), but I'm sa ying they're stupid if they do : If Jerem y can get that, more power to him. If they want to give him a supercross-only con tract, they can give me a national-o nly con tract (pauses) for the same amount of money (laughs). I don't see it happening. I thin k (McGra th's specialization in supercross) is more of a unique case, just because it's kind of been his background, wi th BMX racing. He's done good at outdoor nationals, too - I'm not knocking an ything aw ay, but he doesn't like it as much. So that's just him." Stanton, on the other hand, is just the opposite. While he ha s garnered three Camel Supercross titles, h is forte ha s always been outdoor motocross. And one forum in w hich those talents have been the most evident is the Motocross des Nations. When the fans b egan selecting the team, Stanton was left off the team last year, but on the occasions th a t he has been chosen, Stanton has pe rform ed admirably. With 13-straight U.S. wins, the pressure on each successive team is greater and greater, but Jeff would still like to represent his country again. "That's one of my goals - to try to be on the MX des Nations. I wasn't on it last year. Who knows if the fans pick 'em, or if it's still just a bunch of po litics. You never know how the AMA works, so at this point, if I'm there - great, if I'm nor- so be it. I could do just as good a job as anybody, as long as I'm healthy. I wo uld n't want to do it if I had a hurt back, or a busted arm or something . But hey, the strikes are getting against those gu ys. One time it's going to happen. If I'm a part of the team, I'm a part of the team - I can deal with it. I su re wouldn't want to be a part of the team tha t loses, but like I said , if it happen s, I'm a stronger person than th at . I can d eal w ith it , but they are gettin g a lo t of strikes up on that board." When you talk with him, it is readily apparent that the politics of the sport are one area that doesn't sit well with Jeff Stanton. And unlike with man y riders, it is also apparent that he is not afraid to speak his mind. "Everybod y' S a little too greed y," he says, not bothering to beat around the bush. "The promoters are greedy. They could help out the riders and lighten up the load for some of the manufactur ers. They say they're not making mon ey, but th e y w ant to have m ore a nd mo re supercrosses. I think the AMA cou ld be a lot stronger in some areas, an d work with th eir s ponsors better and work with the riders better. If the riders sug gest something, it seems like it just kind of gets blown off. It'll never chan ge. The riders try to get toge ther, but then you always have a few of those od d d ucks who decide to go their own way . So the r id ers d on 't have any b alls to ge t a union together or ha ve an y au thority over an ybody, and until that happens, nothing's going to change. "There's a lot of room for improvement ou t the re; there really is. There' s no reason we should have to sit aroun d at a supercross all da y long. When we go to Europe, they have packed crowds, a nd w e s ho w up there a t 4:00 in the a fte rno o n - practice, race and we 're done. And we sign autographs afterwards. But when we show up there and p ractice for a cou ple hours, sit around for four hours... There' s lots of things that could be changed, but 1 have yet to see that happen. Here, you 're there all damn da y. You show up at 11:00.· Shit, the mechanics are up there at 9:00 (a.m.), and they don't leave until midnight or 1:00 in the morning . That's ridiculous. There's tons of things 1 believe the promoters could do to help out. (Outdoors) we start practice at 9:00; we're racing at noon. We s ta r t pra ctice at 1:00 a t a supercross, and we're no t racing until 7:00, so tell me how much difference th er e is th er e. And we 're d oing a lot more at a national. We p ractice, and you race two motos. It seems to go qu icker. 1 think the outdoor promoters are trying hard e r, because people just want to have more and more supercrosses, so the outdoo r promoters are trying hard er to make their events better. The supercross promoters are just building tracks the way they want to anymore." But are n't th ere any brigh t areas? "No, not really. Whoever gets out front is gone, it seems like. The obstacles are pretty easy, and p retty basic. I still don 't believe there's any reason for two sets of triples. The re's tons of other obstacles. I know that 's where they sell the seats, but they can put something in there that's just as exciting. Triples are okay at fi rs t, but it gets old. Have the promoters ask the fans what they want to see. (From) a r ider's po int of view, I th in k there's tons of things that could be better. (Fro m) a promoter's point of vie w, the re' s probably tons of things we do wrong, too. I see (that) we had Camel as a s ponsor, Coo rs as a sponsor. Some way or another, the AMA or the promoters or w hoever, lost them . Obviously they didn't make the m happy enough to keep them around, so they' re ou t there trying to find a sponso r. So obviously, they' re not doing something right. The only brigh t sid e is the TV coverage we get. Granted, it's not on un til midnight or 1:00 in the morning, bu t at least we're getting some good TV coverage, an d that might bring in some sponsors maybe not." With such a view of the state of supe rcross, one might assum e that Stanton would not want to be involved with the sport following his retiremen l. One would be wrong. While he sees plenty of room for improvement, Stanton recognizes that he wouldn't be where he is now without motocross and s u percross, and he is thankful for that fact. "I alwa ys say that I'd like to g ive the s p o r t so m e th in g in return, so I'd hope tha t Honda wo u ld w ant to do so me thin g w ith me (after retirement)," says Stanton. " Ki nd of like what Wardy is do ing. Going out and helping the guys. I think bein g around a nd se eing wha t goes on, that I could take over some of the load of a team manager 's job. I could take the guys to their dealerships and take them out to dinner - make sure they're getting e ve ry thi ng tha t th ey need. 1 would like to think that Honda would like to see that happen. I cou ld lighten up the load for the team manager and he cou ld do some more of his stuff - concen tra te on his job . I could work more directly w ith the riders. If the y want to come in early and find a place to ride, 1 could set tha t up for them. If I could do some stuff like that, I think that would work, but if they opt not to do that, I'll just go back, settle in Michigan and do whatever." . Note: After this interview, Jeff Stanton 's luck took another doumward turn , at the Budds Creek National M otocross in Maryland. Stanton completed just one lap of the fi rst 250cc mota before hitting a patch of mud while land ing fr om a fa st downhill jum p. Stanton crashed hard and aggravated his back injury. He was unabl e to fin ish the mota or compete in mota two, and also sat out the May 29 M t. M orris, Pennsyl vania, National. According to the Honda/l -BOO CO LLECT team, S tanton 's condi tion is being evaluated fro m week to week, and it has not yet beendecided ifhe will contest the San Jose, California, Camel Sup ercross on June 4.

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