The 2022 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations is coming up fast, which means the whole motocross world is focused on RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan. We are counting down the days to the Nations by reviewing some of the best moments in Team USA history, and three of them will be local stories, because Michigan is also the home of Jeff Stanton. The man we respectfully refer to as “6-Time”—three AMA Supercross titles, three 250 Pro Motocross titles—also led Team USA to three straight wins in the MXoN, from 1989 through ’91. And each time it was the efforts of this RedBud local-who-became-legend that saved the day for Team USA.
Stanton’s amateur career and early professional years were spent riding primarily 250 and Open class Yamahas. In fact, he never raced a 125cc Supercross, despite the fact that he turned pro the same year the 125cc class was introduced to AMA Supercross. He signed for the Yamaha factory team when he did turn pro and spent three decent-but-winless years with the brand, honing his skills. In 1989 he was signed to Team Honda as Rick Johnson’s understudy. When RJ went down in March of that year with a broken wrist, Stanton immediately picked up the flag and began winning races and titles. By the end of summer, he was the ’89 AMA Supercross and AMA 250 Pro Motocross Champion.
However, Johnson was expected back at the end of summer and planned on riding the 250 at the MXoN, just as he had in each of the previous three years’ wins. And the veteran Jeff Ward, the AMA 500 National Champion, was an easy pick for the 500 spot. That left only the 125 class for Stanton, who had never raced a 125 professionally. But he wanted to be on the team badly, so he talked Roger De Coster and Team Honda into letting him have a tryout of sorts. Stanton entered the ’89 250cc U.S. Grand Prix at Unadilla in the 125cc Support class, an almost unheard-of move for a rider of his stature. Stanton ended up beating some extremely fast 125cc riders, including Yamaha’s Damon Bradshaw, as well as his Honda factory teammates Mike Kiedrowski and Larry Ward.
But just as De Coster was about to finalize the ’89 version of Team USA, Johnson (who won that 250 USGP over Jean-Michel Bayle) hurt his wrist again. So De Coster decided on Wardy for the 500 class, soon-to-be AMA 125 National Champ Kiedrowski on the 125, and Stanton on the 250 after all. That means two rookies to the event for Team USA, plus the all-time best in Jeff Ward.
The ’89 Motocross of Nations was slated for Gaildorf, Germany, and it was over after one moto, the 125/500 race. Team USA’s Ward won the 500 class and the moto outright while Kiedrowski topped the 125 class and finished ninth against the Open bikes. The second moto for 125/250 saw Stanton dominate and Kiedrowski again finished ninth outright, though he was second 125 to Italy’s Alessandro Puzar. In the best of six finishes, Team USA was already the winner. For good measure, Stanton went out and won the final 250/500 moto, giving Team USA a perfect score of four.
Interesting side note: There were two other Americans in this race, and each of them finished second to Stanton in his motos. 500 Grand Prix title contender Billy Liles rode for Team Luxembourg, and newly crowned 125cc World Champion Trampas Parker rode for the Italians.
Here’s Gary Bailey’s behind-the-scenes video of 1989:
One year later it was again Stanton winning both AMA Supercross and 250 Pro Motocross titles, and this time there was no question that he would be the 250 rider for Team USA. Ward would return again in the 500 class, for what would be his final appearance in the MXoN, and Yamaha’s Damon Bradshaw was picked for the 125 slot. The race was in Vimmerby, Sweden, and it was not nearly as easy as ’89 for the Yanks. In fact, it would all come down to the final 250/500 moto, between the Americans and the Belgians. It looked bad after Stanton got caught up in a first-turn crash, and then Ward’s shock broke on his Kawasaki KX500. (More on the KX500 in another Team USA Moment.) Team USA Manager De Coster quickly did the math and realized that for the Americans to win, Stanton had to catch and pass Belgian rider Dirk Geukens, who happened to be the same rider that was taking shots at the Americans in practice. So, Stanton rolled up his sleeves and got down to business.
"In practice, Geukens follows you, passes you back and forth,” he explained to Racer X in a previous feature. “It's stupid, and I got tired of his BS all day. So, I put him down in the back. I parked him. He screwed with us too many times and I got tired of it.”
Down went Geukens, and up went Team USA to the top of the podium, with a tenth straight win on the MXoN.
"He hit me in front, he went inside," said Geukens. "It's not a nice way to pass." But it was Stanton’s way!
Here is a video of that epic 1990 Motocross des Nations:
What happened in 1991 was even more dramatic. This time, Stanton was on the 500, teamed with Bradshaw again, only Damon was on the 250. Kiedrowski was back as well, as the 125 rider, only he was on a Kawasaki. They would be going to Valkenswaard, Holland, a sand track that favored both the Dutch and the Belgians, their next-door neighbors.
The Belgians would be led by Stefan Everts on a 125, and the newly crowned 125cc World Champion went 1-1 in the 125 class. His teammate Marnicq Bervoets won the 125/250 moto outright, giving the Belgians lead going into the final 250/500 moto. But then their two riders, Bervoets and Dirk Geukens, crashed together (very similar to what happened to Team USA’s Jason Anderson and Justin Cooper in 2019 in Assen, Holland).
So, it was down to the Dutch vs. Team USA. Stanton had won the first 125/500 moto outright, while Dutch 125 rider Pedro Tragter went 2-3, 500 rider Gert Jan Van Doorn ran third in the first moto, and 250 rider Edwin Evertsen was fifth in the middle moto. It was a virtual tie going into the last moto, and then it went down to the final lap. This time Stanton had to get around Van Doorn, and once again “Captain America” came through. Here’s a much more detailed story by Eric Johnson of just how it all went down.
And here is a video of the last 250/500 moto in 1991:
When it comes to Team USA, there are many, many great riders who have stepped up at the Motocross of Nations, but if there was ever a Mt. Rushmore for the four best ever, Jeff Stanton, based on his three-race run in 1989 through ’91, would be one of the faces carved into the mountain.
