Craig Stanton (born October 31, 1960 in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

) is an American race car driver and bicyclist. Stanton won the Grand-Am Koni Challenge championship in 2004 in the GS class, and then won the Grand-Am Rolex Series championship in 2005 in the GT class. Stanton also works as a driving coach. As of 2013, Craig is driving various Porsches in Grand-Am, ALMS, and World-Challenge this year, participating in all major North American tin-top pro series. Additionally, Stanton will continue coaching amateur and professional drivers.

Early career

Stanton started his racing career by spending 10 years on a

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competiti ...

bike. He went on to start racing cars in 1986, with the help of his brother, Mark. During Stanton's first full season as an amateur, he drove in 49 races. During his second season, he drove in 41 races. The two brothers won 9 championships in amateur road racing before Stanton made the transition to become a professional.

Road racing

In 2004, Stanton won his first championship as a professional. Driving for TheRaceSite.com, Stanton won the GS class of the Koni Challenge series. During that year, Stanton had six class wins in his Porsche 996. That year, Stanton was also named the 2004 Rising Star. To follow up his first professional championship, Stanton moved on to the Grand-Am Rolex Sportscar series. There, he won a championship in a GT class

Porsche GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

Cup car with Synergy Racing. Most recently, Stanton raced a

Porsche Carrera Cup Porsche Carrera Cup (sometimes abbreviated PCC) is a number of one-make racing by Porsche premier series competed with, initially Porsche 911 Carrera Cup, then later Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. The cars are specifically built by Porsche for one- ...

car in 2010 and 2011 in the Grand-Am Rolex Sportscar series with

Magnus Racing Magnus Racing is an automobile racing team based in Tooele, Utah, currently competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team was established in 2010 by John Potter and runs Acura NSX GT3 car in the series. History The team fin ...

. Together with team owner John Potter, the drivers captured four podium finishes during the two years. Stanton also raced with Potter in 2008 and 2009 as part of the TRG team in a Porsche GT3 Cup car.

Other racing

In addition to driving Porsche Carrera Cup cars, Stanton has also competed in USAC and

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

. Stanton has raced in the SCORE off-road series, and is particularly fond of

off-road racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing Desert ...

Personal life

Stanton was born on October 31, 1960 in Hollywood,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. While he was growing up, Stanton's mom owned a gift shop in Glendale, and his dad taught auto shop, math, and electronics at the high school level. Stanton took advantage of the California landscape and started surfing and skiing by the time he was 10 years old. Stanton has one brother, Mark, who is two years younger. Mark supported Stanton during his amateur racing career, and the two often went to the track together. Mark later went on to become a

pyrotechnician Pyrotechnicians are people who are responsible for the safe storage, handling, and functioning of pyrotechnics and pyrotechnic devices. Although the term is generally used in reference to individuals who operate pyrotechnics in the entertainment ...

and worked in special effects for movie studios. Stanton and Mark recently began working together on developing the new Evosport Engineering race car. Stanton is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle S ...

, and has dyslexia. In high school, Stanton raced bicycles, and still competes in one 24-hour mountain bike race each year (usually either the 24 Hours of Moab or 24 Hours of Temecula).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Craig 1960 births Living people Rolex Sports Car Series drivers NASCAR drivers Off-road racing drivers People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Racing drivers from Los Angeles Cyclists from Los Angeles USAC Stock Car drivers American Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24H Series drivers People with dyslexia Racing drivers from California