Family business
PINE TWP, Mercer County — During the school year, John Ayers and his sister, Rachel, attend classes and do homework like all students.
But few people suspect how they spend their weekends. Even fewer actually know the details of their double lives, which take them to destinations thousands of miles away.
On weekends, and more often in the summer, John and Rachel work for their parents at motor sports racing events all over the country. The family business includes overseeing the races, lining up sponsorships, selling event apparel and now producing a cable television show filmed at the events.
It is a business John and Rachel have been around their entire lives, and they play an integral role in keeping the operation moving smoothly.
But when the weekend was through, John and Rachel would return to school, where people assumed their lives are the same as everyone else's.
"People don't really know what Ido,"John said.
He didn't talk about it a lot while attending Grove City High School, where he graduated from recently. His social life consisted mostly of seeing people in class. Most of those people thought all his father did for a living was sell T-shirts.
Having just completed her sophomore year at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Rachel said flying from coast to coast for events each weekend has taken its toll on her life, as well.
"I don't have a social life. I'm never at school,"she said. "It's kind of difficult when you spend a week at school and no one knows you go to school there."
Rachel's college schedule is set up so all her classes are on Monday evening, Tuesday and Thursday. She flies off to events Friday and takes a return flight Monday. Her study time comes mostly while she waits in airports and on airplanes.Although Rachel managed to find time for prom and some other activities in high school, John didn't."As a kid goes to school every day like that, it's not really socially rewarding,"said John Ayers, Rachel and John's father. "Our kids went to high school off the beaten path. They have a different life. Instead of going out and playing football or baseball, they ride motorcycles."Although the lifestyle may not offer big social opportunities at home, the siblings are in no hurry to get out of the business.Rachel has become the host of Racer TV, the motor sports television program produced by her father's company for the Outdoor Life Network.John is pursuing a professional racing career by running in amateur circuit motocross races, and he also is one of the lead cameramen for the TVshow.Both siblings continue to be involved in helping to coordinate the overall racing events."It's a big part of my life. I wouldn't trade it for the world," said Rachel, who grew up at the events and has worked them since she was 8.John, too, has always shown an interest. His parents display a picture in their living room of him at 3 years fully clad in racing gear."It's fun, and it's kind of like the only thing Iever did,"said John. "It's the sort of thing you see on TV and think, man that'd be fun to try, but I was sort of born into it."Although he does not share the same middle name as his father, John is known on the racing circuit as "John Ayers Jr.," since his father, a former racing professional, has become as well known in the sport as top sponsors like Suzuki and Maxxis Tires."When people hear of me, they always think it's my dad," John said.Currently on the amateur circuit, John does not let his father's success delude him into thinking success will come easy."There are so many people who do this and don't get good," John said. "The chances of being good at all are slim to none. The chances of two people in the same family are impossible."But those chances haven't stopped him from working hard. Daily training includes running three miles and riding his bike on the family's private track.The bike weighs 230 pounds, which the rider must keep upright over loose and uneven surfaces. Adding that to the jolt his body gets upon landing a jump, John said that the sport is one of the most physically demanding there is."Most people who have never done it find it hard to believe," he said. "Just holding yourself on is very hard."While he races, John often has more on his mind than beating the competition. He wears a helmet camera so viewers of the TV show can get a participant's view.
During the professional races, John is often responsible for gathering footage for the show. That requires him to shoot at a particular point in the course and then speed on his bike through the woods to get ahead of the racers at another part of the track.He also sometimes films his sister's hosting segments and interviews with popular racers.Serving in multiple capacities makes John that much more valuable to his father's team, which is fine by him, since his bid for a professional racing career is only an outside chance."If that doesn't work out, I just end up working for my dad. Working for my dad is the main plan,"he said.Rachel, on the other hand, is less decided at this point. She may stay with the company after graduating from college with a degree in interpersonal communication, or she may pursue other directions."It was kind of a way of life than a choice. You eventually learn to love every part of it," Rachel said.
