Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

RACERX ByDavey Coombs · long line of riders solemnly walked from the tunnel of the building out on to the stadium floor. Si t ting there on a metal stand was a motorcvcle with the number one on to the plates. The riders, from superstars to super-riots, formed a wide semicircle around the lonely bike. With head s bowed th ey stood quietly as an announcer spo ke of the loss of a fellow racer. Some shifte d on their feet; others just stared vacantly at the mach ine. The en tire Metrodome was still. It was a fitting sal ute to a champion few of them really knew.· Donny Schm it died in a hosp ital on Friday, Janu ary 19, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was with cruel irony that he would die here, now, on the da y before what would have been his hometown .race, had he been competing. Minnesota. What a weird pla ce for a tw o-time FIM World Moto cr oss Champ ion to come from . The man standing on one end of the semicircle probabl y knew Donny Schmi t best. It was Greg Alb ertyn, Donny' s frie nd and fell ow cha mpion. Albe rty n stood s lig htly a pa rt fro m th e ci rcle, maybe in the hopes that his own silent prayers wou ld be heard above the rest. You see, Greg kn ew th e streng th an d courage that Donny Schmit possessed in order to overcome the incred ible barriers th at were thrown up in 'his pa th to m otocross g lory. He com peted alo ngs ide Sc h m it fo r yea rs on the World Championship tour, watching as Donny w on th e 1990 125 cc World Ch ampi o ns hi p. Tw o years late r he h ad th e oppo rtu nity to share that glory wh en he won that same tit le w hile Schmit w as wrapping up the '92 250cc World Champion ship. It was a we t, dismal day in Suzuka, Japan. They were both coated in mud from helmet to boot after their resp ective race s, and together the two champi ons splashed down th e s ta rt s traig h t with arms raised together in victory. I learned of this story on Saturday night as Albertyn and the re st of u s mourned Schmit's sudden p as sing. Then Greg told me that Donny Schm it wa s on e of the toughest racers he ever met and deserved more respect than he ever got. I alread y knew that. A ................. "' ... Donny Schmi t bu rst on to the Ameri- can motocross scene in th e mid-1980s, remarkable four th overall and was winning ama teur and Pro-Am titles all ready to sign the second factory contract over the country as Team Green's most of his career. But no contract ever came recent find. I remember noticing him for no American te a m wanted Donny the first time at the '86 Loretta Lynn 's Schmit. Faced with another year of self-supAmateur ationals during pra ctice. He port, Schmit decided not to return to the and Jeff Matiasevich were in matching circuit. And then a good thing actually gear on matching bikes. They would hit the infield tabletop jump together lap happened. The people at Bieffe in after lap and throw their bikes sideways Europe called in search of someone to get them a 125cc Wor ld Championship. for a one-handed salute. At that time Schmit seemed Sch mit, still as like he had the good as anyone m otocross world in A merica, in his hands, and No man is an island, entire of its self; accepted the new a sho rt time therechalle nge a n d after he signed on packed hi s bags Every man is a piece of the with Team Suzuki for Europe. as a full factor y Tw elve m onths rider. la ter h e gave continent, a part of the main.... In 1987 and '88 them their World he w on three Championship. Any man's death diminishes me, As glamo rous 125cc N ationals, as it m a y seem, an d th e seco nd yea r h e fini shed because I am involved in mankind; ra cing the grand the seaso n as viceprix circuit is not cham p io n to easy, es pecia lly And therefore, never send to know for Americans George H oll and . H e w as p r im ed w ho are used to for a tit le ru n in such subtle luxufor whom the bell tolls; '89, bu t instead he ries as palatable food, ca ble teleenco u n te red th e It tolls for thee. fi rst of those vision, w orking undeserved barri phones an d clean John Donne hote l rooms. ers th a t w ou ld alter his life and Af ter tha t first career - the factotitle Donny a nd ry let him go. . h is wife Carrie Schmit did not like American Superspen t m uch of th eir time travel ing cross the way it was run in th e late across Euro pe in a small trailer th at was the size of a mini van . They cooked their 1980s, with hu ge trip le and quadru ple meals on a hot plate an d lived a sort of ju m ps and u nforgivin g land ings. H is Qu ixotic odyssey, chasing the win dmills inability (or refusal) to compete in those .of motocr oss like hono rabl e gy psies. events was said to be the reason for his dis missal. The oth er team s did not call Through all th ose hard sh ip s Sch m it's him, either. Every on e see me d bent on belief in himself and his deep determisupe rcross, and a you th movement that nation endure d. How tou gh was he? He in cluded Damon Brad sh aw, Mike once d rove himself hom e fro m a race Kied rowski, Larry Ward, Mike LaRocco with a broken shoulder - across Europe. and th e afore m en tio ne d Mati asevi ch (After being carted away from a crash in wa s taking up all the support. Hunga r y in a h orse-drawn wa gon, Schmit refused to go awa y. Instead of Schmit was unsatisfied with the archaic calli ng it quits he bou ght him self a medicaltreatrnent he was getting in the Eastern Bloc ho spital. wh ich had blood Honda and, with the help of Fox and Pro Circuit, he hit the 125cc Nationals as in the sinks and cigarettes on the floor. So he drove himself to his own doctor in a priv at eer. Remember , this w as th e Belgium, more than a thousand mil es low-budget Pro Circuit of yesteryear, not the high-dollar p rofessional u nit of away.) today. Schmit did not have an 18-whee lCo me 1992 Sch m it w a n te d a new er to haul him around - he had a minichallenge - the premier 250cc class. This va n th at he d rove, slept, worke d a nd time the ph one ra ng off the hook. He settled on Michele Rinald i's Ches terfield dreamed in. H e finished the se ries a Yamaha team alongside fellow expa ate and friend Bobby Moo re. Togeth they finished first and second, respe tively . Along the way Schmit had chance to show his old American riv up at the 250cc USGP at Unadilla, chance he relished. But he tried too ha in practice, crashed on his head and s fered a concussion. As the first rna was leaving the starting gate Schmit w on his way to a hospital with his he taped to a med ic' s backboard. They rayed him in his rid ing gear an d saw breaks, so Schmit caug ht a ride back the track, put his helmet on and went the starting line" In the final moto of da y Schmit finishe d a heroic second Jeff Stant on. He was that tough . Schmit spen t much of '93 and '94 the last tw o yea rs of his European exp rience - with nag gin g injuries. But was still faster than anyone in Ameri realized. On the few occasions that did return to com pe te at th e Millvill Minnesota, Na tionals, he rod e up fro Way up front. Just last year Schm it bo rowed a bike from Honda of Troy for one-shot deal and finish ed fourth in 250cc Natio nal at Mill vill e - th is aft s pen di ng the year o n a fou r -str o CCM! After the race Donny returned bike and went about putting together schedule of motocross schoo ls for 199 Teaching others the remarkable skills developed on his own wa s going to his next challenge. ..................... Wit h grace an d s tre ngth that fe must possess, Carrie Schmit walked in the Metro do me on Saturday night. S w a s th ere to greet Donn y' s m a n friends and fans and accep t their cond lences. She spoke of the tract of land th she and Donny had just purchased an h is ex ci te me n t over th e up com in schools. The smell of the exhaus t in cold pits and the drone of th e en gin on the track brought it all back for he she said. Briefly. Then she spo ke of horror of the past two day s and her ete nal love for her hu sband and friend an champion. As Alb ertyn and the other s s to o to gether on the starting line in a Ion moment of silence, I thought of the pas ing of Donny Schmit and other fello racers that ha ve recently br ou ght o~ s po r t to tears . Fin e yo u ng m e n Iik Danny H amel , J.D . Coll in s a nd Bo Sloan. You know, when a racer dies, w all d ie a little w ith him. l. I .LOOKING BACK;.. I 2 5YEAR SAGO ... FEBRUARY 9,1971 im Odom see med to ha ve it a ll to ge the r as h e led th e first 19 "., lap s in th e '¥~ ~ N at ion a l TT , ~ .:..,. Cha m p ionsh ip " at th e Hou ston - ~ Astrodome, but ~ ~-th ing s fell ~ a pa r t fo r him ~n i :;-----""_.J th e all-important 20th. adorn ' s race e n ded w hen hi s r ea r -wh ee l s pokes broke, p ulling out the hub and th rowing off the chain, lett ing Dick Mann by for the win ... The next day saw a dorn back in th e Astro dome d icin g w i th Mark Berelsford for the National Sho rt Track Cha mpionshi p . A ltho ugh Berel sford was never mor e than a couple of feet J 72 away in the 25-lap race, adorn made up for th e nigh t before by pulling off the . win in front of 35,000 fans ... The 40-acre Bishop Mo torcycle Club Cycle Park in Cali fornia was inaugurated , with Gary Hornby taking the Open Senior win on the I.6-mile course. Bryon Frenyea was first in Ope n Ju nior ' and second in 250cc fHJJiTI"::J"'"7r,-,-,--:1 Junior. 1 5YEAR SAGO... FEBR ARY4, 1981 U u bila n t after hi s fi rst DG Golden State Series win, in the 125cc Pro class at rou nd fou r in Huron, Ca lifo rnia, Ron Turner exclaimed, "I finally broke the ice! Now I'm gonna take over the series!" Broc Glover took J the 250cc Pro victory, and Re x Staten Se ries in Anahei m, California . Th was the top 500cc Pro rider... Factory defending champion rocketed to th Husky ace Scot Harden was the overall 11th Cam el Supercross vic tory of hi winner of the Groundshakers annual caree r, and landed one point ahead 0 Moapa to Vegas Har e and Hou n d for team mate Jean -Michel Bayle in th the fifth time . Kevin Steele ru led the series sta ndings... Brian McElroy too 250cc class and was fourt h overall in the to p h onors in th e 250cc Pro class a 130-mile race, with Daryl lj7i:nr:J~~ u:nd:..: ro:.. ~ three of the Florida Winter Folks takin g top 125cc hon - II Motocross Series in Dade Cit} ors ... Kirk Spencer dusted his while Timmy Ferry, bested hi motocro ss rivals at Marsh all 125cc Pro rivals, a lso takin Creek, Texas, taking the Open the win in the 125 Yout h divi Pro win. Craig Riddle pu t on sion .... Keith Bowen enjoyed a one-ma n show in the 250cc victo ry sa ndwich a t th e fina Pro class, and Chuck Daww eek end o f the Co o r s / AS son topped the tiddl ers. Ind o o r Mot oc ro ss Se ries i H un tin gt on, West Virginia Bowen d evoured th e 250cc Pr 5Y EARSAGO... cl ass o n Fr iday a n d Su nda . nights, wit h a slice of 125cc Pro i FEBR UARY 6,1991 . o m p in g across the • " • between. Kenny Kizzar took th cover of Cycle N ews, Rex . 250cc Pro wi n o n Saturday, a we ll as fourth in the class on Friday an Stanton took top money at rou nd Sunday. three of th e AMA Ca me l Su percross ~ R

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