Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127937
"Chandler
TIME REMEMBERED
Today. Chandler promotes
bicycle races and has an
interest in small businesses
and non-profit organizations.
He also helps people with
disabilities.
Chandler said. "Steve Wise
had been the dominant guy
in the event, and it felt good
to go out and beat him.
Gavin Trippe, who promoted it, put together a hell of a
race, and always has. lt was
a very unique race for me. I
got to ride with Eddie Lawson and Ricky Graham, who
I met for the first time there.
In fact, Ricky aRd I had a lot
in common, as we were both
from Northern California
and his cousin lived right by
me. We hit it off immediately. We would always chew
Copenhagen
(tobacco)
together and we just became'
friends-instantly. Lwas very
saddened by his death
recently. We used to take
things to the kids in the hospital and all that ~ I'll really
miss him"
he and his riding generated so much
publicty for us."
That summer, Magoo Chandler
caught fire. On a gray and misty day in
Carlsbad, California, Chandler scored
the first big wID of his career - the Carlsbad 500cc U.S. GP of Motocross. And
from there, he went o.n a rampage that
made him the fastest - and most popular
- motocross racer on earth.
'1n 1982, I really started getting it all
together. I goi lucky and won the Carlsbad SOOcc U.S. GP of Motocross. I think
what helped me was that I ate a chili
burger for breakfast - I was full of gas,"
said Chandler, laughing. "No, I got
good starts there and I always liked to
run with Darrell (Shultz), who was the
fastest rider there that day and would
have been right there, but he had a bum
leg. He rode in a lot of pain tha t afternoon and I really felt for him. After I
won, I was on top of the world."
"In 1982, we rode as teammates at
Honda and were getting along great by
that time," Shultz said, explaining how
the two had come from jumping. biCycles over stumps and mounds of dirt to
being teammates at Team Honda. "We
finally had become good friends. We
had come all the way up to U1e top levels together, and Danny was one of
those weird guys you would be terrified
of, because he could beat you by 30 seconds if he wanted to. There were only a
handful of guys in the history of the
sport tha t could terrify you like tha t."
La ter tha t season, Chandler showed
up in Carlsbad to ride in "ABC's Wide
World of Sports' Superbikers." Purposebuilt for TV, "The Superbikers" brought
the world's best motorcycle racers
together on a one-off track made up of
various dirt and asphalt sections that
catered to road racers, dirt trackers and,
of course, motocrossers. Though it was
an event long dominated by motocrosser-turned-road racer Steve Wise, Chan