Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"1983 was good, because I was doing what I had always wanted to do - race motorcycles and train," Chandler said. "However, I was drinking way too much, going to clubs and driving around in my Porsche 928. I was living the high life and being stupid. Looking back, it was all really stupid, and I wa getting ou t of hand - the life took a hold of me. "One afternoon, after the season was over, I was in my back yard blasting laps, and I fell off and fractured my skuU and broke my jaw in two place. It was a real hard crash, and it took me two years to get'Dver it. I'm still deaf in one ear because of it." The crash would begin the downward spiral in Chandler's results which ultimately cost him his job at Honda. And as if that weren't· enough already, Magoo fell victim to a tempta tion tha t unfortunately haunts many an athlete. "In 1984, I rode for Honda in the Trans-Cal and did a few Nationals," he Said, "but I was still hurt from the jaw incident - it took me so long to get over that. Shortly after that, Honda didn't renew my contract, because it was a big cutback year there, so I was off the team. At that time, 1 also started d ing cocaine. I was at a party, and I was in a lot of pain, both physically and mentally, and 1 don't know what made me do it, because I was never interested in the stuff before, bnt r broke down and did it anyway. That was "fatal mistake, because I got in over my head right away. I went through a few months of that and didn't know when it was going to end. "Fortunately, out of nowhere, Dave Grant, a player in European motocross, gave me a call and asked" me if Jeremy Whatley could come over and hang out with me. It was at that point that 1 shook it all off - the drugs and the booze. 1 began cross-country skiing, lifting, running - r was really into cross-training like that. Jeremy stayed there with me for three months, and it was the hardest I had ever trained. I went to Europe to race for Alec Wright's Kawasaki team, which wa based in the United Kingdom, and was teamed with Georges Jobe, who wa their main man. We went to Beaucaire and I won the first two motos, but the swingarm bolt fell off in the third. On the flight home, Alec Wright pulled me aside and told me the way things were going to be with Jobe on the team. I was young and told him where to stick it. A few days later, Grant called and said, 'What did you say to Alec?' I told him and that was that." "I first met Magoo at an intern(ltional race that Roger DeCoster put together in Tahiti," said Dave Grant, who today heads up Honda's World Championship-winning factory ;250cc Grand Prix motocross team in Europe. "He was racing in it along with Graham Noyce, Hakan Carlqvist, Brian Myerscough and DeCoster. Later, r came into contact with Danny again when Brad Lackey called me, trying to help find him a ride in Europe after he left Honda. We put him in GOntact with Alec Wright, who was running a factory team for Kawasaki with Georges Jobe as its lead rider. There was no budget for another rider, but we manag~d to put something together for him. Due to problems between him and Alec, it didn't work out. So I sent him over to KTM. Magoo was a damn good rider and the people in Europe just loved him. Danny was a people's rider." "Grant called me and asked if I would be interested in riding a KTM in the 1995 500cc GPs," Chandler said. "I said, 'Yeah: and packed my bags for Europe. I arrived three weeks before the first GP and took a week to get the bikes sorted out. Two weeks later, I ran the fir t GP in Austria and went 4-DNF. I felt pretty good, bu t we had a lot of sus.pension problems with the bike there. At the second GP in France, I got lucky and won the overall. r was real happy that I had gotten over the big accident that I had, and that I could finally ride again. I should have won a number of GPs, bu t I made a lot of mistakes. A few more races into the season - r think it was the fifth or sixth GP - we were racing in Italy, and the next thing I know, I wake up in it hospital with a concussion and a dislocated shoulder. 1 was out of it for the year and I went back to the States. "During that downtime, I received an offer to ride for a Kawasaki team put· together by the Italian importer there. I . signed a con tract for $90,000 and took in a lot of additional money from Clover (a clothing company). I was really happy with the deal I had set up for the new season." Excited about the possibilities for the fas t-a pproaching • 1986 race season, Magoo hopped on a plane and headed overseas to compete in a few handpicked, lucrative international supercross events - which were all the rage at that point in history. After the first event in Italy, Chandler headed for Paris - and head-on toward the darkest moment he would e·ver experience. "I went to race in Genoa, Italy, and we were supposed to receive our start money for the followin.g week's race in Paris, France," Chandler said. "We never got the money, and 1 told them I wasn't going to go - but l did. I crashed very hard that night, but I don't remember much about it. I was really messed up. I had an out-of-body experience, and I was in another world. r had suffered a bad C4 spinal-cord injury and was in bad shape. It wasn't sq bad at the begimung, because I knew r could do this and that, and I kept thinking, 'I'm going to walk.' I couldn't get home at first and everybody panicked. There was a lot of talk that Magoo was stranded in France and he couldn't get home." Soon after Magoo's career-ending accident, word quickly spread around the world that lu years of taking big chances had caught up with him. Sadly, his longtime brother in arms and horne- . boy Darrell Shultz got the word while in Australia. . "Danny and 1 raced in Australia just before he got hurt," Shultz said. "As a matter of fact, he took me out on the last lap and sent me to the hospital. r was really pissed at him, but [ had done the same thing to him so many times that it wasn't that big of a deal. I was still in Australia when 1 heard that he was paralyzed. The moment I found out, I packed my bags, flew home, and never raced motocross again." "Eventually, they got me horne and, "I would just whip the bike and get the rear tire out towards the fence and push them [spectators] back." man, it was real up and down," Chandler said. "I was a total idiot. I was a grump, and 1 ran my wife off. My mom passed away from cancer - and it was just wall after wall. A few years later, my dad passed away, and 1 was doing a lot of drinking and a lot of dope. 1 was looking for excuse and it was all so stupid." After a serious bout with depression and alcohol that left many friends fearing for his well-being, Magoo Chandler found Ius way out of the deep blue funk that had shrouded his life. Turning back to the sport that had both provided him with some of the best moments in his life and some of the darkest, Chandler began putting all the pieces back together. "Danny really went through some hard times when he got hurt - harder than a lot of people realize," said Greg Arnette, who spent many a late night on the phone witll Chandler as he desperately tried to make sense of it all. "He called me a few times and was really distressed. He almost wanted to check out and take Ius life a few times. However, he made it through and, in my 'opinion, won the biggest championship that there is - he went on with his life.. Danny made the best of the cards he had been dealt." "You know what helped me get through it all?" Chandler asked after an extended pause. "Reading my name in the magazines. The image I was leaving behind wasn't right. I was looking back, deep in my career, and the image I had created wa n't right. l didn't want to be remembered for wildness, both on and off the track. That wasn't Magoo, an0 I didn't like it. I wanted to be remembered as a winner and not for all the craziness." Back on the gas and 'feeling better, Chandler put his nose to the grindstone and began sniffing out projects for which he felt he had an aptitude and affinity. • "1 started reading and getting back into the motorcycle scene," he said. "I once remembered reading in a magazine that Johnny O'Mara had riqden in some mountain-bike races, and -a few years prior I had promoted a mountain-bike race in my hometown. In fact, Darrell Shultz rode ill it: Once r reflected on that, I thought I could put on my own mountain-bike races. I had no idea what it took, a 1 went to a number of chamber-of-commerce meetings and learned what 1 could. 1 mean, how do you tell someone how to be a promoter? So 1 started going for it, and, at my first race, 1 had 120 riders. I'm still promoting bicycle races, and 1'd like to see a major wheelchair race at Hangtown with a $15,000 to $20,000 purse, to give these guys a chance to make some money. "The sport's forgotten about a lot of good men. Guys like Ricky Graham and Andre Malherbe (a three-time 500cc World Motocross Champion who was paralyzed at the Paris-to-Dakar Rally), and a number of others, have been forgotten about, and that kind of hurts me. I mean, [ think there should be some kind of memorial for Ricky at one of the big race tracks - a big statlie of him signilOlg an autograph for a little kid; that would be so cool, man. It seems like sometimes the industry doesn't care about the racers." After a long pause, Chandler said, "Man, these guys are my brothers. I really want to help the riders and ail the kids out there. 1 like to go to hospitals and visit people that get hurt. T also like to get involved in the DARE drug-awareness programs for kids. 1 mean, motocross is a sport that can help people, and more people in it should get involved. 1 still really love the sport and would love to be a part of putting 100,000 people in Hangtown for the National there - 1 think it could be done." On top of everything else he has going, Chandler has also taken it upon him elf to return to school to obtain his diploma and become educated about small business as well as various political issues involving both the riders and disabled people facing serious challenges. "The riders need to work together and help each 9ther:' Chandler said. "McGrath, Hannah, Chandler, (Marty) Tripes, (Marty) Smith need to sit down around a table and take control of i sues tllat involve the riders. I'm going back to school and will be taking classes at Sierra College. 1 want to get my high-school diploma, which I never got because 1 dropped out of school in 11th grade to ride the Nationals. I also want to learn more about small business and nonprofit activities. Another thing I want to learn more about is the ADA, or American Disabilities Act, that helps out people with disabilities. I would like to help people tha t are facing the challenges that I have." Having experienced the highest highs and lowest lows of being a worldfamous professional motocross racer, Chandler also feels compelled to educate the next generation of American racers o'n the dangers and pitfalls of both racing and life. "Stay away from alcohol and drugs:' . Chandler said passionately. "Wear all the protective gear that you can: helmets,· braces, chest protectors - everything. Don't be a macho man like the ignorant Magoo was." To this day, mention the name "Magoo" to any true motocross enthusiast, and a smile will likely appear on their face. Whether it was flyiJ?g through the mud and ricocheting off tree roots and snow fences at MidOhio, or drifting through the highspeed asphalt switchbacks of Carlsbad, or ducking his head below the tree branches while flying as high as a house at Gaildorf, Germany, Danny "Magoo" Chandler was the dazzling showman of American motocross. Week in and week out, he took big chances, jumped over thi ngs tha t weren't meant to be jumped, rode with determination, and built a huge following of adoring fans. But more importantly, Danny Chandler was a winner. His larger-than-life on-track actions were so impressive that many people forgot that the Californian won orne of the world's biggest motorcycle races. During his career, Chandler won the Carlsbad U.S. GP, the "Superbikers" race and five AMA 500cc Nationals, and he became the only racer in motocross history to win all four motos at the Motocross and Trophee des ations - that's an incredible feat when one takes into account that the race has been run for 51 consecutive years. Said an eloquent Roger DeCoster: "Danny had a big heart. There could be 100 people who would want to fight you, and he would be right there by you. DamlY would never let you down he is a great person. With most riders, you had to push them up and get them motivated. But with Danny, we actually had to settle ltim down." Well, as much as they could, anyway. c:\

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