VOLUME 59 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 19, 2022 P49
Former Daytona 200 Winner Passes
D
avid Sadowski, winner of the
1990 Daytona 200 and 1990
AMA 600cc Supersport National
Champion, died January 12, at
his home in Austell, Georgia.
His girlfriend Janet Godfrey said
medical personnel told her they
think he suffered a massive heart
attack. Sadowski was 58.
A hockey player as a youth,
Sadowski emerged in the early
1980s as one of the up-and-com-
ing road racers in the Northeast.
He scored his first AMA National
points in 1984 racing in the AMA
250 Grand Prix Series. By the
mid-1980s "Ski" emerged from
the club racing contingency
battles as one of the top road
racers in the country.
He scored his first AMA Na-
tional podium in the AMA 600cc
Supersport race at his home
track at Loudon, New Hampshire
in 1987. The next year he scored
his first national victory in the
AMA 750cc Supersport race,
also at Loudon. That same day
he won the 600cc Supersport
race as well.
In 1990, riding for Vance &
Hines Yamaha, Sadowski won
three AMA 600cc Supersport
Nationals on his way to winning
the championship.
His most famous victory also
came in 1990, when he won the
Daytona 200 riding for Vance &
Hines Yamaha.
It was an especially emotional
victory for Sadowski, since his
first exposure to motorcycle rac-
ing at Daytona came when he
was a student at the American
Motorcycle Institute (AMI) and
climbed a tree to watch Freddie
Spencer and Mike Baldwin test-
ing their Hondas on the track at
Daytona International Speedway.
In all, Sadowski scored eight
AMA National Road Race wins
during his career. In addition to
his AMA Supersport title, Ski also
won two Formula USA National
titles.
After racing he became an
expert TV commentator for AMA
road race broadcasts. He later
operated a performance riding
school in China. His sons Mat-
thew and David Jr., both raced
as well.
Larry Lawrence
David Sadowski, winner
of the 1990 Daytona 200
and 1990 AMA 600cc
Supersport National
Champion, passed away.
