VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P127
a chance to be a hero if only he
had a guiding hand to show him
the way. While DaPrato would
not be alongside Danny during
his most successful seasons as
a pro, he was there in the begin
-
ning, forming a partnership that
would last just a few seasons
but also a friendship that would
endure for the remainder of
Danny's life.
DaPrato was on track for
his own pro career, racing with
some of Northern California's
best in the early '70s. "I was
so into it. All I did was ride and
look at motorcycle magazines. I
turned expert at 16," he remem
-
bers, "and picked up a sponsor-
ship with Gene's Automotive,
which was a car repair shop
that sold Husqvarnas in the
back. Later, I met Carl Cranke,
a Penton rider and probably the
best all-around American dirt-
bike rider ever. He mentored me
and taught me a lot about being
both a rider and a mechanic.
But in 1972, I broke my shoulder
and had to have surgery. After
that healed, I crashed again
and broke my elbow. Back then,
they just really didn't know how
to fix things like they do today.
I thought I had healed, but my
elbow just locked up during a
race. I crashed again and hurt
my shoulder one more time.
"I decided that was enough—
time to get a job. My parents
helped me start a shop called
Woodland Cycles. We started
with Hodakas and ended up
picking up Suzuki, Kawasaki and
KTM. It was a decent dealership,
but it was in a small rural farm
-
ing community. It was hard to
make that work."
"I remember watching Danny
riding a CZ when he was like 14
years old. He was good—and
was battling with guys like Dar
-
rell Schultz. In 1976, he had a
sponsorship from a place called
The Dirt Factory, which fell
through, and so my shop started
sponsoring him."
By 1978, Chandler was off
riding the Nationals on a 125
Suzuki and turning in good re
-
sults, just not quite good enough
to get a real factory ride. Once
more, DaPrato enters the scene.
"There was a fellow named
Jim Moore. He owned a trailer
business, and he had fallen out
with his sponsored rider. He calls
me up to say he needs a racer for
his Maico. He asks me if I know
of anybody. I called Danny, and in
1979, we wound up winning the
California Winter Series on that
Maico 250. That led to us getting
a call from Selvaraj Narayana,
who was the team manager at
Maico. We signed a contract,
they gave us a box van, which
I built into a race rig, and we
headed out on the road.
DaPrato helped Danny
"Magoo" Chandler
get his racing career
started, racing on
Maicos.
