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/907813
VOL. 54 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 28, 2017 P99 ing outside of the sport. I want it to be more than a large club race." Schultz always went the extra mile to make his sponsors happy. For example, when Eagle One, a manufacturer of car-care products, backed him, Schultz had a full calendar of attending auto shows and expos throughout the year. Schultz was an innovator as well. A lifelong me- chanic, he built and maintained his own machines and was one of the first to incorporate an on-board computer, lowered steering head, vacuum pump and air-in-frame technology. He also was a pioneer in wind-tunnel testing his drag-racing bikes. Schultz grew up learning to work on motors from his older brother. There was a drag racing track not far from Dave's childhood home. Once Dave's mother saw her young son just sitting on the porch taking in the sounds of the races, she knew he would be thrilled when she finally took him to see one of the drags in person. Schultz first began drag racing cars, but he worked on automobiles for a living as an owner of a successful repair shop, so he decided to switch over to racing motorcycles, that way he felt like he wasn't mixing work and pleasure. He began his motorcycle racing on a Kawasaki two-stroke triple before switching to Kawasaki inline fours. Like nearly all motorcycle drag racers of his era, Schultz looked up to Terry Vance and it was one of the happiest moments of his career when, after several years of trying, he finally beat Vance. It gave him a great sense of confidence and helped spur him on to even greater heights in the sport. Their NHRA Championship showdown came down to the final event in 1987. It was more than Vance vs. Schultz; it was also Suzuki vs. Kawa- saki. It marked the first time that Vance was de- throned and it marked a changing of the guard. Ironically, it was Vance & Hines's own Byron Hines who built the winning motors for Schultz during that season when they were both going for the title. Motorcycle drag racing was still a sport with many branches when Schultz came into it. There were multiple sanctioning bodies and championships and Schultz won them all. He pulled off motorcycle drag racing's "Triple Crown" by winning the championship in NHRA, IDBA and Prostar all in the same year, not once, but two times—1991 and 1994. Besides being a fierce competitor, Schultz also had a great sense of humor, said Pros- tar co-founder Keith Kizer. Kizer told a story of racer Paul Gast, knowing Schultz lived in Florida, telling Dave how much he liked alliga- tors. Dave brought a baby alligator to the next race and conspired with Paul's crew to give him a big surprise. They put the baby gator under the sheets of Paul hotel bed. Naturally Paul jumped to the ceiling after feeling the little creature crawling on his leg. Gast and crew took home the alligator and kept it as a mascot at their shop. One of biggest rivalries of the 1990s in all of motorcycle racing was Schultz versus John Myers. Those two became the face of the sport after Terry Vance retired. Schultz's passing left a big hole in the sport for years, but his legacy lived on through his numerous records and the path he showed to other teams on how to bring national sponsors to their programs. In a 2001 interview in Cycle News Terry Vance, who after competing against him later sponsored Schultz, summed up Dave by say- ing, "He was the best guy who ever rode a Pro Stock motorcycle and I don't think anybody would argue with that. He was the most dedi- cated person to that sport that there has ever been." CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives