Man, that sucks. I remember him half in the bag at BIR at T3 on his street bike. We got him to "Dig a hole".
Too true Davey, too true. And I missed the last one but still have the voice message from last week. You and Matt reach out if there is anything at all I can do. Al
Well, that sucks. I met David in the late 90s at a track day where some friends had invited him to hang out. The tires on my bike were pretty worn and I had brought a new set that I was hoping to get swapped at lunchtime. That was before I started racing. I had very little experience and had never done a tire change myself. I knew that the Ferracci team was going to be there to practice for a race the following week, as a courtesy from the club. So I thought they might be nice enough to do it for me. Well, I was wrong. They nicely told me to pound sand, as I was running Dunlops and they were a Michelin team. I wasn't sure how that made any sense but oh well… As I was telling the story to my friend who was one of the organizers of the track day, David was standing right next to him. He had no idea who I was, we had never met before. He told me to find some tire irons, soap and water, and bring my stuff to him so he could teach me. I assumed I would be taking directions from him. Nope. He told me to watch and did everything himself. That made a lasting impression on me and I tried to help people at the track whenever I was in a position to do so. Rest in peace, racer.
From the WERA Pro Series 1995 Yearbook "This cop was also one of my teachers in school and he would help me get an excuse every Thursday and get my homework assignments in advance so I wouldn't miss anything. Back then you could pay forty dollars and ride from noon to five on the racetrack then ride back home." "...I climbed a tree outside the Daytona International Speedway chicane and I saw Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin running around the racetrack on these NR1000's.....I made up my mind then and there, that was what I wanted to do." "...(coach) made the wrong choice. I kept going to practices. It wasn't till about the third practice when the coach came over and said, 'Hey, I thought I cut you!' "...a year later I was the captain of the hockey team." May the SKI spirit live on.
Nice write-up about Ski by Sean Bice on the MotoAmerica site: Remembering The Road Racer Known As "Ski" - MotoAmerica and Vale “Ski” – SuperbikePlanet
I beat Dave Sadowski once in a motorcycle road race. It was AHRMA SOS2 on Saturday at Roebling Road about 4 years ago. To be fair, I was on my Harris framed SRX, and he was on a borrowed CRF450 motard. I caught up to him on the penultimate lap, followed him down to Turn 1, and out braked him into 1. I don't think he knew anyone was there. I didn't know who was on the motard, but I put my head down and had a good last lap, got a great drive out of Turn 9 and won. When I pulled in the pits, some friends were ecstatic telling me I'd beaten Dave Sadowski. I could not believe it. He was riding Gary Dipetro's motard so I went to Depitro's pit, and sure enough, there was Dave Sadowski being given a rasher of shit by Depitro and others for being beaten by a fat, old slow guy who usually rides BSA's. I introduced myself and he was most kind and gracious. In the Sunday SOS2 race, he was, again, on Dipetro's motard and I on the Harris. He took off and looked determined to not repeat Saturday. I now knew who he was and put my head down. We had a great race. The Harris was magical on the brakes into Turn 1 and I'd pass him there, he'd pass me back somewhere around the back and we'd repeat the next lap. Last lap I go deep into 1 and pass him. I keep my head down thru 3 and thought I went deep into Turn 4 protecting the inside. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a Honda motard appear on my left, I swear the front end was washed, and the bike was crashing. But, somehow 'Ski kept it upright, went side by side with me to Turn 5 where he was now on the inside, pitched it in, again washed the front and crashed the bike but never hit the ground and headed toward the back. I couldn't believe it. But, I still had Turn 9 and hopes of a good drive. He was a man possessed. He railed thru Turn 7, down the short chute, pitched the motard into 9 and got as small as he could driving out of Turn 9. I finished half a bike length behind him and rode as hard as I was able in losing to a still-great rider on a lesser bike. We had good chat later, and several times thereafter. He was always kind and hospitable and generous to me. He will be missed. RIP 'Ski. Thanks for the riding lessons. Cheers, Dave