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I have a true story about a Motocross race in Plymouth California. The original Hangtown MX track back in the late 70’s
The year was 1977 or 1978.
This race may have been a Hangtown Qualifier
My Brother Todd thought the rider in this story was Danny Turner - But - Danny Turner said that it wasn’t him. My brother said the rider was wearing a white sweatshirt looking Jersey and light brownish colored race pants and the main character (Dude) and his buddies were yelling “Danny!” Every time he went by - Could it have been Danny Magoo Chandler?
Disclaimer: The MX racer “Danny” in this true story May or May Not be Danny Magoo Chandler - the (Riders Description) by my brother of what the rider was wearing that day is possibly a good indication that it could be him? White sweatshirt! And brownish leather pants?
That’s what Danny wore
back then! And we all know the local NorCal fans always cheered for “Danny”
back in the day!
I’m going to name the Motocross racer in this story “Danny” because that’s the name used by the Race Fan whom I have named “Dude”
FYI - I use Chat GPT for illustrations - and not every photo is going to be the same - The Illustrations help visualize the story more than just words. Trust me when I say - AI generators are not easy to get exact illustrations for story lines.
“Danny” and the Race Fan (True Story)
On the opening lap of the race, the entire field of rider’s went by, and my brother noticed this one Dude standing nearby and was talking really loud as he stood with his buddies and he was also enthusiastically watching the riders one by one as they all sped past
As the pack of riders come back around a 2nd time,
the Dude sees the one rider he is looking for and
steps forward from his buddies and starts shouting
really loud “Go Danny Go!” While, raising a can
of beer in his right hand.
The 3rd time by – “Danny”- is coming down the track in about 4th or 5th place towards where the Dude is now standing a little closer to the track and... once again he shouts really loud, “WOO-HOO! – GO-DANNY-GO!!” as his buddies cheered along with him! Then salutes “Danny” with his beer in his right hand!
The 4th time around, my brother sees that the Dude
was literally standing on the track right where
“Danny” and other riders were speeding past -
ON THE TRACK! –
Just then - “Danny” was passing another rider-
coming up to where the Dude was shouting “GO
DANNY GO!!”
Danny had to veer to his right to make the pass, but soon after he clears the other rider “Danny” hits a bump and it jarred him off his line about 2-3 feet and now he is heading straight at the inebriated Dude! –
Who is…standing on the track! and once again
Shouting “GO DANNY GGOOO-OOOH-
SHIT!”
Just then the Dude realizes that “Danny” is heading straight at him! - So the Dude quickly moves to his left! But stumbles and almost falls and gets disorientated and turns back towards the middle of the track, but then stops!
Dude now panics like a deer in headlights and suddenly – (mucho) disorientated inebriated Dude, Starts running… straight down the track - ahead of “Danny” who is now right behind him! - .. And yep, Dude is still holding that beer can up in the air with his right hand...
My brother can’t believe what he is seeing as the Dude is now running straight down the track in the same direction as “Danny” and half looking back over his shoulder at the same time, trying to get out of “Danny’s” way! Who is just a few seconds away from impact.
My brother is watching the Dude on the motocross track trying to outrun “Danny!”
Then all of a sudden, “Danny’s” front tire wedges perfectly in between the Dudes two legs from be-hind! And scooped him right up and onto the front fender!?
The Dude, now has his butt planted on
the front fender and his lower back against the front number plate of “Danny’s”
race bike ...... and he is now going for a Ride!
Dude is perfectly centered on the front of the bike with both feet up in the air and his legs spread wide open! While his arms are raised towards the sky and, LOL – His right hand still holding onto that beer!
(It looked like a balancing act at a
3 ring circus…minus a ball on his nose and some clapping seals Arf arf!)
“Danny” kept the throttle on, probably thinking the Dude was going to fall off any second and quickly jerked the handlebars left and right to get him to fall off, but he wasn’t going anywhere soon enough, So “Danny” hit the brakes and his race bike came to an abrupt stop and the Dude launches forward and falls to the ground and Tumbles a couple of times in the dirt ... (Beer flying everywhere!)
And unbelievably! He quickly gets back up on his feet and yep - beer can still in his right hand?!
“Danny” quickly takes off, but then slows down at the next turn and takes a look back to see if the dude was OK.
The Dude is standing and looking towards “Danny” and shouts -
“I’m OK - I’m OK” - “GO-GO!”
Waving at “Danny” to get going with his free hand while Still!... Holding onto his beer with the other hand.
“Danny” was noticeably pissed and shaking his head as he took off once again and got back into the race.
Just then my brother looks over at all of the Dude's
buddies… They are laughing hysterically and one
of them stumbled over to help the Dude off the
track, but was laughing so hard, he could barely
walk and almost went down on his knees several
times!
Also - Right after this three ring Barnum & Bailey Bonehead moment, the Dude started walking shamefully back to the hysterically laughing buddies and was repeatedly saying “Shit - Shit – Shit!” as he was visibly upset about ruining “Danny’s” race and my brother also said that he also looked embarrassed.
I’m thinking the “Dude” will never forget that day.
We are hoping to find anybody else who may have witnessed this also to verify that maybe it really was Danny Magoo Chandler who was the rider?
My Brother wished that someone with a video camera was there to capture it on film.
You have to give the Dude some credit! For holding onto that beer can the whole TIME!
He's a Beer Can Hero - With Suds in his eyes! - BEER-CAN-HERO... Ya-He's-got, Suds in his E-Y-Y-Y-Y-E-S ---- Naaaaaa
-The End –
Written by: Tom Stover – Witnessed by Todd Stover & a few unknown others on that day!
Some Comments from others who knew Danny
Danny Turner
That’s an amazing story it must of been Chandler he had a white sweatshirt at one time. Thanks for sharing.
Darrell A. Shultz
Tom - We all love all the true stories of mx. Not to mention all your gritty pictures and stories of the good old days. Magoo at Plymouth and Marysville was unreal. I can still remember seeing him come out of some van?! and just launching off anything on the edge of the track that could send him into the stratosphere, leading of course. Thanks for shooting all that Tom.
Those were Danny’s colors of the day. Tom, I have some very old film footage, of qualifiers and Hangtown in Plymouth. I think they were 16 mm. Always wanted to transfer them to CD’S. Don’t quite know how and my projector bulb is burned out. Any suggestions. There not Professional but many greats from that era.
Some Photo Outtakes
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