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RACE WATCH

Pizza John delivers

In drag racing, it's hard to beat the first guy out of the gate, whether you're talking about one race or a season-long championship chase. That was exactly the situation in the 1989 NHRA Pro-Stock drag-racing championship, as John Mafaro— known as “Pizza John" due to his owning a pizza shop—jumped ahead of the rest of the field at the very start of the season and held his points lead throughout the year.

Mafaro’s championship drive really began at the end of the 1988 season when he dedicated his entire off-season to rebuilding his Suzuki racebike. “I began to watch (defending champ) Dave Schultz last year, and 1 learned a lot from his program,” said Marfaro. That's why he spent 40 straight days at Race Visions race shop, located in Buffalo. New York, working on a new chassis with Jim De Tulio. “I went there with one engine and a wheel, and before January, we had a new package ready,” he said. Then. Mafaro headed to Florida with Byron Hines for engine testing. All that effort put Mafaro far ahead of the other competitors and enabled him to w in four of the first five races.

Mafaro understands how competitive the class can be, so he is already planning his defense of the championship, with time in the wind tunnel a priority for the off-season. But he tries not to let racing rule his life. “I'm just a guy in the pizza business, and I do this because I love it." he said.

Sportsman of the Year

Randy Mamola has been called the court jester of the GP roadracing world, famous for his pit antics and

racetrack exploits. But he is serious about his favorite charity, the Save the Children foundation. Long recognized in Europe for his efforts on behalf of the organization, Mamola was surprised at the annual AMA awards banquet w hen he was named Sportsman of the Year for his work with the group.

After the banquet. Mamola reflected on the honor. “I knew I was getting some kind of award," he said. “But I didn’t think it would be for my charity work. I'm thrilled to find that people here at home have paid some attention to the work I am doing with Save the Children." Mamola gives a significant portion of his salary to the organization and donates his time, as well.

While Mamola’s efforts are dedicated to assisting homeless and abused children, his work is also helping to enhance the image of motorcycling around the world. “It's one of the ways to help the sport as well as the children." he said.

Baron of Baja

It wasn't enough that Larry Roeseler just surpassed Malcolm Smith's American record of eight ISDE (or ISDT) gold medals—both Roeseler and Jeff Fredette earned their ninth medals last year. But w ith Roeseler's sixth overall w in at the SCORE Baja 1000. hejust eclipsed Smith's record in Mexico, as well.

This year. Roeseler rode the event with Ted Hunnicutt and Danny LaPorte sharing the riding duties on his Kawasaki KX500. and they scored a narrow margin of victory over the KTM team of Daryl Folks, Scott Morris and Dan Hamel.

“Out of all my racing, this win is going to really stand out.” said Roeseler. And no wonder: He had to work for it. “Fifty miles from the end. my chain broke, and the jolt must have knocked off the countershaft sprocket," he said. Roeseler had to ride to his final pit area using his boot to hold on the wayward sprocket.

But he won his sixth Baja 1000, anyway. If this continues, it might just make Malcolm Smith mad enough to come out of retirement. SI