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I wrote the following for all the folks young DJ left behind after
the accident that took him from us.
A Very Sad Day.....
Its' amazing how you remember where you were and exactly what
you were doing when someone breaks the news of a friends passing.
In our business you just need to look at someone's face to realize
on of our own is not "coming home." Sadly, that was the case on
June 24th at 9:35 am. I was sitting in the tower making believe
I was an announcer, when one fo the ladies from scoring came up
to drop off some paperwork. All I heard was "did you hear what
happened in St. Cloud?" I told her no and I didn't want too. I
guess somehow I already knew.
When you're sitting in front of a microphone with a couple of
thousand fans and 250 racers about to go out onto the track, you
don't really want to hear bad news. They can always tell when
things are not right. So, you put on your game face and do what
you have to do to keep everyone from falling off the edge, yourself
included.
DJ was a rare breed of racer, a complete package. He had started
with Mitch Marqui, Cycle Riders, and then Henry DeGouw took over
managing him into the pro ranks and World GP circles. DJ was polite,
paid attention when he was spoken too, signed autographs, never
raised his voice and rarely complained about other racers. His
talent was just starting to come back around after a horrible
get off in 1994.
DJ befriended anyone who he came into contact with. One of his
best buds, Thomas Stevens, and he raced together for Yoshimura
Suzuki and hung out together often. They both came up through
the Florida Series, often climbing over some of us slower riders
but never complaining about us being in the way. As an old guy
and one who loves to watch close racing, I always had a good seat
in a race as the two scampered by leaving me in amazement.
Later on as an editor and photojournalist I got to cover DJ at
national events. He always had a minute to stop by and say hello.
Thomas was the same way. The two youngsters were the class of
the field. Danny Roberts joined them along with John Ashmead for
some of the greatest 600 Supersport racing ever recorded since
the classes inception.
DJ and his fiance' Shannon were a good match, one that would not
doubt last for their lifetimes. With DJ's passing we feel for
his Mom, and sisters. We surely say prayers for all of them.
Our lives go on. We don't have to like it, but it's all we have.
A few months ago (1999 ) one of our racers dedicated his first
win to Donald as I gave out the trophies. It stopped me cold.
Here we were over 4 years after DJ's passing and I still miss
him. Took me a few moments to recover. The race felt bad for upsetting
me, but I still appreciated his dedicating his win to DJ.
We will forever remember the best rain rider that ever lived.
The longest wheelies and the smile. He was a good kid who didn't
deserve to leave us so early in life. Someday, we will all be
at the Big Racetrack and I can tell you it's going to one helluva
reunion.
DJ is gone but will "never be forgotten."
Godspeed good friend
Smokin' Joe and all of your friends and family.
Special thanks to Andy and Evelyn Chadwell for the photos of DJ.
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