Larry Lawrence | January 12, 2022
1990 Daytona 200 Winner David Sadowski Dead at 58
David Sadowski, winner of the 1990 Daytona 200 and 1990 AMA 600cc Supersport National Champion, died early this morning (Jan. 12) at his home in Austell, Georgia. His girlfriend Janet Godfrey said medical personnel told her they think he suffered a massive heart attack. Sadowski was 58.
A hockey player as a youth, Sadowski emerged in the early 1980s as one of the up-and-coming road racers in the Northeast. He scored his first AMA National points in 1984 racing in the AMA 250 Grand Prix Series. By the mid-1980s “Ski” emerged from the club racing contingency battles as one of the top road racers in the country.
He scored his first AMA National podium in the AMA 600cc Supersport race at his home track at Loudon, New Hampshire in 1987. The next year he scored his first national victory in the AMA 750cc Supersport race, also at Loudon. That same day he won the 600cc Supersport race as well.
In 1990, riding for Vance & Hines Yamaha, Sadowski won three AMA 600cc Supersport Nationals on his way to winning that national championship.
His most famous victory also came in 1990, when he won the Daytona 200 riding for Vance & Hines Yamaha.
It was an especially emotional victory for Sadowski, since his first exposure to motorcycle racing at Daytona came when he was a student at the American Motorcycle Institute (AMI) and climbed a tree to watch Freddie Spencer and Mike Baldwin testing their Hondas on the track at Daytona International Speedway.
In all Sadowski scored eight AMA National Road Race wins during his career. In addition to his AMA Supersport title, Ski also won two Formula USA National titles.
After racing he became an expert TV commentator for AMA road race broadcasts. He later operated a performance riding school in China. His sons Matthew and David Jr., both raced as well.
We will update you with more information as it comes in.
