Doug Chandler joined an elite group when he won the AMA Superbike race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August of 1989 as his victory made him just the fourth rider in history to complete a grand slam by winning each of the four types of flat track racing – mile, half-mile, short track and TT – and road racing.
The Salinas, California-based flat tracker-turned-road racer became the newest and the youngest (at the age of 23) member of the prestigious club, which also included Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts, and Bubba Shobert.
Chandler’s win at Mid-Ohio was also Kawasaki’s first Superbike win since Wayne Rainey won the Superbike crown with his win at Willow Springs in 1983.
Chandler was flawless in taking the victory, beating Yoshimura Suzuki’s Scott Russell by 12.7 seconds in front of crowd estimated to be 40,000. Privateer Dan Chivington came out of retirement to finish to third on his Honda VFR750.
“I’m pretty proud of myself for being able to do this (the grand slam),” said Chandler. “The only thing is those other guys all won championships. I haven’t won one…”
“Doug’s riding real good and I’m happy for him,” Russell said post-race. “I tried to catch him, but he was riding too good.”
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