Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs

UP: To ex-Grand Prix superstar Kevin Schwantz, for pursuing NASCAR’s Busch Grand National Series with the same determination that earned him the 1993 500cc World Championship. So far this year, Schwantz, who pilots the #88 Ryder Driver Recruiting Chevrolet Monte Carlo, has qualified for every event, even posting an impressive eighth at the season-opener in Daytona. “Right now, we have enough sponsorship to do half the season,” said the Texan, who recently relocated to North Carolina. “We’re talking to Ryder, and they’re talking to other people. We’ve got a good team. I think it’s going to work out well.”

DOWN: To pediatric brain tumors, for maintaining status quo as the number-one killer of children. At least motorcyclists are doing their part to help eradicate the disease. Last year, more than 8000 riders in 14 cities raised a record $1.1 million for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States. Founded by Mike and Dianne Traynor, the Ride for Kids charity has generated $5.3 million since its start 15 years ago. For a 1998 event kit, call 800/253-6530.

UP: To writer William J. Garry, for his new attitude. “I have always thought that motorcycles were for idiots, and that motor scooters were for idiots on a budget,” Garry wrote in a recent issue of US Airways’ inflight magazine, Attaché. After trying two wheels in scooter-friendly Bermuda, however, Garry confessed bikes are a lot of fun. “I have spent many pleasurable hours scootering around this most welcoming of islands,” he said. “For independent travel, the ability to wander anywhere you want and to explore some of the hidden places of Bermuda at leisure, a scooter is the way to go.”