They eyes. True story: Impressed by seeing him race, racer John Ulrich took Schwantz to Yamaha USA after this event for a formal introduction. It was Yamaha's chance to sign a great young rider with a this-writes-itself background—his family owned a Yamaha dealership and Schwantz had raced nearly every Yamaha he could get his hands on. He'd won a great deal of Yamaha contingency money by racing Yamaha machines, wore Yamaha gear all the time and basically loved the brand.

Unfortunately the BRAIN TRUST at Yamaha USA had exactly zero interest in Schwantz. They all but pushed the skinny Texan out of their HQ with a weak offer of a parts discount. "We can get you a discount on parts," he was told.

Ulrich took Schwantz to Yoshimura and American Suzuki instead.