Winston Pro
Lookin'dow
"It's going to go right down t
By Dale Brown
The )978 American Motorcyclist Association
Grand National Championship /Camel Pro
Series was one of the best ever. The Championship title, a year long duel between Steve Eklund
and reignin g champion Ja y
Spri ngstee n , went right down to
t he final straigh taway in t h e
ยท
fi
fiina I ra.ce b e f ore S pnngsteen 1- ~
Steve Eklund: prec ision in moti on.
8
~ally won his third Grand National
title. .
"
.
Thmgs aren t gomg to be any easier
for Springer,in '79, .
As the Winston Pro Senes (the R.J .
Reynolds Co .. who ,sp ons o red the
Camel Pro Senc:s for the past four
years has conso!ldated all ItS ~otor
sports sponsorship under the WInston
label) kicks off with the Houston Astrodome double header, Steve Eklund
will be back under his Mario Zanotti
sponsorship. Eklund won both
Houston races in '78 to start up an
effort that came about 20 feet short of
taking the Number O n e plate. 1979
could be the year that he comes up on
top by 20 feet.
'
,
Skip Aksland, highly skilled in both
dirt track and road racing, has teamed
with Mert Lawwill who tuned some of
the strongest Harl~y-Davidson X R750s
in existence, O n pape.( Aks land's
p rogr am looks to be the best
capable of winning on both dirt and
asphalt.
.
!here wi ll .b e .28 ,:vents on .the
Winston Pro circurt: rune half miles .
seven miles, five TIs, five road races
and two short tracks . Springer will
again be limited to 23 events, while
primary challengers Aksland and
Eklund could race every event , though
it's unlikely that Eklund will pull out
his road racer unless the points battle '
is really close , ,
New stops on the circuit include half
miles at Laurel MD Middletown
NY , and Topeka : KS. '
'
W"n #1 tay #17
I
5
If the Winston Pro Series were a
pok.er ga,me, you could. safely say that
Spnnger s hand contams three aces:
his -H a rley-Davidson factory sponsorship and its resul~ing alliance wit.h
m a st e,r . t':lner. . Bill Werner , ~.IS
versatility in n.dmg ,a.ll types of dirt
events , and his ability to produce
under pressure.
Whil~ Springer's bikes weren 't the
fastest m 78, they were the m ost
reliable . Werner is efficient and
