Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126508
Back on the winning track By Gary Van Voorhis 1980 isn't a season that either Jay Springsteen or Steve Eklund particularly. want to remember.. For Springsteen it was a season in which he raced only six Nationals and sat out the rest waiting for doctors to diagnose his mystery illness. Finally. towards tile end of the sea son Springsteen was found to 12 .. have a case of. borderline d~abetes treatable ~y d~et an~ !"edlc~tlOn rather than msulm. Of hIS . National SIX . . ndes, two came after the diagnOSIS and although he was on the road to recovery at that time he realized he had a long way to go. Carrying the Winston Pro Series title was perhaps the heaviest and hardest thing Steve Eklund had ever carried. A proud competitor, Eklund was dismayed and disappointed by his performanc~s in the opening events of the year where he went through five Nationals before scoring a single Winston Pro Series point. Halfway through the season he resolved ~o thi,:,k about 1981 and hope the remamder of the season came together. Eklund even went so far as to miss two Nationals in order to get ready for the final two N a t ' l -- San Jose an d Aseo t -ยท0 f . lonas the year. The gamble paid off and Ekl d b h d . h f r f un reat e a slg O. re Ie . . The double Houston Nationals were to be a proving ground of sorts for both Springsteen and Eklund. Was Springsteen healthy and was he cured enough to take the physical pressure of two Nationals ,within a span of less than 24 hours? Could Eklund, after a dismal season in which he was shut out of the win column, return to the form that made him a threat in every event? The answer to all questions is a reso.unding yes. Although they've never been gone, both Springsteen and Eklund are back. Steve Eklund In a lot of instances the chase is more exciting than the catch. Perhaps that's what happened to Steve Eklund. In any case he isn't about to let it happen this year. "It's strange to say, but 1 believe winning the National Championship was probably the worst thing that could have happened to me. Now that may sound strange, but there's a big change when you win the title. While you're the underdog and going fqr it everyone wants to help, to get on the bandwagon. However, once you've won th.e title then everyone assumes you must have all sorts of offers of support and plenty of people to help. It just isn't so. I had very little SUppoTt last year. It should have been a very important year, but it turned out to be 'a disappointing one for everyone involved." Eklund began to make plans before last season was over, talking to people and letting it be known he wanted to put together another winning program. Things have taken time, but with his performance at the 'Dome Eklund believes he will have the backing to set hili sights squarely on getting back Number One. "I've got a lot of things in the works and a good bit of them depend on how things go in thes~ Nationals," said Eklund after his fourth in the short track. "If things go well in the TT I think it will make a lot of people happy." After his win in the TT, Eklund was more positive. "Now it looks like things should really start rolling. I can't name any specifics yet, but I think 1981 will be a very good year." Unlike a lot of riders who just take off during the off season, Eklund is out. there working as a truck driver, piloting his ten wheel' dump truck around. However, the construction