Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Year of the Privateer O U c ould sa y t ha t privateer Grand National Oat-track race r Steve Eklund w o n t he 19 79 AMA Grand National Champions hip just in the nick of time. It w asn't as though nonfactory-sponso red flat -t rackers had gone completely unnoticed in the d ecade of the '7 0s . Som e o f the sport's mo st pr ominent names, such as form e r tit le ist Gary Scott, his brother Han k, an d th e man who would come to e pitomize the term w ith a long an d prospe ro us ca reer, Steve More head, we re all ca pable of stea ling w ins from the m ighty Harley-Davidso n factory effort. And they d id so w ith regularity, but down the stretch of an invariably long Camel Pro o r Winston Pro or whatever Pro sea son, a lack of funding was the primary cause in the odd mechanical breakdown and/or missed National that would often make up the difference between going home w ith the number-one plate and just go ing home . Not since Dic k Mann 's title during the 1963 season had the p rivateers been able to wrestle the title away from the factory te ams, although they had been valiant in their atte m pts to do so. Consider t hat, follow ing the '70 and '7 I seasons, where the to p three spots in the standings we re swept by factory riders of dying Brit ish brands, privateers figured heavily into the championship ch ase . Privat eer Gary Scott was second to Mark Bre lsford in 1972 , e mbarked o n a brief stint with Triump h be fore w inning his on ly title for Ha rley in 1975 a nd then returning to the privateer ra nks to batt le ne w Harley factory sta r Jay Springsteen to th e wire in 1976 . Then alo ng ca me Eklund of San Jose , Californ ia, in 19 78 . He had been hovering inside the top five since the 1976 season, wh ich earned him Roo kie of th e Year hon ors. Proving himse lf as a cap able short -tracker and TI ra cer. Eklund started 1978 w ith a bang , sweeping both ro unds of t he se ason opener in the Houston Astrodome and collecting three more victories in the m iddle of the season • two of th em we re halfmiles, illustrating th e pr ogr ess his big. bike pr ogram w as maki ng - to finish second to Sp ringste en by just five point s. The year 197 9 was t o be Eklund 's. Springstee n started the '7 9 seas o n on the ropes. fo r that was the year that a mysterious stomach ailment, one that co nt inues to ha unt the legendary rider to this day. took root. causing him to m iss four Na tionals. W ith good finishes in th e first half o f the season . an d bo lste red by a big mile win in fro nt of his home cr owd at San Jose . Eklund bu ilt a 40-point cush ion that he merely needed to ma intain to ensure the title . He Y 106 JUN E 3D, 2004 • would only land two more wins, the TIs at Santa Fe and Ascot, and he would score just one po int in th e final two rac es of th e seaso n. bu t the pressure w as o n Springstee n. Second in the standings after a mirac ulou s comebac k ch arge. he st ill need ed to win t he final two Nationals o f th e year. H e w o n ne ither. and thus Eklund became th e first p rivateer rider to land the AMA Grand Nationa l title since Man n some 16 years earlier. None too soon. eithe r. because that was the final season of a decade otherw ise owned by the factory teams. Th us . Eklund 's title is an unbreakable link in a chain , you see. He is the privateer champion of t he '70s. just as Ricky Graham would become th e privateer champion of the '80s ( 1982) and '90s ( 1993) , scoring impo rtant titles for the also -rans when such titles desperately needed to be scored. Thanks to privateers Joe Kopp CYCLE NEWS and Chris Ca rr, the sole remaining Harley factory te am has been shut out in its attempts to earn a t itle in the ne w millennium . Maybe th at w ill change. Maybe not. The po int is that for all the money tha t BSA and Triump h and Yamah a and t he n Hon da , an d yes. Har ley-Davidso n, have poured into the sport, th e bac kbone of O track has been. an d always w ill be. the at privat eer. Sadly. that bac kbone suffe red a severe blow with the loss of Eklund after the Albuquerque. New Mexico . Half Mile on June 17, 1990. Lead ing factory Hartey rid e r Chris Carr late in the National. Eklund appeared on his w ay to victory when he co llided with a lap per a nd struck a guardrail post, suffering massive head injuries . After languishing in a coma for more than a year. Eklund passed away on September 26 , 1991 . Scott Rou sseau 3D YEARS A6D.•• July e. '974 On the cove r is Lyn Abrams' custom cafe racer. It was originallya Honda SOO-4 but was turned into the ultimate road warrior... The opening story in this issue was about the Superbowl of Motocross held at t he Los Angeles Coliseum; Rocket Rex Stat en won it ahead of Jim West.. . There was an ISOT (now ISDE) Qualifier held in Weston, Oregon . Tom and Jack Penton sho wed up and won the Trophy class... There was an AMA National Tria ls event. The photos show riders climbing rocks with no helmets on. Back then the obstacl es that riders negotiated were far less dangerous than today... Bruce Ogilive wo n the competitive Trail Expert class at a District 37 Hare and Hound . Today Ogilive works for Honda in its off-road department . r.:"'r.n....~~:'11 ii!D YEARS A6D••. July 4. '984 Honda's XR2 00 bike showed up on the co ver. We tested it and found that it was a good play. bike but just was not e nough for a serious enduro racer... Broc Glove r finally won the United States ro und of the SOOcc World Motocross Championship. He beat great riders like Johnny O 'Mara and David Bailey that day... The AMA Super. "'I!!!~ II:: : ===:!I bike Series visited Panaca International Speedway; Fred Meri

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