Cycle News

Cycle News 2025 Issue 06 February 11

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/1532327

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 130 of 135

CNIIARCHIVES P130 BY KENT TAYLOR O nce heralded as "The Eighth Wonder of the World," the Houston Astrodome is now the world's largest storage unit. The playing surface where the Astros' Nolan Ryan once threw 100-mile-per- hour fastballs is now packed with rusty, dirty retractable seats, their brittle fabric cracking and splitting. The football field where the Oilers' Earl Campbell knocked down linebackers like bowling pins is hidden beneath portable outhouses and various other equipment. Shuttered since 2009, the Astrodome is undoubt - edly a ghost, but one that Hous- tonians can't bring themselves to cast aside, so it stands at rest, ignominiously serving as a hold- ing pen for its replacement, the shiny new NRG Stadium. But oh—if this dome could talk? The stories it could tell! Long ago, during the lull be- tween the end of the NFL sea- son and the beginning of Major League Baseball, the Houston Astrodome served as the home for the opening round of the AMA's Grand National Cham- pionship series. Two nights of racing inside the dome featured TT racing on the first night, while day two showcased a short track event. The victors' list from the Astrodome is both a registry of "Who's Who" and "Who's That?" in motorcycle racing: many-time World Champion Kenny Rob- erts won here, as did one-time Grand National race winner Mike Haney. There were repeat winners, first-time winners, and winners who could make a trophy girl blush, but nobody had ever won both the TT and the short track events on consecutive nights. Nobody, that is, until "Super Steve" Eklund did it on February 3rd and 4th in 1978. The Houston TT and short track races were oddballs on the Grand National circuit. These two racetracks were built, dismantled, and then rebuilt the next year, making them the only tracks that were essentially "new" each season. Dirt track- ers and their tuners liked to take notes on what worked and what didn't, regarding gearing, tires, etc. The Houston Astrodome resembled a first date every year, Steve Eklund (right) was the first racer to win both the TT and the short track at the Astrodome doubleheader.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Cycle News 2025 Issue 06 February 11