The Year of the Privateer
THE YEAR OF THE PRIVATEER
The AMA National Title Goes to Steve Eklund, Mario Zanotti and Consistency
Gary Van Voorhis
Steve Eklund's National Championship will go into the record books as the first title won by a privateer since Dick Mann in 1963. But while the contest went down to the next to last event of the season before being decided, the crown was not won so much in the final half of the season as it was lost—by Springsteen—in the first four Nationals.
After four events: The TT and short track Nationals at Houston and the Sacramento and San Jose miles, Eklund held the 46 point lead that was to be a constant buffer separating the pair. Randy Goss also ran into that wall as his late season finishes could not match up to the strength of the first half of the season.
Given the fact that Springsteen missed five Nationals while Eklund went for zip at only one, it is remarkable that Jay remained in contention to the end. There were those who wrote the championship off to Eklund when he sprinted out front, but they weren’t listening to the sages in the pits muttering never, never bet against Springsteen until he is mathematically eliminated.
Overshadowed by the limelight showered on both Eklund and Springsteen, Randy Goss forged ahead just like The Little Train that Could in the story books. I
Think 1 Can became I Know I Can. and only lack of depth in machinery in the late season kept this year from being Goss’.
There were many stories besides the title chase: Steve Morehead and Hank Scott put in strong late season charges; Mike Kidd added two more national wins for the Army; Rick Hocking’s bronco-bustin’ top ten riding; the “new” Gary Scott; the bad luck of Corky Keener and lastly Scott Parker, the most exciting rider to watch on the circuit, won two mile races and waltzed away with Rookie of the Year. Parker cast a fresh breath of air into a season devoid of humor.
The final half of the Winston Pro Series was shortened to 13 events after two road races (Pocono and Loudon) were canceled. Of the 13. only one road race, a lesson in the art of riding and winning by Yamaha YZR500 mounted Kenny Roberts at Sears Point, interrupted a schedule of five miles, four half-miles, two TT’s and one shorttrack. In brief, it was business as usual as none of the contenders in the top 10 were contesting pavement events.
Eklund felt he had Springsteen on the ropes as the circuit moved to Ascot for a TT. Springsteen suffered pulled shoulder muscles in his crash at Castle Rock and was still detuned a bit. Eklund took advantage and pounced, winning his third national of the season. Springsteen finished a stiff and sore seventh after a late lap charge through the field.
It was to be Eklund’s last winning ride for the rest of the season as he assumed the role of command and set a cautious, methodical, businesslike and determined path toward dethroning Springsteen. >
It was a brilliant way to start the final leg of the season.
Privateer is a word Stanford University research associate Mario Zanotti. the mastermind and guiding light behind Eklund and Zanotti Enterprises, hates. It is, to his thinking a demeaning connotation which cheapens the way people view the effort put into the program. “Only in the sense that we do not receive money or help from the factory are we a privateer effort," he has said. And, his statement that he doubts Harley-Davidson could match the expertise he can call upon has the ring of truth to it.
Improvement is the byword in the Zanotti camp. Last year there was only one bike and a spare motor until the final National of the season. This year when it
was time to make tracks for Sacramento (Houston didn’t require any Harleys) there were two bikes to choose from and a spare engine. The bikes could be christened with a dozen names of the people who fathered them.
That spare engine and the two regulars made over a dozen air freight round trips to San Francisco from Chicago to be freshed up. Jim Beiland (who tuned Mark Brelsford to his title in 1972) did the work. So involved was he that even though an avid weekend sailor, he put his boat into dry dock to devote himself to the task at hand.
Craig Fillmer. new to the Harley-Davidson at the beginning of the season, took on the mechanical chores on the road. The bottom line of his responsibility was to
keep everything running . . . including Eklund.
Others pitched in. Famed dyno man C. R. Axtell for one. And two colleagues of Zannoti's at Stanford who worked on the solution of providing firepower to the engine without using Harley's magneto.
Equipment, preparation of both machinery and mind, the will to win and the financial backing to be able to do so, plus that ever present intangible of luck, created the scenario as the circuit began its final sw ing east. While the first leg of the Winston Pro Series produced ten different winners, the second leg could only come up with four.
DuQuoin. Perhaps the most scenic facility in the series. Long and wide straights (continued from page 120 connected with two different sets of corners make it a track for thinking as much as for horsepower.
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It was on the mile at DuQuoin that Scott Parker, having come close to winning twice previously, demolished the hopes of the other Rookie-of-the-Year candidates. Relatively effortlessly, Parker—four months shy of his 18th birthday —became the youngest-ever rider to win a National.
Springsteen was on the comeback trail here, with a third to Eklund’s sixth while Goss found Lady Luck had turned her back on him.
Eklund’s strength is fairly evenly distributed, but his ace in the hole would have to be short track and TT. Take away that strength or at least blunt it and you have accomplished something.
That is exactly what Jay did on the Santa Fe and Peoria double National weekend. The short track National at Santa Fe, a facility which Eklund rules with a string of five consecutive National wins there prior to the event, saw Rick Hocking come out on top with Springer second and a frustrated Eklund fourth. Goss, even more frustrated, could only manage 12th and lost his second place in the standings in the process.
If Santa Fe came as a shock to Eklund, then Peoria shook his foundation. The balance of power, not to mention the momentum, was swinging in Springsteen’s favor when the checkered flag waved at him after a sterling 25 lap duel with Scott Pearson for the win. Pearson, in his finest Nátional ride ever, led 20 of the 25 laps and was scrapping every inch of the way.
Eklund was grim in the pits afterwards. His Yamaha Twin was at the limit of providing usable power to the ground. He had to settle for fourth after being held off by Ricky Graham in the final laps. Both the Santa Fe and Peoria Nationals stretched Goss’ equipment to the max. His borrowed short tracker wouldn't run. At Peoria conservative tuning of his Harley left him with the wrong combination for the track. He borrowed a TT500 Yamaha from Ted Boody. managed to qualify, finish 11th and in the process incur the wrath of Dick O'Brien for using something other than a Harley. Dark clouds of gloom hung over Goss, his wife Vicki and in-laws Dee and Larry Johnson as they left the track.
The ball was now in Springer’s court. Only 28 points separated the top two. It was time for one of his patented late season charges. The pressure was on; Eklund let it show. Springer didn’t.
Many believe that the double National half miles at the sunflower Expo in Topeka. Kansas (a rain date from earlier in the year) and the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines were the turning point of the season. Neither Eklund nor Springer agree.
“Plan conservative and make the other guy make mistakes when you're ahead and take a chance or two when you're behind.’’ noted Springer’s tuner Bill Werner as he worked on a bike in the pits at Topeka. “You can guess what we're doing.’’
The entire last half of the season was one big gamble and both Werner and H-D racing boss Dick O’Brien knew it. No one had any doubts about Springer's ability, it was the nagging effects of what had been diagnosed as a viral intestinal infection earlier in the season that worried them. At Peoria Jay looked fresh enough to run another 25 laps in the strength sapping heat. If he was sick, and there were times when he was, then he kept it well hidden.
Army’s Mike Kidd gave his sponsor the second win of the season at Topeka with Eklund a close second and Goss rolling in fourth. But where things were going their way, luck had deserted Springsteen. He languished in 11th. making a determined battle for last place as a sour engine and wrong tire pressure sent him skittering all over the groove. Springsteen was not smiling when the night was over.
The pendulum swung in favor of Goss for the Monday running of the Des Moines event. Saturday rain turned the track into a quagmire, postponing the event one day. For G oss that was just fine. The track set up tacky and fast. Goss so dominated the proceedings it seemed that once in the lead, no other competition existed.
Goss is the hardest working rider on the circuit. He has honed his talent and learns from each and every mistake he makes. His effort, with backing from Klotz/Wiseco and Esprit, is best defined as doing the most possible with the equipment at hand. For the most part his father-in-law, Larry Johnson, and he do the work on his bike. Others lend a hand when asked, done out of respect for his ability and the job he is doing rather than any monetary gain. In addition, Goss received some parts help from Harley. Among the riders and those who have followed him closely, he is known as the most dedicated and hard working rider in the Winston Pro Series. And also the quietest.
In 1978 Dick O'Brien was searching for a rider to add to the squad after the departure of Corky Keener and Ted Boody. Goss’ name was on the shopping list, but O’Brien did not hire him because he felt he lacked enough desire.
O’Brien makes few mistakes when it comes to picking talent, but he did this time. The twin Indianapolis Miles are a test of both rider and machine to withstand the strain of almost 100 miles of racing (overall) from practice through the National, in less than 24 hours.
Goss wanted to trade the miles for two TT’s, yet he finished fourth in both on machinery borrowed from Doug Sehl.
Ekiund, though holding 42 points over Springsteen. was fearful that the factory would unleash a secret weapon and that he might be left in the dust. Despite his anxiousness, he took a pair of fifth placings.
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Springer wasn’t talking. It looked at first as if he was back in the groove for the Saturday night portion of the program as he and Scott Parker dueled in the early laps of their heat. But then, w hen Parker tired of the game, he just pulled away. There were anxious moments in the Harley pits.
Eklund and Goss both made the National with Jay leading Randy and Steve in third, fourth and fifth. The highlight of the event was Scott Parker and his ride to glory, using the same Larry Shafer-built engine that he won with at DuQuoin. Hank Scott proved that he was back in top form after a rather disappointing year. His was the strongest charge of the race as he seemed to move at will, on all but Parker, once in the groove.
Hard luck stories popped up all year, but Corky Keener seemed to come in for more than his share. At Des Moines the week before, he was broadsided by Mike Kidd on the 18th of 20 laps while setting up a last lap run on second place. Kidd was fined for taking them both (unhurt) out of the race. At Indy Keener held the pole for the National and made it as far as turn one when someone hooked his handlebar in the traffic jam. Down he. and his visions of a top placing, went.
Rain postponed the Sunday afternoon affair until the following week. Scott Parker could not uphold his boast of winning a second Indy, but he did come within a half bike length of doing just that as he followed Mike Kidd into the winner’s circle.
Steve Morehead had been dow n so long that he almost didn’t know' when things were looking up. However, with his third place ride he knew' his luck was changing.
A notorious late season charger, he was now' fired up and ready to go.
The layoff between events didn't seem to hamper Goss or Eklund as they again ran fourth and fifth.
Springsteen was another matter. His bike didn’t seem to want to get up and go and he ended up with a 10th place finish. Worse, his poor showing allowed Goss to come dead even with him in points.
With four events left, the pair were 44 points shy of Eklund. Realistically, only a breakdown or two by Eklund would give any hope on either the fortunes to Goss or Springsteen. Given Eklund's record to date, that seemed highly unlikely.
Between Indy and the Syracuse Mile, Harley held a shoot-out of sorts to determine which tuner had built the fastest bike: Bill Werner (Springsteen), Steve Storz (Morehead) or Al Stangler (Keener). Morehead's bike was the fastest. It was rumored that the bike would go to Springer. It didn’t.
Morehead won Syracuse. Keener was second and Springer third. Eklund. in fifth, kept the pressure on Goss in 12th after having his engine go sour on lap 21, saw his chances all but evaporate.
Why didn’t Jay have the fastest bike? The Meadow Lands Half Mile National was nitty-gritty time for Springer. Eklund could wrap it up here with the right finish.
This week, Springsteen was using parts from Morehead's Syracuse engine in his. It was perhaps too little, too late.
Terry Poovey celebrated his 21st birthday by winning the event. Morehead celebrated the return to the site of his first career National win (1978) by whipping Springer again. Eklund, conservative to the end. did not clinch the title with his fifth place ride.
His 39 point lead, with only 40 points up for grabs in the final two events, put Jay in an unenviable position of having to win both while Eklund scored no more than
one point. Not even Las Vegas oddsmakers would take that gamble.
San Jose was to be Eklund’s finest moment: Home tow n, home track, family and friends in the stands and all the other trimmings. It would soothe the wounds of losing the title in 1978. But rather than take the title in style with a bang, it was, to be blunt, handed to him. And that took the fun out of it for Steve. Everyone came to San Jose equal in at least one respect: They all had to meet strict sound requirements. In most cases that meant using a boom box style muffler. For whatever reason, the system on Eklund’s bike changed the powerband characteristics enough (a stronger than usual engine had been built to negate an anticipated power loss) to make the bike unmanagable powering out of the corners. The result was no transfer from the heat and a losing battle in the semi. That sent a disgusted Eklund to the pits to watch the National.
That made things simple. Springsteen had to win. He didn’t. The crown passed from Jay to Steve without much of a battle. Springer looked like death warmed over after his seventh place ride. It was a tribute to his sheer determination that he even rode after being sick before the event.
Goss would joke about the rut in turn one that spit him off' during the National and left him with no points for the day, but it would turn out to be a very costly fall when the points were totaled up. Five points at San Jose would have meant second place in the final standings.
Springsteen went home immediately after San Jose and checked into a hospital in Flint. Michigan to undergo testing for the second time in the year on a determination of w hat causes the stomach sickness that plagues him. He did not race Ascot.
Randy Goss, as if to jab both Springsteen and Eklund, made the Ascot Half Mile his third win of the season. He dominated the final 16 laps with Mike Kidd tailing along.
Gary Scott, summoning up some of the old time fire, made a last turn, last lap pass of Rick Graham for third. Eklund was fifth; his ninth top five placing in the final ten events.
What does the future hold for Eklund other than the knowledge that if capturing the crown was difficult then keeping it will be Jwice as hard? Tough to say. Harley -Davidson undoubtedly will not sign him to a contract. Castrol. Eklund’s only major outside sponsor in 1979. will surely raise their four-figure ante. But there aren’t any people beating down the door with the deals that Zanotti wants. There haven’t been for the past four seasons.
Winning the championship must be viewed as a moral victory in the style of David versus Goliath. Or, as a plum to soothe the ego. According to Zanotti, there is no room in Zanotti Enterprises for those willing to become faceless, nameless beings in a program that strives for a common goal. 51
