Steve Eklunk was born in O’Connor Hospital in San Jose California on June 20, 1955.
Steve was the youngest of six children and was the favored child. Family members are sisters Bonnie in Pleasanton, Sheryl in Sacramento, Diana in Paradise, Rick, a recluse in Pleasanton, and Gary living in Merced.
Steve’s father Leonard was a carpenter and in his off time rode his Triumph. He rode trails with Joe Leonard and Robert Cancilla. He also took the kids to Bay Meadows and Belmont Speedway. He bought minis and Steve learned to ride on a Hodaka. They would clean out the garage and had contests spinning donuts. Rod Spencer was Steve’s best friend.
His father took him to the races as a young boy. When Steve was 9 years old, family friend Dorothy Palmer walked him around the pits at the Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Illinois and he got autographs of all of the riders. His oldest brother Rick began racing and Steve followed in this brother’s footsteps.
Steve got a late start to motorcycles, starting riding at 13 years old. He started by racing MX in Salinas and Carnegie and then started flat track racing a year later. It was at Fremont raceway where he honed his skills, many times racing against GNC racer Rick Hocking. In the early years, he was partially sponsored by Bub Martin of Martin Cycles.
Steve won the last Stockton Mile as a novice.
When back east racing, Eklund stayed with the Palmer family.
Jeff Bratton built the Yamaha cranks.
Jim Belland from Pacifica (now in Placerville) was Mario’s original HD engine builder. He would build and ship them back East. Jim still builds vintage motors.
John Borsch of Borsch Racing Frames was involved with Steve. Borsch was a 70’s frame builder. John built the frames and Mario developed the motors. Belland built the motors.
In 1968, Mario began his attraction to the sport when his son Dave and he were attracted by the posters they would see in every café, Laundromat and corner store in San Jose, advertising mini bike racing at the local 4H barn. Back in those days it was usual for 500 youngsters to show up every weekend to go racing. Every kid that entered into competition was given a trophy. Dave and his father were involved for several years. The catalyst to become serious came from the movie On Any Sunday. They attended the movie and Mario walked out and told his soon that he could a professional race bike.
In 1971 he tried racing a Norton but couldn’t stay on the bike. Frank Nye the built a Triumph 750.
Over the years he raced many different brands. Yamaha, Suzuki, Ossa, Norton and even a Triumph at Peoria.
Eklund was an AMA novice running #161z on a Borsch-framed Yamaha 650. For the indoors he campaigned an Ossa. He had a year-long battle with Elbert Turner, sponsored by A&A and Dan McWhorter, running many races together at Ascot. In August of that year, Elbert was killed in a race at Ascot.
Over the years he raced many different brands. Yamaha, Suzuki, Ossa, Norton and even a Triumph at Peoria
.
1974- Early in 1974, at the age of 19 he was sponsored by Jensen Cycles as an AMA novice running #74z on a “god awful” Suzuki TM400. It didn’t slow him down as he was beating experts at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds TT races. This was the year that Mario and Steve joined together.
1975 – Steve moved up to the junior level and took #74z. Frank Nye got involved while Borsch dropped out of the picture. Mario designed his own frame and it was made by Champion.
In 1975, Mario sold his Yamaha TD3 250 twin to Robert Cancilla. Robert was going to put Randy Mamola on the bike. However, Mamola got hooked up with Jim Doyle and went big time. The bike was then sold to Ray (father) and Rick (son) Silva. In a sportsman race in San Jose, there was a big crash and the bike went flying into the infield. It was headed directly towards Jimmy Filice’s little sister. “Big” John Tavis moved to protect her and took the full brunt of the bike hitting him. He was nearly killed in this selfless act of kindness.
1976 - The following year he moved up to the Expert class as a rookie. His older Gary, Mom, Dad and Steve loaded up and drove to Texas for his very first pro racing weekend at the Houston Astrodome.. He impressed everyone as he finished third at the short track national, after Kenny Roberts had earlier knocked him off of the track. On the Astrodome TT national, his fuel line fell off and the bike started on fire. The event was a sell-out.
Mid-year, Zanotti built a Harley XR750 and Steve switched away from the Yamaha.
Eklund's first Grand National win came in the Pontiac, Michigan, Silverdome on June 4, where he won the TT national. Eklund would go on to win at the Santa Fe Speedway Short Track and the prestigious Peoria TT. That year he won the AMA Rookie of the Year award.
1977 – Ran National #11. It was a bad year as he was still learning the Harley. He did win the Hinsdale short track. In his sophomore season, Eklund won the short-track national held at Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Illinois, and finished fifth in the series.
1978 – Eklund won six races and finished second in the championship, behind Jay Springsteen. The 1978 season was Eklund's best in terms of race wins. He won a stretch of three events in a row, and was very consistent with a total of 11 podium finishes. At one point, Steve was leading the series by 20 points, but there was one event where he couldn’t make the main due to a mechanical issue and that brought Springsteen back into contention. That year, Eklund's victory count matched that champ Springsteen, but Eklund came up five points short. It was the closest any rider had come to beating Springsteen in three years.
Steve and insisted on a racing a Trackmaster-framed Triumph that he had got from Pat McCall. Mario argued that it was a poor choice and only worked at Castle Rock. His exact name for the bike was “Piece of Shit”. However, Steve prevailed and they raced the Triumph and it immediately blew up and Mario retired it to a dusty corner. McCall came looking for the bike and Mario told him to take the “piece of shit”.
Mario scurried to build a new bike and within two weeks he had built a custom C&J-framed Harley, with lots of parts provided by C.R. Axtell.
1979 – As a privateer, he won the AMA Grand National Championship There have been only two privateers who’ve won the coveted title – the other being the legendary Dick Mann in 1963. It was also the year that Steve Eklund completed the career "Hit For The Cycle"* by winning the San Jose, CA mile event. It was his only win on a mile and was satisfyingly earned on his home turf. It was also a very lucky win. Eklund started the race with a battery with a low charge. The motor misfired and Steve putted around in last place. There was a crash that stopped the race. They swapped out the offending battery and now the bike ran well. Eklund quickly moved through the pack from last place as his tires were in the best condition due to his slow riding in the early laps. Then, the rain started and the race was cut short by five laps.
Eklund was a model of consistency that year. He made the main in 22 of 26 nationals (he didn't race in the three road race nationals that were then part of the Grand National Series) and finished in the top 10 in every one of those races.
Zanotti Enterprises was the sponsor, builder and financial muscle behind Steve and made it all possible. Mario Zanotti was masterful in designing and building unfailing and fast motorcycles for Steve. His engine builder was the renowned Jim Belland, the motor genius who also supplied the engines to Mark and Scott Brelsford. In 1972, Belland had a string of 49 races without an engine failure. He was key to the consistency of the team’s results.
Another important member of the team was Craig Fillmer who was Steve’s mechanic, driver and main source of emotional support on the road.
During the 1979 season, there was some amazing drama going on behind the curtains for the team. Motor builder Jim Belland worked out of his Pacific, CA home and was unable to travel. For the East coast races, Belland would have to build and air freight the motors back to Eklund and Craig Fillmer. After the race the motors would get rushed back to California to be rebuilt. More than once a missed connection sent Steve and Craig rummaging through air freight terminals searching for their precious motor.
At the end of the season, Eklund traded in his Porsche 924 for a Ferrari Dino (with the license plate “Eklund 1”), bought a house and got married to Ann McCaul.
Steve, John Tavis, and Scott Pearson toured together.
1981 – Steve now ran #8 number plate.
1982 – Mario split with Steve. When Mario was done racing, he cleaned the house and took all the stuff to the dump. He sold the Harley to Charlie Gardner who owned Gardner Cycles.
In his 14 year pro career, he won 17 races. He only won one mile. He won two ½ mile races – Oklahoma and San Jose. His specialty was TT and had the GNC record for wins until Chris Carr surpassed him.
A race win paid $3,000 to $5,000 in those days. In 78, 79 and 80, he won over $100K a year.
Lived in San Jose his whole life. He wanted to get into sprint car racing but couldn’t find a sponsor.
1990 - On June 17th, 1990 during a race at Albuquerque, New Mexico Mile he suffered serious injuries and lapsed into a coma. He lingered for more than 15 months before his death in September 26, 1991. His wife’s name is Ann. From Bert Sumner: "What I remember seeing the video was that the track was extremely rough and torn up. Eklund had the lead from the start, but Chris Carr had picked up the pace and had closed the gap. The two entered turn 3 with Eklund up high and Carr hugging the pole, with a rider about to be lapped right in front of them. As they came out of turn four, Carr went low under the lapped rider, while Eklund went high. It looked like Carr caught the lapped rider by surprise, as he moved up the racetrack to give Carr more room, and moved right into Eklund, who crashed. Steve fell off the bike, a slid towards the large wooden fence-posts that lined the track. The impact, at that speed, is burned in my memory forever."
Zanotti Enterprises, the name Mario gave his race organization was headquartered in the Zanotti home. The garage and kitchen were the two major work areas. Mario’s wife was as tolerant as Mario was dedicated. He built motors on the kitchen table. The kitchen sink doubled as a parts-cleaning tub. Cylinders were heated in the kitchen oven in preparation of being sleeved. As a result, dinner was frequently compromised.
Mario teamed with Tom Hassler who was a machinist. He also worked a lot on the smaller bikes.
Mario didn’t attend many races. When he did go, he would go early and hang out with Shell Thuet.
Steve didn’t like road racing, but Mario did. They raced at Daytona and Steve took a third place. In 1978 at a Sears Point road race Wes Cooley knocked him down and he broke a collarbone. Steve race at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Riverside, Daytona and Ontario.
1998 – Steve was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Eklund’s legacy is as one of the top two privateers to ever compete in the AMA Grand National Series. In 1987 Eklund's TT victory at Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Illinois broke the legendary Dick Mann's record of eight national TT wins, making Eklund the all-time TT wins leader at that time.
Nickname was super steve.
Rod Spencer: Met when Rod was nine years old. Steve and Rod were inseparable. Rod called them sparring partners. They part of the San Jose East Bay gang. They would ride through the orchards to each other’s house and to their favorite riding places called “the tanks”. Steve was a very technical and precise rider. Steve was a quiet and somewhat shy individual, but very close with his friends. There were a lot of practical jokes. One day at a race at the Salinas Airport, Steve found a dead snake in his helmet.
The Yamaha Twin that Steve rode sported a Borscht-built Boss frame. It’s wears #8 and Dave has possession of it.
Mario said, “I’m done!”. Someone tried to convince him to work with Chris Carr but at that point, he was done with the sport, and ready to move on. Mario began making custom guns. He built one from a block of steel and a tree trunk – it was on a world museum tour for five years.. Mario would take young Dave out shooting, until the Vietnam war gun confiscation scare.
Mario was born in 1933 and grew up in Asti, Italy. His mother was quite the character as a grappa bootlegger back in the day.
In 1956 Mario was one of four Italian engineers who travelled to San Jose California for a four year construction project working for San Jose Steel building overpasses. In the evenings he attended San Jose State University to learn English. It was there that he met Edith, his wife-to-be, a first generation American whose parents lived in in Genova. They were married in 1958 and their only son Dave was born 1959. Soon, the project was over and it was time for Mario to return home but Edith didn’t want to go. There were spirited disagreements between them about returning to Italy nearly every evening before dinner.
Mario was unhappy as an engineer, so he made a few visits to Stanford and they eventually hired him as a professor. Mario went on to become an accomplished research mathematician. He was never a U.S. citizen – it was offered but he refused. He didn’t see the point, although Edith did become a citizen.
In 1968, Mario began his attraction to motorcycle racing when his son Dave and he were attracted by the posters they would see in every café, Laundromat and corner store in San Jose, advertising mini bike racing at the local 4H barn. Back in those days it was usual for 500 youngsters to show up every weekend to go racing. Every kid that entered into competition was given a trophy. Dave and his father were involved for several years. The catalyst to become serious came from the movie On Any Sunday. They attended the movie shortly after its release in 1971 and Mario walked out and told his son that he could a professional race bike.
Mario and fellow professor Patrick Suppes developed an education management system that combines curriculum and assessment resources to improve academic performance. It became commercially successful at an organization called Computer Curriculum Corporation, later acquired by Simon & Schuster.
STEVE EKLUND RECORD BOOK*
Only the 2nd privateer to win the GNC national championship. The first privateer to win was Dick Mann,
Eklund is tied with Jim Rice and Dave Aldana with three wins in his pro rookie season.
Eklund was the third quickest rider to reach “Hit for the Cycle” behind Jay Springsteen and Kenny Roberts, taking two years, 11 months, and two days into his pro career to achieve that milestone.
He was the fifth youngest rider to "Hit For The Cycle", at 23 years old. Only Springsteen, Chandler, Roberts and Parker were younger when they achieved this goal.
Tied for fourth place in the most career AMA Grand National Short Track Wins with Kenny Roberts, each having five victories.
Third place in most career AMA National TT wins with nine, one ahead of Dick Mann.
Steve’s first win was at Pontiac, Michigan TT on June 4, 1976 and his win was at the Hinsdale, Illinois short track in June 5, 1987, a period stretching 11 years.
He had five wins at the Houston Astrodome, two short track and three in TT races.
He won his first national championship in his fourth year of competition.
Nationals in 1976-1987, placing him 17th on the all-time win list. He finished in the Top Ten eight times, including the 1979 Grand National Championship.
* Credit to the Dairyland Classic website for this information
Steve was the youngest of six children and was the favored child. Family members are sisters Bonnie in Pleasanton, Sheryl in Sacramento, Diana in Paradise, Rick, a recluse in Pleasanton, and Gary living in Merced.
Steve’s father Leonard was a carpenter and in his off time rode his Triumph. He rode trails with Joe Leonard and Robert Cancilla. He also took the kids to Bay Meadows and Belmont Speedway. He bought minis and Steve learned to ride on a Hodaka. They would clean out the garage and had contests spinning donuts. Rod Spencer was Steve’s best friend.
His father took him to the races as a young boy. When Steve was 9 years old, family friend Dorothy Palmer walked him around the pits at the Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Illinois and he got autographs of all of the riders. His oldest brother Rick began racing and Steve followed in this brother’s footsteps.
Steve got a late start to motorcycles, starting riding at 13 years old. He started by racing MX in Salinas and Carnegie and then started flat track racing a year later. It was at Fremont raceway where he honed his skills, many times racing against GNC racer Rick Hocking. In the early years, he was partially sponsored by Bub Martin of Martin Cycles.
Steve won the last Stockton Mile as a novice.
When back east racing, Eklund stayed with the Palmer family.
Jeff Bratton built the Yamaha cranks.
Jim Belland from Pacifica (now in Placerville) was Mario’s original HD engine builder. He would build and ship them back East. Jim still builds vintage motors.
John Borsch of Borsch Racing Frames was involved with Steve. Borsch was a 70’s frame builder. John built the frames and Mario developed the motors. Belland built the motors.
In 1968, Mario began his attraction to the sport when his son Dave and he were attracted by the posters they would see in every café, Laundromat and corner store in San Jose, advertising mini bike racing at the local 4H barn. Back in those days it was usual for 500 youngsters to show up every weekend to go racing. Every kid that entered into competition was given a trophy. Dave and his father were involved for several years. The catalyst to become serious came from the movie On Any Sunday. They attended the movie and Mario walked out and told his soon that he could a professional race bike.
In 1971 he tried racing a Norton but couldn’t stay on the bike. Frank Nye the built a Triumph 750.
Over the years he raced many different brands. Yamaha, Suzuki, Ossa, Norton and even a Triumph at Peoria.
Eklund was an AMA novice running #161z on a Borsch-framed Yamaha 650. For the indoors he campaigned an Ossa. He had a year-long battle with Elbert Turner, sponsored by A&A and Dan McWhorter, running many races together at Ascot. In August of that year, Elbert was killed in a race at Ascot.
Over the years he raced many different brands. Yamaha, Suzuki, Ossa, Norton and even a Triumph at Peoria
.
1974- Early in 1974, at the age of 19 he was sponsored by Jensen Cycles as an AMA novice running #74z on a “god awful” Suzuki TM400. It didn’t slow him down as he was beating experts at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds TT races. This was the year that Mario and Steve joined together.
1975 – Steve moved up to the junior level and took #74z. Frank Nye got involved while Borsch dropped out of the picture. Mario designed his own frame and it was made by Champion.
In 1975, Mario sold his Yamaha TD3 250 twin to Robert Cancilla. Robert was going to put Randy Mamola on the bike. However, Mamola got hooked up with Jim Doyle and went big time. The bike was then sold to Ray (father) and Rick (son) Silva. In a sportsman race in San Jose, there was a big crash and the bike went flying into the infield. It was headed directly towards Jimmy Filice’s little sister. “Big” John Tavis moved to protect her and took the full brunt of the bike hitting him. He was nearly killed in this selfless act of kindness.
1976 - The following year he moved up to the Expert class as a rookie. His older Gary, Mom, Dad and Steve loaded up and drove to Texas for his very first pro racing weekend at the Houston Astrodome.. He impressed everyone as he finished third at the short track national, after Kenny Roberts had earlier knocked him off of the track. On the Astrodome TT national, his fuel line fell off and the bike started on fire. The event was a sell-out.
Mid-year, Zanotti built a Harley XR750 and Steve switched away from the Yamaha.
Eklund's first Grand National win came in the Pontiac, Michigan, Silverdome on June 4, where he won the TT national. Eklund would go on to win at the Santa Fe Speedway Short Track and the prestigious Peoria TT. That year he won the AMA Rookie of the Year award.
1977 – Ran National #11. It was a bad year as he was still learning the Harley. He did win the Hinsdale short track. In his sophomore season, Eklund won the short-track national held at Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Illinois, and finished fifth in the series.
1978 – Eklund won six races and finished second in the championship, behind Jay Springsteen. The 1978 season was Eklund's best in terms of race wins. He won a stretch of three events in a row, and was very consistent with a total of 11 podium finishes. At one point, Steve was leading the series by 20 points, but there was one event where he couldn’t make the main due to a mechanical issue and that brought Springsteen back into contention. That year, Eklund's victory count matched that champ Springsteen, but Eklund came up five points short. It was the closest any rider had come to beating Springsteen in three years.
Steve and insisted on a racing a Trackmaster-framed Triumph that he had got from Pat McCall. Mario argued that it was a poor choice and only worked at Castle Rock. His exact name for the bike was “Piece of Shit”. However, Steve prevailed and they raced the Triumph and it immediately blew up and Mario retired it to a dusty corner. McCall came looking for the bike and Mario told him to take the “piece of shit”.
Mario scurried to build a new bike and within two weeks he had built a custom C&J-framed Harley, with lots of parts provided by C.R. Axtell.
1979 – As a privateer, he won the AMA Grand National Championship There have been only two privateers who’ve won the coveted title – the other being the legendary Dick Mann in 1963. It was also the year that Steve Eklund completed the career "Hit For The Cycle"* by winning the San Jose, CA mile event. It was his only win on a mile and was satisfyingly earned on his home turf. It was also a very lucky win. Eklund started the race with a battery with a low charge. The motor misfired and Steve putted around in last place. There was a crash that stopped the race. They swapped out the offending battery and now the bike ran well. Eklund quickly moved through the pack from last place as his tires were in the best condition due to his slow riding in the early laps. Then, the rain started and the race was cut short by five laps.
- *Hit for the Cycle” is when a GNC rider has won a race in each track category of short track, half mile, mile, and TT.
Eklund was a model of consistency that year. He made the main in 22 of 26 nationals (he didn't race in the three road race nationals that were then part of the Grand National Series) and finished in the top 10 in every one of those races.
Zanotti Enterprises was the sponsor, builder and financial muscle behind Steve and made it all possible. Mario Zanotti was masterful in designing and building unfailing and fast motorcycles for Steve. His engine builder was the renowned Jim Belland, the motor genius who also supplied the engines to Mark and Scott Brelsford. In 1972, Belland had a string of 49 races without an engine failure. He was key to the consistency of the team’s results.
Another important member of the team was Craig Fillmer who was Steve’s mechanic, driver and main source of emotional support on the road.
During the 1979 season, there was some amazing drama going on behind the curtains for the team. Motor builder Jim Belland worked out of his Pacific, CA home and was unable to travel. For the East coast races, Belland would have to build and air freight the motors back to Eklund and Craig Fillmer. After the race the motors would get rushed back to California to be rebuilt. More than once a missed connection sent Steve and Craig rummaging through air freight terminals searching for their precious motor.
At the end of the season, Eklund traded in his Porsche 924 for a Ferrari Dino (with the license plate “Eklund 1”), bought a house and got married to Ann McCaul.
Steve, John Tavis, and Scott Pearson toured together.
1981 – Steve now ran #8 number plate.
1982 – Mario split with Steve. When Mario was done racing, he cleaned the house and took all the stuff to the dump. He sold the Harley to Charlie Gardner who owned Gardner Cycles.
In his 14 year pro career, he won 17 races. He only won one mile. He won two ½ mile races – Oklahoma and San Jose. His specialty was TT and had the GNC record for wins until Chris Carr surpassed him.
A race win paid $3,000 to $5,000 in those days. In 78, 79 and 80, he won over $100K a year.
Lived in San Jose his whole life. He wanted to get into sprint car racing but couldn’t find a sponsor.
1990 - On June 17th, 1990 during a race at Albuquerque, New Mexico Mile he suffered serious injuries and lapsed into a coma. He lingered for more than 15 months before his death in September 26, 1991. His wife’s name is Ann. From Bert Sumner: "What I remember seeing the video was that the track was extremely rough and torn up. Eklund had the lead from the start, but Chris Carr had picked up the pace and had closed the gap. The two entered turn 3 with Eklund up high and Carr hugging the pole, with a rider about to be lapped right in front of them. As they came out of turn four, Carr went low under the lapped rider, while Eklund went high. It looked like Carr caught the lapped rider by surprise, as he moved up the racetrack to give Carr more room, and moved right into Eklund, who crashed. Steve fell off the bike, a slid towards the large wooden fence-posts that lined the track. The impact, at that speed, is burned in my memory forever."
Zanotti Enterprises, the name Mario gave his race organization was headquartered in the Zanotti home. The garage and kitchen were the two major work areas. Mario’s wife was as tolerant as Mario was dedicated. He built motors on the kitchen table. The kitchen sink doubled as a parts-cleaning tub. Cylinders were heated in the kitchen oven in preparation of being sleeved. As a result, dinner was frequently compromised.
Mario teamed with Tom Hassler who was a machinist. He also worked a lot on the smaller bikes.
Mario didn’t attend many races. When he did go, he would go early and hang out with Shell Thuet.
Steve didn’t like road racing, but Mario did. They raced at Daytona and Steve took a third place. In 1978 at a Sears Point road race Wes Cooley knocked him down and he broke a collarbone. Steve race at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Riverside, Daytona and Ontario.
1998 – Steve was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Eklund’s legacy is as one of the top two privateers to ever compete in the AMA Grand National Series. In 1987 Eklund's TT victory at Santa Fe Speedway in Hinsdale, Illinois broke the legendary Dick Mann's record of eight national TT wins, making Eklund the all-time TT wins leader at that time.
Nickname was super steve.
Rod Spencer: Met when Rod was nine years old. Steve and Rod were inseparable. Rod called them sparring partners. They part of the San Jose East Bay gang. They would ride through the orchards to each other’s house and to their favorite riding places called “the tanks”. Steve was a very technical and precise rider. Steve was a quiet and somewhat shy individual, but very close with his friends. There were a lot of practical jokes. One day at a race at the Salinas Airport, Steve found a dead snake in his helmet.
The Yamaha Twin that Steve rode sported a Borscht-built Boss frame. It’s wears #8 and Dave has possession of it.
Mario said, “I’m done!”. Someone tried to convince him to work with Chris Carr but at that point, he was done with the sport, and ready to move on. Mario began making custom guns. He built one from a block of steel and a tree trunk – it was on a world museum tour for five years.. Mario would take young Dave out shooting, until the Vietnam war gun confiscation scare.
Mario was born in 1933 and grew up in Asti, Italy. His mother was quite the character as a grappa bootlegger back in the day.
In 1956 Mario was one of four Italian engineers who travelled to San Jose California for a four year construction project working for San Jose Steel building overpasses. In the evenings he attended San Jose State University to learn English. It was there that he met Edith, his wife-to-be, a first generation American whose parents lived in in Genova. They were married in 1958 and their only son Dave was born 1959. Soon, the project was over and it was time for Mario to return home but Edith didn’t want to go. There were spirited disagreements between them about returning to Italy nearly every evening before dinner.
Mario was unhappy as an engineer, so he made a few visits to Stanford and they eventually hired him as a professor. Mario went on to become an accomplished research mathematician. He was never a U.S. citizen – it was offered but he refused. He didn’t see the point, although Edith did become a citizen.
In 1968, Mario began his attraction to motorcycle racing when his son Dave and he were attracted by the posters they would see in every café, Laundromat and corner store in San Jose, advertising mini bike racing at the local 4H barn. Back in those days it was usual for 500 youngsters to show up every weekend to go racing. Every kid that entered into competition was given a trophy. Dave and his father were involved for several years. The catalyst to become serious came from the movie On Any Sunday. They attended the movie shortly after its release in 1971 and Mario walked out and told his son that he could a professional race bike.
Mario and fellow professor Patrick Suppes developed an education management system that combines curriculum and assessment resources to improve academic performance. It became commercially successful at an organization called Computer Curriculum Corporation, later acquired by Simon & Schuster.
STEVE EKLUND RECORD BOOK*
Only the 2nd privateer to win the GNC national championship. The first privateer to win was Dick Mann,
Eklund is tied with Jim Rice and Dave Aldana with three wins in his pro rookie season.
Eklund was the third quickest rider to reach “Hit for the Cycle” behind Jay Springsteen and Kenny Roberts, taking two years, 11 months, and two days into his pro career to achieve that milestone.
He was the fifth youngest rider to "Hit For The Cycle", at 23 years old. Only Springsteen, Chandler, Roberts and Parker were younger when they achieved this goal.
Tied for fourth place in the most career AMA Grand National Short Track Wins with Kenny Roberts, each having five victories.
Third place in most career AMA National TT wins with nine, one ahead of Dick Mann.
Steve’s first win was at Pontiac, Michigan TT on June 4, 1976 and his win was at the Hinsdale, Illinois short track in June 5, 1987, a period stretching 11 years.
He had five wins at the Houston Astrodome, two short track and three in TT races.
He won his first national championship in his fourth year of competition.
Nationals in 1976-1987, placing him 17th on the all-time win list. He finished in the Top Ten eight times, including the 1979 Grand National Championship.
* Credit to the Dairyland Classic website for this information