Eric Bostrom is so popular on the U.S. motorcycle racing scene that he’s already acquired not one, but two nicknames: eBoz and Boss Hog. And if there’s anything that he’s hogging, it’s national titles. Since 1996, Eric has won four U.S. National Championships in four different motorcycle disciplines. Now, as a Team Yamaha rider, he’s looking to capture his most prestigious crown yet – AMA Superbike. It’s a brilliant combination: one of the most venerable names in motorcycles with one of the brightest stars in American racing. Eric Bostrom is set to go all the way, and it’s hard to imagine who could upset his plans. Except, of course, for his friend, housemate, training partner, and older brother Ben Bostrom, who is also one of the country’s premier riders.
Growing up on two wheels
Eric was exposed to motorcycle racing from a very early age: approximately, birth (for the record, 1976 in San Francisco). His father had been California dirt track champion, and his older brothers Ben and Torsten had learned to handle a bike before they were old enough for kindergarten. Eric wanted to do everything his brothers did, but riding for fun wasn’t enough. The Bostrom boys loved to compete against each other – whether it was racing their bikes or just eating cereal – and they found that they liked competing against folks outside the family even better.
By the time he was 20, Eric had won his first U.S. title: AMA National Dirt Track Champion in the 883 Sportster class. Then the next year, 1997, he proved that he could win on asphalt as well as on dirt when he captured the AMA Super Twins Championship. He followed that with the Formula Xtreme National Championship in 1998. While 1999 was an uncharacteristically quiet year, Eric roared back in 2000, taking second in the 600cc Supersport Championship and a remarkable fourth in AMA Superbike. He stepped it up even more for 2001, winning the 600cc Supersport outright and improving his Superbike standing to second. He repeated his second-place Superbike finish in 2002.
Poised for the win
AMA Superbike is an 18-event, points-based contest that covers the U.S. between March and September. Racers cope with everything from the heat of the Midwest to the altitude of Colorado, and the schedule is grueling mentally as well as physically. One of Eric’s favorite ways to cross-train is rock climbing: he finds the mental and physical demands very similar to those of racing. Eric and Ben climb as often as possible near their home in Las Vegas, and they even venture abroad for new climbing challenges.
Just because Eric considers his brother to be a training partner doesn’t mean that he takes it easy on him in competition. After all, Ben already owns the 1998 AMA Superbike Championship, and Eric says, “It’s my turn.” That’s no empty boast. Early in the 2003 season Eric was positively dominating. He won the Pikes Peak leg of the series by 5.2 seconds on June 1, and that was nothing compared to what he did seven days later, when he took the Elkhart, Wisconsin, race by a whopping 32.6 seconds in nasty weather. That put him in the overall series lead as he headed to his favorite track, Laguna Seca, in July. But disaster struck when he was a victim in an unavoidable competition pile-up that ensued when another racer lost control of his motorcycle. The resulting impact sent Eric to the emergency room with a host of injuries and caused him to miss the last six races, leaving him seventh in the overall standings. He spent that time healing his body back to full strength and preparing for his 2004 assault at the AMA Superbike title.
Eric’s philosophy? “Do it all now!”
