Note: Professional firsts are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
*In the NBL "B" Pro/Super Class/"A" pro (depending on the era); in the ABA "A" pro.
**In the NBL "A" Pro/All Pros/Pro Class/"AA" Pro/"Elite Men"; in the ABA "AA" pro.
Career factory and major bike shop sponsors Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time, a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsors' advertisements at the time in question. When possible, exact dates are given.
Amateur •
World of Wheels (bike shop): 1980 •
Mongoose (BMX Products) (co-factory): 1980 •
Bassett: Early 1981 – November 1981 •
Hutch Hi-Performance BMX/Products: November 27, 1981 – mid-1986. Richard Hutchins, the owner of Hutch Hi-Performance, first saw Steve (after Steve's father Jim Veltman pointed him out) at a 1981 ABA National in Ohio. He won his class. Hutchins next saw him at the 1981 ABA Grand National pre-race. He showed enough talent to give him a uniform to wear at the Grand Nationals proper the next two days. After Steve placed fourth in 12 Expert, he gave him a formal and full sponsorship immediately afterward. Veltman's first race for Hutch was the ABA Winter Shootout Triple pointer in
Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 13, 1981. Veltman took a year hiatus from the National BMX racing circuit starting in mid-1986 (sometime after the Murray World Cup) due to burnout, lacking the will to win and craving the desire to do other things. He returned in mid-1987 after that desire to complete returned. • '''McDonald's:''' Mid-1987 – late October 1988.
McDonald's, like its competitor
Hardee's, fielded a BMX team but the McDonald's team lasted two years compared to the one the Hardee's team lasted. McDonald's shut down its BMX effort in October 1988. •
U.S. Boss Racing Products: Late October 1988 – December 1989. Veltman turned pro with this sponsor.
Professional •
U.S. Boss Racing Products: Late October 1988 – December 1989. Shortly after McDonald's discontinued its BMX effort, Veltman joined U.S. Boss. The ABA Fall Nationals on October 29 in
Orlando, Florida, was the first race with his new sponsor. •
Vans (Van Doran Rubber Company): April 1991-March 1992. Veltman started a brief retirement to concentrate on school. •
ODI (Ornate Design, Inc*): November 26, 1992 – November 29, 1992. He showed up at the 1992 ABA Grandnationals in an ODI jersey. It was his first race since his approximately eight-month hiatus to concentrate on school. This sponsorship lasted the duration of the 1992 ABA Grandnationals. •
U.S. Boss Racing Products: November 29, 1992 – December 1995. Veltman during the 1995 season went into a brief retirement. He returned to the racing circuit at the beginning of 1996. •
Torker: January 1996-January 1998 •
Next: Late August 1998 – late November 1999 •
Magna: Late November 1999 – 2001 •
ODI: 2003 This company started out making
Christmas ornaments but switched to making bicycle grips and later grips for power tools as well as BMX and
skateboarding accessories. •
Answer Products: 2003 •
GT (Gary Turner) Bicycles: 2004
Career bicycle motocross titles Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, regional, national, and international titles in
italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his or her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.
Amateur National Bicycle Association (NBA) • None
National Bicycle League (NBL) • None
American Bicycle Association (ABA) •
1980 Texas State Champion •
1981 Texas District 3 (TX-3) No.1 •
1982 12 Expert North Central Gold Cup Champion • 1982 13 Expert Grandnational Champion •
1982 National No. 1 Amateur •
1982 National No. 1 Cruiser •
1982 13 Expert Jag World Champion (ABA sanctioned) •
1983 14 Expert and 13-13 Cruiser International Super Bowl of BMX Champion.* • 1985 15 Expert and 15 Cruiser Winter Season TX-3 District Age Group (DAG) No.1**
*The ABA International of BMX was a series of 33 qualifying races around the country culminating in a Championship race in
Toledo, Ohio. To qualify, a racer had to participate in one of the 33 races in the series. Then the qualifiers participate in three double-point races in Ohio a day before the finals. The main event qualifiers will then be trimmed down to the sixteen riders with the most points via tabulation. Those 16 will make up the semis for the triple-point race event itself with the qualifiers from those semis racing for the title in the main. Each main amateur or pro was run three times to determine the champion in his or her class.
**DAG District Age Group, NAG-National Age Group In 1985 the ABA experimented with dividing the district points season from one year lasting from January 1 to December 31 to three four-month-long periods at which a racer could earn a plate number for that time period and/or their age group and could race the rest of the year with it. The experiment lasted only for a year before the ABA reverted to a single year long points gathering season in 1986.
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) • 1985 16 Cruiser Grandnational Champion
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) •
1982 12 Expert World Champion •
1982 13 & Under Cruiser World Champion •
1989 18 to 24 Cruiser World Champion.
Other titles •
1981 12 Expert Jag World Champion (USCF sanctioned)
Professional National Bicycle Association (NBA) • None
National Bicycle League (NBL) • 1991 20" Pro Grandnational Champion
American Bicycle Association (ABA) •
1990 Pro U.S Gold Cup West Champion • 1990 Pro Super Cup Champion •
1993 National No.1 Pro. He won a black 1993 Ford Ranger
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) • None
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) • None
Pro Series Championships Notable accolades • He was the first ABA racer, amateur or professional, to take two ABA No. 1 national titles in the same year: 1982 in Amateur 20" and Amateur Cruiser Class. • He displayed something of an
entrepreneurial spirit at a young age (13 years old at the time) by manufacturing and marketing "Rad Kaps",
dice cubes converted into bicycle tire valve caps which sold briskly. • He also displayed innovation as the inventor of the Posi-Stop brake cable guide. The Posi-Stop was a combination seat clamp and caliper brake cable guide that was supposed to improve the performance of such brakes. It was later manufactured and sold by Oddessey under the "Pozi-Stop" (note adjusted spelling) name. • He became part of the venerable
Wheaties advertising campaign on August 14, 1983, by being featured on the box of their
cereal product, joining a long line of sports legends such as
Lou Gehrig,
Babe Ruth,
Babe Didrikson,
Jackie Robinson,
Wilt Chamberlain and
Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce). • He was named the fourteenth of the 25 hottest amateurs in BMX racing in a 1984 survey conducted by
BMX Plus! for the opinions of four prominent figures in BMX: Two racers,
Brent Patterson and
Mike Poulson; and two team officials: Dr. Gary Scofield of GT, Howard Wharthon of Diamond Back. • Named one of ''BMX Action's'' "Terrible Ten" of top amateurs and future pros for 1988 • Name by the ABA's
BMXer magazine as the 1993 Golden Crank "Pro of the Year" Award. • Named 1994 "Racer of the Year" by
BMX Plus!. No voter break down given. • He set and held the record for most pro wins in a season in the ABA at 14 in 1993 The Bunny Hop is basically a high jump on a bicycle. Like in a
Track and field high jump a take-off ramp is not used and elevation is accomplished purely by muscle power and momentum. A jump is attempted either with either a rolling launch or at a near standstill. The front end of the bicycle is pulled up as one jumps up on the pedals. When the body is fully erect as if standing the handle bars of the pulled up front end is at waste level. At this juncture the rider pulls up on the bar further as his momentum is still going up. A moment later the rider pushes forward on the bars and brings his legs up to the point that his thighs are parallel to the ground. If done properly the rear wheel of the bicycle should come up with his legs and he should end up in a fully tucked position as if going over a speed jump, but in mid air; in Veltman's case 46 inches in mid-air. The whole exercise only last about a second and a half.
*Due to a change of ownership of
BMX Plus! in 1983, no May issue was published that year.
Significant injuries • Was laid up with
mononucleosis for nearly two months after the 1988 ABA Grand Nationals. The 1989 ABA Winter Nationals held on February 18 and 19 in
Chandler, Arizona was his first race back. • Broke collarbone at the ABA Mid America Nationals in
Lincoln, Nebraska, on March 1, 1992 (day 2). Laid up two months. This was the first significant BMX related injury he had ever had. Prior to this incident, he had never broken a bone racing. • Was laid up for three months with severe back problems beginning in with his injury at the Silverdollar Nationals in
Reno, Nevada on January 8 or 9, 1994. He tore tendons and tissue in his lower spine. --> • He separated his right wrist at the ABA Empire National in
Kingston, New York on August 20, 1994. He crashed leading the first pro main on day 1, "endoing" (his front wheel hitting the front side of the jump incorrectly) on a set of triple moguls. He was laid up until just before the ABA Gold Cup East race in
Blue Springs, Missouri on September 25, 1994. However, he would suffer another injury immediately. • He suffered a snapped interior
cruciate ligament with possible cartilage damage in his knee during a practice session two days before the ABA Gold Cup East race in
Blue Springs, Missouri on September 23, 1994. He had to have surgery with a donor ligament to replace his snapped one.
Racing habits and traits Miscellaneous ==Post BMX career==