This Week in Yamaha History: Colorado 1982
Thursday, May 31, 2012 | 5:00 PM
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This week, This Week in Yamaha History covers one of the most famous races ever—the1982 250 National final-round showdown at Castle Rock, Colorado.
Colorado hosted the eighth and final round of the series, with Team Honda’s Donnie Hansen looking to back up his AMA Supercross Championship with the motocross crown. But young Yamaha men Ricky Johnson and Broc Glover were right there with him, and RJ appeared to have the title on lock. Although he was riding a modified production Yamaha against Hansen’s works Honda, Johnson, a second-year pro, was establishing himself as a force. He held the points lead heading into the race and needed to just cruise through the day to lock the crown.
Instead, he went after Hansen and tried to win the race, and ended up blowing up his front wheel and DNFing the first moto.
Rick Johnson went for the win, instead of the points, in Colorado, and it cost him.
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Meanwhile, Glover and Hansen went at it for the moto win, and Hansen just edged him, which was enough to put him into the points lead. In moto two, Glover came back to win, giving him a 2-1 for the overall. Johnson did all he could to pressure Hansen into a mistake and get those points back, but, Hansen, a vet of the Motocross des Nations, didn’t crack. He won the title with 300 points to Johnson’s 297 and Glover’s 294.
Hansen won the title, Glover won the race, and Johnson learned a lesson that would pay off later—to the tune of seven AMA National titles, including the 1984 250 National Championship on his Yamaha.
Last year, Steve Matthes asked Glover for his take on the race, and the Golden Boy explained it.
“I was really quick at (the final round) Castle Rock that day and I remember that in the first moto, really late, I made a pass on Hansen and I was leading. I went through a rut and as I was accelerating out, the rut grabbed the shifter and popped it into neutral. By the time I got my foot back down there and shifted my bike, Hansen got back by me.”
Glover continues, “He won the moto by mere feet and cost me the win. The next moto I ended up winning and won the overall with a 2-1. The whole thing was with that pass in the first moto, Donnie got three points and I obviously lost the three points. If you look at the standings, if I had won the moto that would have given all three of us a tie with 297 points. I wouldn’t have won it because I didn’t have the most moto wins, but it still would have been great. It was one of those could-have, would-have things. I think if I hadn’t hit neutral, Ricky would have won the title.”
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Great article. I remember being impressed that Ricky and Broc were in the title hunt on modified production bikes that were not very good to begin with, against unbelievable (for the era) Honda works bikes.
Off the subject, but I seriously long for Honda to get into a title mix late in the season. Used to be that when you rode red - it meant that you were on the best machine out there. Now, it just seems like another color. Waaaaaahhhhhh!
well if u ride blue................ur on the worst bike out there!
Super cool article,thanks Broc for the story.It's crazy how that one small hiccup(the shifter) can change the outcome of a championship.I remember that season well,I went and bought an 83 CR250.That thing was super trick for the time.The 250B class was almost all CR's
I was a jr in college at UofWyo when a friend and I drove down to my first National Mx event. It was this one in 82. I thought I was pretty fast on a dirt bike till I witnessed this event. I've been to many events since, but the first has a special place in the memory books for all of us. Thanks for the story Glover and all the great times you entertained people like myself.
RJ would have a few more titles if not for the wrist deal.Stanton and Bayle would have lost a few.Nothing against them but Ricky was killing it when that happened.
@VISTAJIM I remembr that era. The first time I saw these guys blew me away. They were so cool, back then. And look at them now!
I was a few feet away from the spot where Johnson blew out his front wheel at Castle Rock, and I remember the track well as I raced the SRAC during this era and I lived fairly close to that track.
I recall RJ finishing the moto after the mechanics ran out and replaced his front wheel. The mechanics were at the bike by the time it finished tumbling down the hill and the wheel was off before RJ pulled his goggles off. Maybe I can find the official results to test my memory – but I think RacerX is incorrect to say he failed to finish the moto. I recall that Ricky finished a lap down but not dead last. Maybe he was disqualified but I don’t think outside assistance was forbidden at that time.
One of my team mates from Vickery Motorsports (Albert Firestine) finished 7th and 10th that day if I remember correctly. I think Arlo Englund raced that day too - another rider for Vickery. Unfortunately my memory isn't as good as I wish it was...
Castle Rock was a fun track to ride with a lot of natural elevation changes. That’s what bit RJ – a natural downhill similar to the back downhill at High Point - only a tad longer. In the summer Castle Rock would water the track during the motos with their sprinkler system which was refreshing in the Colorado dry heat.
I walked up on Ricky a few years ago as he was looking over the High Point track and I told him the area he was looking at looked just like the hill that cost him that championship in Castle Rock. He turned to me and said that he was thinking that exact same thing.
I saw RJ at Mid Ohio vintage days a couple years ago and he was still a super cool guy having fun on his dirt bike.