30 Day Countdown to A1: #23 Broc Glover
Thursday, December 13, 2012 | 2:00 PM
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PrintIt’s now just 23 days until the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross Championship begins at Anaheim 1, so we turn to #23 on the Monster Energy 30-day Countdown of the best supercross racers of all time.
Number 23 on the list is a true superstar of the sport, Broc Glover. Born and raised outside of El Cajon, California, the “Golden Boy” entered the pro ranks in '76 and immediately became a success, making the podium numerous times his first season in the 125 Nationals. Although Glover is well inside the top ten in career motocross wins (and combined overall wins) and has an amazing six AMA Motocross titles—second only to Ricky Carmichael—he sits nineteenth in career SX wins with ten and no championships. The indoors were just a little bit tougher for Glover but he still got quite a few wins over his long career.
Glover sits nineteenth in career SX wins.
Moto Verte photo
They called our #24 Ron Lechien “The Machine,” but that also could have been a good nickname for Glover, as his precise riding style didn’t always show his tremendous speed. Glover had his share of injuries, and riding a production Yamaha (he was a factory Yamaha rider for his entire career but in 1984 Yamaha went to a production-based bike) against the factory Hondas wasn’t always ideal, but Glover made it work.
His first SX win was in 1980 and his last win in supercross was his last supercross ever, in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1988. Broc also came very close to winning the 1985 supercross title, finishing just two points behind Jeff Ward after a myriad of controversies, including a points-rewarding system for heat races that was changed halfway through the series, as well as an added main event to the last round, at Pasadena. And then there was the fact that Wardy had crashed in that last race and ridden backward on the track to find a place to turn around. Controversy ensued in the form of filed protests, but in the end, Glover lost the race and the appeal and finished second in the series points. It was the closest he ever came to the title.
Injuries haunted Glover after ’85 in terms of supercross, as he broke his wrist and leg in subsequent years before retiring from supercross after that ’88 Coliseum win. Broc Glover may not have a #1 plate from supercross to match all those outdoor titles, but he easily slides into the top 30 supercrossers of all-time.
Glover at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1988, the site of his last SX win.
Moto Verte photo
Here's a look at all of Broc Glover's race results, courtesy of the Racer X Vault.
The 30 Best Supercross Racers of All Time Tracker:
#23 Broc Glover
#24 Ron Lechien
#25 Jimmy Weinert
#26 David Vuillemin
#27 Donnie Hansen
#28 Larry Ward
#29 Mike Kiedrowski
#30 Marty Tripes
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Great shot of Glover and Hannah. The Preston Petty front fender was a must have over the stock plastic back in the 70s and early 80s. Also, moving the forks up and down in the triple clamps sometimes 2-3 inches or more depending on if the track was outdoors or indoors was a standard practice. The Maico in the background tells me this is 81.
I had forgotten Broc never won a SX title - he was always in the mix for race wins and raced in an era where the depth of talent on the gate was incredibly deep.
@COPRO - isn't that Mike Bell next to Broc?
@DC/Weege/Chase - It would be great if RX added pro MX national #s by year to the Vault.
Would also like to see you add the results for the pre-Loretta's for the Amateur Nationals to the Loretta's vault. Didn't they start in about '75 ( at Carlsbad I think).
I think that is Bell, also. I don't remember Glover ever being #2, but there's photographic proof that my memory can't be trusted.
Glover and Bailey battling in the 500 outdoors was quite a sight. They didn't look or sound like they were going that fast, but would be miles in front of everyone else.
Talk about a holeshot in that header photo. There's a couple of Huskys with good starts, too. Peak power wasn't their problem in the end. It was everything else.
I think that is Bell CR500AF..... Hannah would not be laughing he would be pissed Broc touched his bike!! LOL
DEFINITELY not Hannah. I was thinking maybe Burnworth, but maybe Bell. (If they stood up, we'd know for sure.)
CAPRO
That's (To Tall) next to Glover. And nobody slide the fork's 2 to 3 inches in the clamps. The longer tubes were for more volume.
I agree with BillC.. Looks like Too Tall Mike Bell to me too and as BillC says Hannah would not have been smiling, there was no love lost between The Golden Boy and the Hurricane!!! The classic paper plate looking number plate and the Petty fender, fond memories for sure...
Unstylish uninteresting and faster than sh*t.....saw him beat Bailey (full works 500 Honda) on a stock looking production, piston rattling ,chopping and bucking Yamaha 490 straight up haulin......impressive.
#39 looks too short to be "Too Tall Bell" It looks like Hannah, but wearing shoulder pads under his jersey (he was a bone rack back then). I think this is Hannah's first year on Yamaha, although I thought he always wore a goofy looking straight buck-bill helmet visor and the guy in the picture doesn't have one. Hannah's first year he came out a relative unknown and kicked everyone's ass on that ultra cool liquid cooled factory 125 Yamaha (I think he was #39 on that bike). Everyone thought Marty Smith was unbeatable on a 125 until then. About Glove on those production 465's/490's dicing with and occasionally beating Bailey on the ultra cool and trick factory CR500's ... anyone who's ever ridden or owned one of those big YZ's knows what a feat this must was. Those bikes were pinging, blubbering, fowl handling piles of crap.
If it was Hannah's firs t year, that would be 1976, and those are definitely newer bikes than that in the background. I think 1981 and Mike Bell are the correct answers.
Yes, that is Mike Bell....
@500AF Me wrong? WTF? I won't be able to sleep tonight. I still don't think that's Bell.. Burnworth? Maybe?
@2cents I was looking at the 39 for my reference. You are right about the visor, Hannah wore the square duck bill thing..
@motobk And we did slide our forks... 500AF or MX Bob... Did you?
I still slide my forks up just to look cool
Definitely Mike Bell...Malcolm Smith jersey is the giveaway.
That is Mike Bell. Scott Burnworth was riding a Suzuki at this time.
#39 is Mike Bell in 1979. Hannah was #39 in 1976.
OK ... I've done some chin scratching and re-calculations ..... I'm thinking Bell now. He looks too short in the picture (I think he was 6'3"+), but I think he's a foot or two behind Glover so it would shrink him a little. And it It looks like his face.
Didn't Glover do a final year with KTM in Europe?
I think Glover did do his final year with the Euro's. And I also think there was a recent article in the mag. about it too. And, for sure, that is Mike Bell. MS jersey and boots is a dead giveaway....and, did he EVER wear a mouth guard?
Actually, Mike Bell's face is the dead giveaway.
@COPRO
- Couldn't believe you were wrong either which is why I phrased it as a question. lol.
- Yes, I played with OEM fork height by sliding the tubes up and down not by anything close to the 3-4" we see in these photo's. As motobk pointed out, the Yamaha factory bikes had the extra tube length for fork fluid and air volume. I went to Simons forks and Fox air shox on my '79 YZ125 and changed ride height with damping rods and internal spacers in the shock for either 11" or 12" of travel depending on the track.
@Tonewall - I was always amazed that Broc ran so well against Bailey on a seeming stock YZ490. I recall Yamaha squeezed the 490 engine in a YZ250 chassis for Glover for one of the USGPs (Hollister I think).
The year is 1980 because Mike Bell was number 39 when he won the SX Championship. I still have my program from the very first San Diego SX in 1980. The MS gear is also a dead give away.
Oh my gosh
Really?
ANYONE from that era should know that is "too tall" and "golden boy".
THANKS P SHAW for a moment of clarity=Who would have guessed Wapella,Illinois would have produced so many Moto-X maniacs??? Hay Tro!
glover was a badass. always in the hunt for race wins&championships;.yamaha treated him like dirt toward the end.(little known fact) glover had a honda contract in hand during one of his prime years,(not sure which year) but it was when honda had the best bikes,any way he turned it down out of loyalty to yam. pretty sure he regrets it to this day!
That's "too tall" Mike Bell. No other rider could sit on there bike with both feet flat on the ground, Blover was 6' and he's not even close, MS gear, million dollar smile, It's Bell no question
I had the good fortune to meet Broc a few years ago and on one occasion we had a long conversation about Motocross and Supercross. I was amazed to find outthat he is at every event plus a handfull of road racing events and he still loves to talk about our favorite sports. He's a super nice guy and the best ambasador for the sport you could ever meet.
It is absolutely Mike Bell in the picture. Broc was incredibly fast. I saw him practice many times at Saddleback. Unfortunately, back then he was a complete assh*le. Biggest jerk in the pits. Thought he was better than everyone else. Amazingly, he's a really nice guy today.