Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Clark' s wr iting, or wh at ever it was, wa s th at h e was p rotestin g th at J eff Wanl got fined a nd h e wasn ' t protesting th e fact th a t J eff Ward rode bac kwa rds on the track. " Ken ny 's wordi ng is what they snuck th e thin g through on - they sa id he was protesti ng the fine. All th ey were find in g out was if the referee had a u thori ty to give J eff a fine , n ot d id J eff do so me th ing ill egal by rid ing backwards o n th e co urse. That's wh at mak es m e sick abo u t th e wh ol e thing. It's lik e letting th e murderer o ff because o f a techni ca lity - like one o f th e jurors acc iden tally reading a newpaper o r so me thing. "Tha t's th e kind o f n itpi ckin g , ' bullcrap th e wh ol e th in g was . I'm not going to pou nd it into th e grou nd because, h ey, even if they wo u ld ha ve a warded me the w hole championship, I wo u ld h ave to ld th em to stick their num ber one p late. They tarnish ed th e wh ol e th in g for every bod y, th ey ruined th e wh ol e cha mp ionship.1t doesn 't have anyt h ing to do with Ward, h e's a vict im and I'm a victim . T he AMA handl ed th e wh ol e thing com p letely unpro fessionally." Following th e fin al supercross in th e series, Gl over ski p ped the Rodil Cup that wa s held in th e Los An geles Coliseum. That n ight h e worked as a color man for tel evisi on - wh a t took p lace o n th e track wa s th e now-infamo us two-row sta n format th a t turned so u r on p rom ot er Mik e G ood win. Glover feels lu ck y to h ave been in th e television booth rather th an o n th e track with th e o thers. " It wa s a fia sco ," G lover said . " It wa s co medy. I wa s working and we were wa tch in g everyo ne pull over on th e m on ito rs. J eff's pulling over up in the peri st yle in th e dar kness was th e best m ove beca use h e d id it w here n o one cou ld see. One of the Europea ns was even acti ng like he was h un; it was prett y bad. It's his (G ood win 's) idea an d h e's going to drive it into th e grou nd. " Maybe h e shou ld try and get in wit h Bill France from Davton a and try and throw yellow fla gs - like th ey do in stoc k ca rs - every tim e someon e gets more th an a three second lead. Maybe he sh ould just put stri ngs o n a ll o f us an d th en h e co u ld co ntro l th e puppets from a master co ntrol." This year, the ou tdoors will fea tu re a ll th e top riders co m pe ting togeth er. The series wi ll be sp lit wi th h alf the races bein g run o n 250s a nd the other h alf o n500s. In stead o f kn ow in g th at th e 500cc cla ss wi II be battle between Gl over a nd Bailey, thi s year Ri ck y J ohnson, Wa rd, Ronnie Lechien , O 'M ara an d th e rest will be th rown on th e track together. Gl over feels this will make it tougher, but it will be better for th e span . "I think it' s going to be in teresting ," Gl over sa id o f th e new format. " I thi n k tha t shou ld be one o f th e th in gs th at might h elp th e out door races. I ho pe th at it will work to somewha t of a n advant age for myself , bu t th ere will be so me to ug h racin g. It will be like su percross whe re it is really ha rd for so meo ne to domi nat e th e ser ies beca use th ere a re so ma ny good riders in it. Bu t I th ink J eff wi ll be the to ughes t o ne in th at , by far. " La st year, Glover su ffered in juries to both wrists a nd more recently su ffered a broken thumb while snow ski- ing. Th e injuri es are r ea l ly the only he has had in his ca reer. While 1985 was a bad year in terms of the injuries it was o ne of Glover's most success fu l. H e won the 500cc Nat io nal C hampionship, after losin g th e title in 1984 to Da vid Bail ey, whe n many th o ugh t G lo ver wo u ld n't be able to come ba ck. But o nce agai n he p ro ved the doubters wrong. Now , in th e twilight years of his career, G lover h as o ther responsibili ties to his employer than just wi nning races . " It 's sti ll fun (ra cing)," h e says. " Bu t it's a serious job. Everyone is ser io us nowadays, bu t I still have a good time. The bigges t change for m e persona lly is the work a nd what kin d o f work I do . I now do a lot more testin g , a lot more R&D work a nd th a t kind o f st u ff th an I did before. But th at j us t co mes fro m experience a nd I have to expect a lo t o f that. Bein g o n th e team 10 years, th ey expect me to know th e m ost." G lover has seen ma n v a tre nd co me and go in his span. ' Does he see things improving or is the sport in tro u ble? " I see it progressing in areas, " he said. "It is more kn o wn now than it ever has been. Peopl e recognize m e on the streets a lo t, especially whe n you 'r e in Ca lifornia. It 's more prog ressive in tha t area, bu t in o ther areas it's no t. O ne th eory th at I have regardi ng th is is th at yo u a lways see ih em cha ngi ng the form a t. You see th em ma king drastic cha nges . (Supercross promoter Mike) Goodwi n ,trying two -row starts, you see h im trying a mud bog one wee k and yo u see him trying an off -road race now. Why ? Just because he races off-road ca rs now and th at 's his new littl e fling for this year, so we have to have an o ff-ro ad race mixed III with our race. "The genera l public and th e press , too, perceive it as a sideshow or a freak attraction where there's not rea lly a set rul e. Pro mot io n is a not her problem . SMC (Stad iurn Mot or sports Corp .) almos t in sists, o ther th an thi s year when everyone co mplai ned, o n promoti ng on ly on th e h ard roc k ' n ' ro ll stations and stu ff like tha t. I kn ow people's parents who come to these thi ngs, (peop le) that never knew any thing about motocross and th ey j ust came to o ne and liked it, bu t they don 't listen to KMET . Yo u can' t promote the th in g over and over as a ha rd -ro ck fiasco wi th gladiators and mode rn day wa rriors and tha t crap. And th ey do it over and over. " Everybody si ts th ere and jumps up and down a nd bitches an d moan s because th ey see H oll ywood 's im age o f motorcycle racers over a nd o ver as being th e hood lu ms a nd never th e good g uys . T h ey have to quit promot ing it only to the hard rockers the peop le that are out th ere partying and then come to watch the motocross race - a nd promote it in more areas than one." The three years on Glover's new co ntract will more tha n likely be the last of h is career. From a l6-yea r-ol d riding 125s daily in the now houseridden hill s in eas t EI Cajon, Gl over has turned h im self in to a h ighlyp rofitabl e bu sin ess. But it 's still a la i o f fu n. " I love the sport of motocross," he said. "I've met a grea t a mo u nt of people a nd I rea lly enjoy it. H o w can I ever complain about having a jo b like this? I wo ul d probably race if I had to pa y for it, let alone getting paid for ii." .. • 7

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