BROC GLOVER : View From On Top Has Been Pleasant for Motocross Rider

‘I got very sick of team sports. If you try hard and do well but nobody else on your teams does, you lose. I hate to lose.’

Broc Glover

Broc Glover knows what it is like to be on top of the world.

From his home atop the East County estates, the most prominent motocross rider in America can seemingly see forever.

On a clear day, he must feel as if he can reach out and touch the Coronado bridge. The edge of Point Loma serves as a backdrop, as do the Coronado islands to the south.

Glover lives in a custom-built, 5,000-square-foot house that was completed in May, 1983, at a cost in excess of $600,000. Motorcycle racing has made the five-time national champion a multimillionaire at age 24.

Racing alone hasn’t made Glover rich, of course, but his sponsors have. Although races such as Saturday night’s Supercross at Jack Murphy Stadium pay only $1,100 to the winner, Glover earned more than $500,000 in 1984.

Sponsors take care of him from head to toe. He gets paid for everything he uses from his motorcycle to his clothes to his goggles. Yamaha reportedly is paying him $1-million on a three-year contract that expires in December.

When visited this week, Glover was dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a polo shirt.

Glover and his two dogs--a female Irish setter, Obie, and a male Siberian husky, Turbo--had just taken an early-morning, six-mile run. The dogs run with Glover each day as he gains the endurance he needs for racing. After the run, Glover had spent the next hour on the phone making business calls. He was happy that peace had been restored to the house just before his company arrived.

“When it’s dead quiet around here,” Glover said, “it’s nice.”

Nice, it is. On the entry level of the split-level home a pool table, wet bar and video game room can be found. Downstairs is a pool and Jacuzzi he uses for workouts and relaxation. He also has a chrome-accented weight room.

There also are “toys” that betray Glover’s true interest--speed. The most prominent object in his garage is a black Porsche 930. He also owns a Chevy Blazer, eight motorcycles, two dune buggies, a Datsun four-wheel drive and two boats, one of which he races.

There are other signs of his interest in speed. Outside the home in the surrounding hills are man-made paths created by Glover’s joy riding over the underbrush.

Yet, despite what racing has done for Glover, he tries to lead a balanced life. There is more to Broc Glover than wheelies and jumps.

“I have a lot of friends in racing,” he said, “but most of my friends are out of racing. After a while, I get to where I don’t want to talk that much about racing.”

However, friends say Glover rarely keeps quiet for long.

“He talks a lot,” fellow racer Scott Burnworth said. “It seems like whenever you have a conversation with him, you can never talk. He’s usually the center of attention. He’s always carrying on and making jokes. You know he’s there.”

Rider Ricky Johnson said: “He’s his own person and does what he wants. He’s very strong-minded, but I think he’s a good person. Because he is strong-minded, he’ll tell you what he thinks. Some people don’t like him because of that. But no one hates him that I can think of.”

If there is one thing Glover dislikes about motocross, it’s the travel.

When he’s not racing in Southern Califor nia, he spends virtually every weekend flying somewhere. He almost always tries to get in and out of town as quickly as possible.

His contract with Yamaha also requires him to make about 10 appearances a year at dealer shows around the country. Sometimes, he is called on without much notice.

Last year, he made a rare month-long promotional trip to Europe but generally limits his travel time.

“I would never allow myself to be gone for more than two weeks,” he said. “You start going through drastic mental burnout.”

Burnout comes fast in motocross. Glover already is at an age where he soon may have to consider retirement. The average age of the 13 motocross riders under sponsorship contracts is 22.

“I’ll probably go on another two or three years,” Glover said. “The traveling is what does it. You get sick of travel and it reflects on your performance. You can start becoming a has-been. Once my career ends, I think I’ll be able to go on to something new.”

Among Glover’s considerations is a possible movie career.

He played himself in the made-for-television CBS movie “Stormin’ Home” that has yet to be aired. The movie, which stars Gil Gerard (who played Buck Rogers in a past serial), involves a wealthy racer’s interaction with a poor racer. Glover is neither of the two racers. He simply plays Broc Glover, who wins the featured race over the shows’ two stars.

There also is talk about a Saturday morning cartoon series that would feature Glover and several other American motocross riders.

“If I had to end my career today, I’d miss it,” Glover said. “I’d say motorcycling dictates my life, but it’s not my whole life. There’s an inner struggle to be a champion, and I was fortunate to achieve my goals. I won five national championships, and my goal was to win one.”

As a child, Glover had dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. He wanted to be the next Brooks Robinson because, “He was the only guy diving for balls back then.”

But by age 14, Glover was turned off by baseball.

“I got very sick of team sports,” he said. “If you try hard and do well but nobody else on your teams does, you lose. I hate to lose.”

Motocross clearly is an individual sport.

Glover began his motocross racing career in an unusual way. When he was 14, he was offered a chance to use a friend’s motorcycle in a novice race if he washed and polished the bike.

“It was OK with my dad but not my mom,” Glover said. “I got into trouble and didn’t race for another year.”

Within the next year, Glover’s parents were divorced. He was left feeling empty. Living with one parent, he had a little money--and one old motorcycle.

Finally, he received his mother’s reluctant approval to begin racing again. He began his comeback by winning an age-group series for 100cc bikes.

But the turning point of Glover’s career may have been the day his father came to watch him race.

“When my dad came out, my bike broke the first race,” Glover said. “He’s kind of a perfectionist like I am. He knew the bike didn’t have to break. He knew if he fixed the bike, it wouldn’t break.”

Richard Glover did more than fix the bike. He called Broc to his office one day, presenting his son with a new motorcycle.

From there, Glover’s career blossomed. He raced two times a week in Southern California for 1 1/2 years and was quite successful.

By the time he was a junior at Valhalla High School, Glover was traveling the motocross circuit. He had won two national championships by the time he graduated from high school in 1978.

What makes Glover so good?

“He’s a real mature, smooth rider,” Ricky Johnson said. “He’s very tactical and consistent. He’s real smart when he rides and doesn’t take many chances.”

“He’s not a real radical rider,” Scott Burnworth said. “He’s real smooth and doesn’t take a lot of chances. He’s pretty dedicated and he likes to win.”

And Broc Glover has won enough to build himself a castle on the hill.