This Time, He May Have Proven Himself : Rick Johnson Wins Supercross and Escapes Glover’s Shadow

By winning Saturday night’s San Diego Supercross at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, Rick Johnson hopes he accomplished more than taking the lead in the AMA Supercross season points standings: He hopes he finally proved himself to San Diego fans.

Broc Glover has been San Diego’s motocross hero since 1981, when he won his first of three 500cc national championships. Glover, a resident of El Cajon, was one of the most consistent and flashiest riders on the tour.

So, when Johnson joined Glover and El Cajon’s Ron Lechien and Scott Burnworth on the Yamaha team, the four were known as “Broc Glover and the El Cajon wrecking crew.”

The problem was Glover’s name was first, though Johnson had had plenty of success himself. He was the 1984 250cc national champion and held the points lead until he crashed during the 1983 season. That second-fiddle role gnawed at the 21-year-old Johnson, though he and Glover had been long-time friends and neighbors.

“I was always the No. 2 rider of the El Cajon wrecking crew,” Johnson said.

Johnson severed his formal relationship with Glover and the “wrecking crew” this season when he switched to Honda. But he said Glover’s shadow still often shaded him from San Diego fans.

Until Saturday night.

“I’d always hear people say, ‘Oh, did you see Broc Glover win at the stadium?’ ” Johnson said. “Now they can talk about me.”

Johnson’s riding Saturday night was worth talking about.

In the fourth six-lap qualifying heat that also featured David Bailey and defending-champion and Honda teammate Johnny O’Mara, Johnson rode away from the field. He got a good start on the muddy course and was never challenged after the first lap. That earned him a berth in the final.

He had little more trouble winning the 15-lap main event. O’Mara led the first four laps, but Johnson took the lead for good when O’Mara hit a rut and veered to the right on a turn. He rode nearly flawlessly, easily clearing the double jumps that had caused other riders trouble earlier in the night.

“I just wanted to stay consistent,” Johnson said. “I think that’s a good attitude. It makes me more relaxed.”

Last year’s Supercross national champion, Jeff Ward, tried to catch Johnson, but was never close enough to pass him. He finished second. Keith Bowen was a distant third.

O’Mara, who finished fourth, had a tough time just making it to the final. He looked more like a rookie when he finished seventh in the first heat and during most of the first semifinal.

He was sixth for the first four laps, far behind the leader Burnworth, but moved to third when three riders tried to make a triple jump into a double and crashed. To the elation of the announced crowd of 30,208, O’Mara moved into second, and the final, on the last lap when he passed a rider in midair on the same jump where the others had failed.

Glover, who was third in his heat, finished ninth. Bailey, who was the AMA points leader before Saturday night, was fifth. Burnworth was seventh.

The victory, coupled with a second in Anaheim and a third in Houston, gives Johnson a 67-63 lead in the standings over Bailey with nine Supercross races left. O’Mara is fourth with 56.

“I have to stay consistent the rest of the year,” Johnson said.

“I don’t want to go out and win every night, but just go out an finish second or third. If I do that, I have a good chance at the championship.”

And maybe a little respect.