After 10 world championships in sixteen seasons and 85 NHRA national event victories, Bob Glidden knows talent when he sees it. The Whiteland, Indiana-based drag racing icon says driver Justin Humphreys is the real deal.

Those who know Glidden are very much aware that he’s a straight-shooter regardless of how much money is on the line. He’s never political correct – just brutally honest.

Glidden has shown, as a crew chief, that if a driver doesn’t do justice to the art – he’ll point it out. On the flipside of that point, when one excels tremendously, they’ll draw his praise.

Glidden said it was no coincidence that Humphreys reached the Pro Stock final round at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, taking out Greg Anderson along the way.

“He’s got it,” Glidden said Tuesday via a telephone interview. “You can count on one hand the number of those drivers out there today that have it and he’s one of them. All he needs is a fast car and he’ll win more than his share of races.

After 10 world championships in sixteen seasons and 85 NHRA national event victories, Bob Glidden knows talent when he sees it. The Whiteland, Indiana-based drag racing icon says driver Justin Humphreys is the real deal.

Those who know Glidden are very much aware that he’s a straight-shooter regardless of how much money is on the line. He’s never political correct – just brutally honest.

Glidden has shown, as a crew chief, that if a driver doesn’t do justice to the art – he’ll point it out. On the flipside of that point, when one excels tremendously, they’ll draw his praise.

Glidden said it was no coincidence that Humphreys reached the Pro Stock final round at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, taking out Greg Anderson along the way.

“He’s got it,” Glidden said Tuesday via a telephone interview. “You can count on one hand the number of those drivers out there today that have it and he’s one of them. All he needs is a fast car and he’ll win more than his share of races.

I believe that Justin will be as good as I was at my best,” That’s how much confidence I have in him. He’s got nerves of steel. You have to have that confidence that when you get behind the wheel you’re the baddest cat in the whole staging lanes. He’s just got it. That’s all. - Bob Glidden

“He’s got a great attitude and wants to get better with every run. I made it clear to him from the beginning that he could do it his way or he could do it mine. He wants to do it in the way that makes him better with every run.”

Glidden said Humphreys has already proven to be an excellent student of the game.

“He listens to everything you say,” Glidden said. “If I tell him what he needs to work on, he works on it with every run. He comes back and asks how he did.”

Glidden said that he and engine builder Richard Maskin are working on providing a faster car for Humphreys, a driver he’s already labeling an up and coming legend.

And, it is not in Glidden’s nature to be a braggart.

“I just tell it like it is,” Glidden said. “How many drivers have you seen go out there and do this for a number of races that you can go out and brag on. I can tell you a couple of other drivers that have it.

“That Dave [Connolly] for sure, so is Greg [Anderson] and that Jeg [Coughlin, Jr.] have it. Don’t give that Jeg a scent or he’ll cut your throat on the track. I told Justin at the race in Las Vegas that Connolly and Anderson were worried about one another, but that Jeg is going to win the championship. And, he did.”

Glidden has seen the fantasy projections in other sports that compares sports greats of different eras in head-to-head competition. There’s a part of today’s Pro Stock that he wonders about when compared to his day.

“The same people are winning races today that won them back then as unbelievable as that may sound,” Glidden said. “Anderson got his education from Warren. He’s out here beating everyone now.

“Cagnazzi is doing it a little different way. But still, a lot of the technology they use comes from Anderson. It’s all the same today. It takes a special person to get in one of these Pro Stockers and believe in themselves to be able to get the job done.

“No one is going to be perfect and these guys are leaving with .00 and .01 lights. You can have a .02 light, which is pretty darn good, and still get beat. You’re not going to be perfect every time. But the guys who can go out there and have those great lights excel.”

That kind of competitiveness in a class that he once ruled with an iron fist could easily find Glidden living vicariously through Humphreys.

“I believe that Justin will be as good as I was at my best,” Glidden said. “That’s how much confidence I have in him. He’s got nerves of steel. You have to have that confidence that when you get behind the wheel you’re the baddest cat in the whole staging lanes. He’s just got it. That’s all.

“He gets out of the car and he’s a humble man. That’s a clear-cut sign when you’ve got it.”