Dallas Glenn grew up just miles from Pacific Raceways, spending his weekends bracket racing and dreaming of one day competing on drag racing’s biggest stage. On Sunday, the 33-year-old Pro Stock driver turned that dream into reality, winning his first career NHRA national event at his home track.
Glenn claimed his fourth victory of the season and the 17th of his career in the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals final, defeating Jeg Coughlin Jr. after Coughlin fouled at the start. Glenn, who lives in North Carolina but remains closely tied to the Seattle area, called the moment “really special.”
“I’ve got all of my family here, pretty much all of my sponsors here,” Glenn said. “My dad and my brother raced in Super Street, and I’ve had just a phenomenal race car. We’ve been doing a lot of testing, and it’s showing.”
The final didn’t go exactly as planned, Glenn admitted. He felt good through the burnout and staging, but as soon as he launched, he saw Coughlin’s red light and knew he just needed to stay in control and get down the track.
“If there was no win light, it was going back into second gear at a very high rate of speed,” he said. “But when I saw that big bright light, I knew I didn’t have to get too aggressive.”
For Glenn, the fan support at Pacific Raceways was evident throughout the weekend. Every pass was met with cheers, waves and shouts of encouragement from the grandstands.
“I grew up at the next exit,” Glenn said. “I raced here all the time, and I have a lot of friends here. You don’t see too many guys from around here doing this, so it’s pretty special to have people rally around me.”
Glenn said the reaction reminded him of watching his mentor, Greg Anderson, drive back up the return road to a chorus of cheers. “As a kid racing here, I never thought this would be possible,” he said.
The win also carried significance for Glenn’s KB Titan Racing team. Anderson, his teammate and four-time champion, went out early in eliminations, leaving Glenn to carry the banner for the organization against one of Pro Stock’s most accomplished drivers.
“I knew Jeg was going to come for me,” Glenn said. “I just tried to put everything else out of my mind, focus on the moment and do what I know how to do.”
Glenn acknowledged the mental challenge of lining up against a driver of Coughlin’s caliber. “When the best drivers have to dig deeper to try to beat you, that gives you a lot of confidence,” he said. “We’ve worked really hard this season. We’re not taking our foot off the gas.”
The result was also personal for Glenn, who lost to Coughlin in the Seattle final a year ago. “I definitely wanted some redemption from last year,” he said. “He schooled me then, but thankfully it worked out this time — even if it wasn’t exactly how we wanted it.”
The win came just weeks after Glenn announced a new sponsorship deal with HendrickCars.com, a partnership he said makes him feel like part of something bigger. “It’s kind of cool to think of myself as teammates with Kyle Larson and some of those guys,” he said. “It was a good weekend for Mr. Hendrick, with Brittany [Force] also in the finals.”
Glenn also debuted new equipment, including a lightweight, custom seat insert and a freshly painted helmet, part of a series of upgrades he’d been working on. “All of my new safety stuff is one-for-one,” he said. “It’s been working great.”
Even amid the celebrations, Glenn said he remains focused on his ultimate goal: a first Pro Stock championship. “We might have created our own luck here,” he said. “But you need luck, and you need to perform. We’re not ever going to take guys like Jeg lightly.”
As he stood in the media center surrounded by family, team members and well-wishers, Glenn summed up what the win meant to him and his hometown fans.
“This is something I always wanted to do,” he said. “It’s definitely really special. I feel like I’ve just been close enough in the past to taste it but not quite get it done. To finally do it here, in front of everyone who’s been with me from the start — it means everything.”
