When Cory Reed made the transition to a full-time Pro Stock driver, plenty of people had their doubts about what he could accomplish.
Reed proved his doubters wrong.
Reed, driving a Camaro for KB Titan Racing, won one race — Norwalk, Ohio — had two semifinal finishes, and finished fifth in the points standings.
Along for the ride was Reed’s best friend, Joey Gladstone, who works on his car’s clutch and transmission, among other things.
“It was definitely a great year, man,” Gladstone said. “We learned a lot about the class and how to race the class. Cory had success, he got his first win, and he was consistently qualifying in the top half of the field and going around. So, it was a very successful year, and I’m definitely pleased with that.”
Reed compiled a 17-16 elimination-round record, and Gladstone was a key part of the success.
“So, on that car, I do the clutch and transmission. In between rounds, we build transmissions. Well, first thing’s first, we service the clutch and get it ready to make another run and then wait for the crew chiefs to make their decision on what we’re going to do as far as the transmission goes, and then we build the transmission, and put it in the car, and get it ready to go,” Gladstone said.
“And then also, I oversee the car in more of a car chief role, where you just keep an eye on everything, make sure everything is nut-and-bolted, all your fluid levels are right. Yeah, things like that.”
Gladstone had nothing but praise for the world championship team led by NHRA Pro Stock’s all-time winningest driver Greg Anderson and 2025 NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Dallas Glenn.
“The group of people here that are teaching us this stuff, there’s no better teachers. They’re not going to let us go astray,” Gladstone said. “And they’ve got all the knowledge of 25 years of doing this stuff, so it’s been a joy learning from them and tackling new challenges.”
Mix in a great team and Reed’s ability, and Gladstone wasn’t stunned by Reed’s 2025 results.
“Cory’s a natural talent. He can do whatever he puts his mind to,” Gladstone said. “And I knew if we just made as little mistakes as possible and let the crew chiefs and tuners have good shots at the racetrack, that we were going to have success.”
“It was just up to us to not mess up. So, if you give those guys enough chances at tuning the car and going down the racetrack, they’re going to successfully get it down the racetrack and it’s going to go fast.”
“I’ve seen the way they do things, so I definitely had high expectations. My expectations were exceeded a bit with winning and stuff, because that’s very, very hard to do.”
“But no, I’m not surprised. I think next year it’s very possible for us to have a top-three finish, if not top two, maybe even take a run at it (a world championship).”
Gladstone knows reaching the Pro Stock summit is a work in progress.
“It’s going to depend on if we can get up to the level of driving and the amount of experience that Dallas has and Greg has,” Gladstone said. “There’s a reason why those guys were duking it out all year like that — it’s because they don’t make mistakes.”
“Or very, very, very rarely do they make mistakes. So, man, that’s what it’s about. Make as few mistakes as possible, and if you’re going up against a guy like Greg or Dallas, then you’ve got to be able to capitalize if they make a mistake.”
Reed, who beat Glenn in the finals to capture the Norwalk Wally, is preparing to compete in the full Pro Stock season of 20 national events in 2026. The season begins with the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 6–8.
“And I know Cory’s planning on doing … he’s been doing some grudge racing and radial tire stuff. In the next year, he’s going to just race at the winter series, he’s going to do that all winter, and then I think the weekends that don’t interfere with Pro Stock next year, he’s going to be doing that as well,” Gladstone said.
“So, he’ll have a pretty busy year next year.”
Gladstone was a standout driver in his own right when he and Reed were running the Reed Motorsports Pro Stock Motorcycle team for several years.
Gladstone’s best season came in 2022 when he piloted a Suzuki to three wins and finished second in the season points standings — just 82 points behind world champion Matt Smith.
Those days seem like forever ago to Gladstone now.
“I mean, it’s going to sound bad, but I kind of realized how much I didn’t know about how to make a naturally aspirated vehicle go down the racetrack quickly. There’s stuff that I’ve learned and seen here that I was never taught,” Gladstone said.
“And it’s the stuff that’s never even discussed in the realm of my Pro Stock Motorcycle career.”
“Some things do relate and there are a lot of similarities, but like I said, some of the stuff … like the attention to detail is definitely a big thing for me as far as the difference, things that we always said, ‘Oh, that doesn’t matter, that doesn’t matter.’ Then you come here (to Pro Stock) and find out that stuff really does matter.”
“And even stuff that you never would have thought of that you even look at or check is important.”
Gladstone also said he’s keeping the door open to possibly driving again — in some form — if the right situation presented itself.
“I mean, I’d love to. I don’t know if my riding career is over. It’s just, it’s got to be the right opportunity,” Gladstone said.
“It’s got to be the right bike. It’s got to all work. I work on Pro Stock cars, and that class is either right before or right after the bikes, so that would be kind of difficult to swing.”
“As far as driving a car, I mean, I definitely would, but you’ve got to find the money to do it.”
THE TEN – 2025 YEAR-END EDITION