Pro
Stock living legend Bob Glidden was at this year’s 53rd U.S. Nationals
serving as a consultant for the Knoll Gas Energy car driven by Justin
Humphries, and recently we had a chance to catch up with the second-winningest
Pro Stock driver of all time to discuss his Indy success, among other
things.
Glidden was great at every track he went to, but he was especially
dominant at the U.S. Nationals, winning an incredible 9 times in an
equally impressive 13-straight final round appearances. What set
Glidden apart from the competition?
“We were very lucky,” said a humble Glidden. “We always seemed to have
the absolute best luck at this race track. Other than that, what helped
us more than anything was the fact that we dynoed our engines in Indy
air, so we may have been more prepared engine-wise than our competition
for the simple fact that we live here.”
Glidden won at this famous venue many times, but as most any driver
will tell you, any win at Indy is the crown jewel of a career, even if
you only do it once. That makes it impossible for Glidden to pick out
his favorite U.S. Nationals victory.
“I’ve been asked which one was the most special many times,” Glidden
said. “All of them were special. I would say the most special win of my
career wasn’t here at Indy, it was actually my last one in Denver. I
can’t separate one U.S. Nationals from another, so they all rank up
there for me.”