Dallas Glenn erased a year’s worth of frustration Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, driving his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro to victory in the Dodge NHRA Nevada Nationals and taking a commanding points lead into the NHRA Finals at Pomona.
Glenn, the Pro Stock points leader, delivered a 6.602-second pass at 206.61 mph to defeat Matt Hartford in the final round. It was Glenn’s eighth win of the 2025 season and 21st of his career, marking his third Las Vegas victory and a symbolic turnaround from last year’s first-round exit that derailed his title hopes.
“Definitely very satisfying,” Glenn said. “Coming in with a very similar points lead to last year and then losing first round and having to sit and watch that lead go to negative, it definitely is a much better feeling sitting here holding the trophy this time. It hasn’t really hit me yet, but it feels amazing.”
Last fall, Glenn’s early loss allowed Greg Anderson to complete a stunning comeback and win the championship in Pomona. This year, the storyline reversed. Glenn beat Anderson in the semifinals with a sharp .026-second reaction time and a 6.606 at 206.92 to seal a holeshot victory, then turned in a nearly flawless .006 light against Hartford to close the deal.
The win extended Glenn’s points lead to 92 over Anderson entering the season finale, a far more comfortable margin than the four-driver logjam that haunted him last November. “I’ve got so much more confidence in the car this year,” Glenn said. “Maybe it’s because it’s just me and Greg going forward, or maybe because I got all the nervousness out last year with that incredible points battle. This year I feel way more relaxed, way less nervous. I was a wreck last year.”
Glenn said experience has changed his approach. “Going into Pomona last year where four people could win it, it’s not a great feeling — but at least you’re one of them,” he said. “Now we’ve got a good lead. We just need to go up there and continue doing what we’ve been doing. I’m just taking it one round at a time.”
The win came at a time when parity across the Pro Stock class has tightened. “If you look at the qualifying sheet, you can go a 5.59 and be number two, or you can go a 6.61 and be 14th,” Glenn said. “It’s definitely narrowed up a whole bunch. We’ve had to tighten the belts a little tighter and still keep the momentum going.”
That focus carried him through a pressure-packed Sunday. He opened eliminations by defeating Dave Connolly, followed by a pivotal second-round victory over 10-time Vegas winner Erica Enders, then dispatched Anderson and Hartford in back-to-back rounds to close the day.
Facing Anderson — his teammate and mentor — in the semifinals brought extra weight. “That was a big 40-point swing with that win light,” Glenn said. “Even though that round felt like a win to me, now it becomes the chance to really put the damage on. But then you can definitely go and put the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. Who wants cake without icing?”
Hartford, meanwhile, reached the final round for the fourth time this season and 21st of his career by beating Deric Kramer, Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Jeg Coughlin Jr. But Glenn’s consistency and poise were too much to overcome.
Glenn credited his steady demeanor to lessons learned from 2024’s painful ending. “I don’t know how all these champions have done this so many times,” he said. “But now, having that experience has definitely helped. I just kept working on it, getting a little better and a little better every round.”
The 33-year-old North Carolina native said he isn’t celebrating just yet, even with a nearly 100-point lead. “I still need to do good in Pomona,” Glenn said. “You can’t take anything for granted in this class.”
After years of near-misses, Glenn’s breakthrough season has been built on balance and precision.
His focus now shifts to the 60th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, where he’ll attempt to secure his first NHRA world championship. “We’ve had a phenomenal car all year long,” Glenn said. “It’s time to close it out. We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
If Las Vegas was redemption, Pomona could be coronation. For Glenn, the lesson from last year remains simple: control what you can, forget what you can’t, and finish the job.
