Glidden

[Butch]

Of all the legends at Indy Bob looked the worst.
In the interview it seemed to me he had trouble getting enough air to speak at times.
It was a good interview, I never knew his wife also drove. And I like most probably never heard of him till Pro Stock.

 

[turbo ken]

He did have a heart attack in 1994, and I think he used to smoke cigarettes.

 

[mw6789]

Glidden raced super stock Fords out of the Ford dealership where he worked as a line mechanic before racing pro stock. Always heard back in the day, he lived on coffee and cigarettes. Hope he is not having problems though. I am a GM guy through and through, but I still always admired Bob and Etta Glidden. Still remember having a conversation with Etta at Baton Rouge in the early 80's as she rebuilt the Lenco.

 

[Jim]

I didn't notice having breathing difficulty but, his appearance (IMHO) hasn't changed much in 10 years. He seems to be "on top of things".

FWIW: Guys like Glidden and the Professor always seemed to work their a**es off in the shop and at the track. That'll get to you.

 

[Clark W.]

Talk about going back in time! Watching Billy and his wife thrash on that car between the second round win was amazing. I went back in time 30 years watching them work on that car. Looked just like Bob and Etta busting it to get ready for the next round. It was really cool to see them work as a team without the aid of a big team and we had fan access anywhere you wanted. No ropes or security. Just stay out of the way. Bob and Etta in the pits observing was interesting also. It was awesome!

 

[Nick]

Give the guy a break. 70 years old. Former smoker. Workaholic. I hope I look that good at 70. Shoot, I hope I'm alive at 70!

 

[Bobby Bennett]

http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/28990-the-torch-has-passed-for-bob-and-etta

 

[DrRocket]

I remember one year at Brainerd I saw Bob approaching me 0n the return road in his car (They were still driving them back to the pits. That shows you how long ago this was.) He saw me aiming my camera at him. He clicked it off, came to a stop, and made sure I got a couple of good pics before resuming his journey back. I'll see if I can dig those up. I believe he was in his Probe that day.

 

[Nunz]

I was at Indy to see Billy run his first Five, and I think he went 5.95 and 5.93 so far in qualifying at St.Louis. He's making real progress! Nice to see the Glidden name in the mix.

 

[Sandman]

I was always a Bob Glidden fan back in the day, but during his racing days, I never was lucky enough to catch him when he wasn't busy during my one race a year visit to Sears Point. But then a few years ago, when he was crew chief for Tom Martino, I happened to be lucky enough to find him with a little time on his hands and asked him if I could get a picture with him. He acted like I was the one doing HIM the favor! He put his arm around me while my buddy snapped the pic, then grabbed one of their cards out of the holder and signed it. Not some illegible scribble, either. He is truly worthy of hero status in the drag racing world.

 

[Pete]

When Bob sat to sign autographs, at the back of his trailer, he would stay until the last one was signed. He knew the importance of the fans and what they (we) mean to the sport.

 

[Demon]

Was in Glidden's pit when he ran the Arrow at Gainesville.I asked if I could take some close up's of the car ..Bob says "You can take pictures of everything except inside the trailer"