Nhra Photo of the Week. Bob Glidden (2 Viewers)

[Just Paul]

NHRA.com Photo of the Week presented by Auto Imagery


Man, that looks like a fun ride. I think that car is way cooler then todays pro stocks. This shot is from Brainerd MN 1986.

P.S. This is Bobs back up car from 1985- His '86 car was destroied in his famous crash in Atlanta.

 

[willy]

That just has badass written all over it doesn't it?

Oh..and along with #1 on the winder..hehe

 

[Just Paul]

YouTube - Dragster crash

TNN original boradcast, then edited for Decade of Thrills or something.

Just listening to Steve Evans call the run goes to show why nobody will come close to his broadcasting skills for drag racing on TV. His love of the sport can be felt with every pair he announced go down the track.


Good old Bob got out, hand bleeding really bad, took his jacket off and covered his carbs/intake.

 

[willy]

"I'd like to thank my chassis builder"

That was a bad one.

 

[cone]

That picture is awesome, Billy and Rusty in the back ground also. Man, I miss the Gliddens in Pro Stock.

 

[Too many to list here]

That just has badass written all over it doesn't it?

Oh..and along with #1 on the winder..hehe

Badass is correct!!
Thats a great shot!

 

[nick name]

"I'd like to thank my chassis builder"

That was a bad one.

Trivia time: The chassis builder was a new guy who was trying to break into the big time chassis business. Up to that time he'd been known mainly for the Alston backhalf jobs he produced in his garage just behind his house.

Glidden's previous Thunderbird was built by Gene Lynch of Gateway Chassis in St. Louis. The new builder was also in that area and finally got Glidden to try one of his cars. His name is Jerry Haas, and this nasty accident changed the face of Pro Stock in more ways than one.

Trivia time: The original rendering for the car had the headlights painted red to continue the theme around the front. Jim Hooker painted them that way and had to undo his work when NHRA tech said no way.

And a final thought while looking at the great photo: During those days, if you really missed on your setup you would be straightening a rocker panel and/or quarter panel. Just on one side, though.

 

[Horsepower & Heels]

Love that car... but then again, I'm biased!

Gateway built my chassis as well, also a pro stocker, but not of the Glidden fame. Mine was built in 1986.

Still a great car, 20 years later!

 

[willy]

Great shot, Erica.

 

[nick name]

Love that car... but then again, I'm biased!

Gateway built my chassis as well, also a pro stocker, but not of the Glidden fame. Mine was built in 1986.

Still a great car, 20 years later!

I never knew that about your Bird. I'm pretty impressed that the tubing is still handling that turbo HP after all these years.

 

[Horsepower & Heels]

The only changes that were made to the car was adding a double framerail, done by Parker Chassis and adding 4 more bars to complete the current requirements for SFI (roof diagonal, additional bars in the driver's encapulation, etc.).

Works pretty darn well for being 20 years old. Spoke to Gateway when I bought the car, (I believe he has since passed) and he stated that the car was overbuilt for its time, so he was confident that not much would be needed to certify it for current spec. He was right.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

YouTube - Dragster crashGood old Bob got out, hand bleeding really bad, took his jacket off and covered his carbs/intake.

I remember that too, Paul! Everybody is smothering him, Etta is hysterical, and the first thing the first thing to go through his head is covering up the intake!

Sean D

 

[willy]

Man..after all this time I thought that Warren was in the other lane..because I remember Arlene and Etta just hugging hard at the starting line. I remember seeing Etta greet Bob at the top end as well, Sean. As always Bob didn't show much emotion..but you could see he was grateful..don't believe he ever had anything worse than that one..whew..nasty.

 

[Bob]

Isn't that the crash where he got out of the car and put his jacket on the intake manifold so no one could see what he was doing to make all of that power?

 

["Chuck"]

I guess you know you got the drag racing bug pretty badly when you flip the lid that bad and the first thing you do is get out of your car and cover your intake system with a jacket lol...bob glidden is the man.

 

[Bullet]

Man..after all this time I thought that Warren was in the other lane..because I remember Arlene and Etta just hugging hard at the starting line. I remember seeing Etta greet Bob at the top end as well, Sean. As always Bob didn't show much emotion..but you could see he was grateful..don't believe he ever had anything worse than that one..whew..nasty.

I do remember that Bob won that round, which was a semi-final, so in effect the other semi-final was actually the final as the winner had a bye in the final.

 

[Greggo]

I do remember that Bob won that round, which was a semi-final, so in effect the other semi-final was actually the final as the winner had a bye in the final.

Correct... WJ won the other semi-final and the race.

 

[Nitrohaulic]

Isn't that the crash where he got out of the car and put his jacket on the intake manifold so no one could see what he was doing to make all of that power?

That's the trivia question I was going to post! "What was the first thing Bob did when he got out of the car?"

Since you answered the question before I posted it, I guess you red lighted! See ya next weekend.

A lot of hearts sank over that one after Lee Shepherd's passing. That's the first time I ever heard that it was a stroud line that broke. Always heard it was a crosswind.

You guys are right. Listen to the way the suspense was built. The excitement in the announcer's voice when he said "Identical reaction times!" Just seemed more serious.

A LOT of bracket T-birds were inspired by those cars.

I remember a National Dragster ad by Bob from that era. $1.8 million got you his current engine. Another $200,000 got you the car and shop in Whiteland, IN.

 

[Bullet]

I remember a National Dragster ad by Bob from that era. $1.8 million got you his current engine. Another $200,000 got you the car and shop in Whiteland, IN.

That's GOLD! Pure genius!

 

[The Swegian]

A lot of hearts sank over that one after Lee Shepherd's passing. That's the first time I ever heard that it was a stroud line that broke. Always heard it was a crosswind.

If you look closely on the video in slo-mo replay, you can see the chute seems to not fully blossom, apparently due to the broken line. Like everyone else, I always remember Bob emerging from the car and covering up the intake.