No. [5] He won his 85th and final national event at the Mopar Nationals in 1995, after missing most of the 1995 season due to open heart surgery during the off season. But if EngineLabs is to be successful, our prying eyes and ears need to uncover at least a few of the latest and greatest tricks from the engine shops, the aftermarket and leading manufacturers. News, Racing It shows the Gliddens in the winner's circle after winning the 1978 Popular Hot Rodding Championships. Bob was a force to be reckoned with in his Pinto & Fairmont. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family and his dog Gabi Jo.He was preceded in death by his parents; and two brothers: Dick and Chuck Glidden. Happy holidays. 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CAPTION - Bob Glidden only ran one other manufacturer for one full season, when in 1979 he ran a factory deal with Chrysler. He was a true competitor who left a lasting legacy of excellence both on and off the track, NHRA president Peter Clifford said in a statement. Hed end each answer with DONE, the way someone from his era might have used a two-way radio and saying over. It was quaint and sweet and I think we broke some kind of ground there for online drag racing interviews, even if it was to just a dozen or so of us at the time. [5] He retired his Thunderbird after 19 national victories in favor of a Ford Probe at the Supernationals. In 1975, it's safe to say Glidden dominated Pro Stock, clinching seven wins, five number-one qualifiers, eight top speeds, and six low e.t. There is a problem with your email/password. 30 S. Water St., Second floor, Suite A, Franklin, IN 46131, Phone: (317) 736-7101 Toll free: (888) 736-7101. Please reset your password. EngineLabs is launching this week with the objective of analyzing the many avenues of engine technology, especially racing and street performance. They would have seen the size and shape of the ports and the angles of the plenum, says Glidden. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I'll see you next year. Learn more about merges. i was never a ford fan but you have to respect his racing. Market data provided by Factset. Glidden retired his undefeated Fairmont in favor of a Plymouth Arrow in 1979 and lost only three times all year. A Ford campaigner from the beginning, Glidden's success in Pro Stock stemmed from his apprenticeship in Stock and Super Stock. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Condolences to you and your family. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Ive read dozens of comments on message boards and Facebook this week talking about how accessible he would make himself, whether he was stopping his car in the pits for a fan to take photos or signing autographs in the hotel parking lot well past midnight. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. After finishing the 1978 season with seven straight victories, Glidden opened the 1979 season with a victory at the Winternationals and didn't lose a round until June, when a foul start in the second round of the Mile-High Nationals snapped his streak at 14 races and 50 rounds. "Everyone in the NHRA community is saddened to learn the news of Bob's passing," said NHRA President Peter Clifford. He quickly beat his own e.t. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. BOB GLIDDEN 1993 MOTORCRAFT PRO STOCK US NATIONALS 8X10 GLOSSY PHOTO #7. We'll send you raw engine tech articles, news, features, and videos every week from EngineLabs. Check out the photo below, too. This was about 43% of all the recorded Glidden's in USA. By the late 1960s though, Glidden had started competing in organized drag racing. After struggling early in the season, he won five of the last seven races en route to his fourth straight title. By Linnea Crowther April 25, 2023. Glidden sold his two Super Stock Mustangs in 1972 and purchased a Pinto Pro Stocker from Wayne Gapp and Jack Roush and made an immediate impact. [1] Glidden retired as the driver with the most wins in National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) history at that time a feat recently topped by 16-time Funny Car champion John Force and he was the third-most successful drag racer of the professional class drivers sixth when counting sportsman national event winners at the time of his death. Betsey M. Bessie Glidden, daughter of George Henry Glidden (1843-1921)and Viola Clementine Lindsey (1850-1915), married John Foster MacDonald 5 Oct 1904 Whitefield, Coos, New Hampshire; and Benjamin Harrison Dodge 25 Apr 1913 Plymouth, Grafton, new Hampshire. After that season, both he and Ford teammate Rickie Smith debuted new w Ford Thunderbirds at the 1983 season opening Winternationals at Pomona. Remembering an NHRA legend and Pro Stock icon, a racer's racer and a champion for all times. Unlike his 1979 championship season, Glidden won his third straight and fifth title in 1980 in dramatic fashion. We watched Bob and Etta gracefully grow older, but forever can picture the family hitching a hoop to their trailer and playing basketball in the pits as if they were playing in their own driveway. Unlike his previous years, he started the season strong. based on information from your browser. Bob Glidden, one of the greatest champions in the history of NHRA drag racing, announced his retirement Tuesday to devote his time to developing engines for NASCAR Winston Cup stock cars. [5] He reached the finals ten times that season, winning a record 42 rounds of competition. He later added runs of three consecutive titles, from 1978 to 1980, and five straight titles from 1985 to 1989. He graduated from Spencer High School in 1956.Following high school he enlisted in the United States Navy and served from 1956-60 on USS Loeser destroyer escort.He married Diana Christensen April 1961. Windom, Cottonwood County, Minnesota, USA, Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA. Glidden was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame in America in 1994 and ranked fourth on the list of top drivers from the NHRAs first 50 years in 2000. He sold his two Super Stock Mustangs late in the season 1972, and purchased a Pro Stock Pinto from Jack Roush and Wayne Gapp. How he always treated everyone with respect, even if it was just in passing. [5] He won nine times that season, ending the 1980s with 49 wins. He retired from driving in 1997, going to work on Fords NASCAR engine development program, but was back behind the wheel by 98, driving a Pontiac in the U.S. Nationals. Resend Activation Email. Hes the third member of the Top 10 of the famed Top 50 Racers list to leave us (preceded by Bill Jenkins and Dale Armstrong) and 18 of the 50 are now deceased, but this one really stings. Sorry! Autoweek participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Glidden would routinely spend upwards of 16 hours a day working in his shop, Dillman said. [5], Glidden retired his undefeated Ford Fairmont in 1979 in favor of a Plymouth Arrow. Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences are with the Glidden family at this difficult time.. If before reading this you weren't familiar with Bob Glidden, you've probably seen his epic crash in 1986 in . What was the big secret? He won several IHRA races and won one IHRA championship.[3]. It pulled the back of the car hard right and sent it head-on into the opposite guardrail. All the world was a colorful Circus when Bob Gerdes painted race cars, Top Fuel dynasties: Torrence, Schumacher, Dixon, Garlits, Amato, Shirley, Beck, Some top-shelf books that every drag racing history fan should check out, Yeah, but what if? Market data provided by Factset. I think we were all enthralled that this gentle Hoosier, his wife, and two sons were kicking everyones butts. The big difference is that The Beard only won four times in his Top Fuel career but shared three of them with Glidden: 1976 Winternationals, 1984 Englishtown, and 1989 Sonoma. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? Year should not be greater than current year. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Again, if you exclude the three Sportsman hitters (which I am loathe to do but will for point of emphasis), Glidden is still sixth overall. He won three major events, two of which were the Spring and U.S. Nationals. Oops, we were unable to send the email. You can squawk about the high-stakes involved in Formula 1 and sports car prototypes, but the ultra-close racing in Pro Stock over the years indicates there is a very high-octane rivalry yet competitive balance going on between the major engine builders. NHRA history: Is it real or Artificial Intelligence? There is a problem with your email/password. The World's largest gravesite collection. Warren Johnson is second with 138, 16 more than Glidden. [5] Glidden had an off year in 1976, finishing sixth in the points. I know that I have to hustle to win and that I have to go all out to afford to race.". (Richard Tharp won Top Fuel over Shirley Muldowney and Raymond Beadle won Funny Car; I was in fan-turned-writer heaven.). (BTW, there will be a story on that very topic coming soon!). Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. Pro Stock teams go to extreme lengths to conceal their engines from prying eyes. (12-6), Lee Shepherd (10-9), and Frank Iaconio (8-5). Oops, we were unable to send the email. Failed to delete flower. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. [5] It was the first of his three straight victories. One of the most fortified cornerstones of any engine programwhether at the OEMs, on a major race team or in a weekend warriors garageis secrecy. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Glidden received a new Thunderbird in the middle of the 1984 season, and it quickly became the dominant car on the Pro Stock circuit. Bob Glidden later declared the nitrous oxide system in Rusty's car was detection-proof. Glidden was a dag racer who I seen sometimes when I was racing on dirt. In 1840 there were 70 Glidden families living in Maine. He is survived by his wife Etta and their sons Rusty and Billy. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. 1 qualifiers: 102Class rank: 2 Overall rank: 3As he does with most stats, Force leads the pack with a staggering 155 pole positions. A system error has occurred. I met a former partner (Bobby Allen) while working in the used cars business in Ft. Wayne IN. record, and beat Gapp in the final round. This is a carousel with slides. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Late in 1994, Glidden suffered a heart attack, but even this didn't keep him down for long. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. Following. We did everything in-house, says Glidden, who won five straight Pro Stock titles from 1985 to 1989. [5] He used the Probe to win at the Fallnationals, which was his 67th career victory. and top speed in his final-round victory over Frank Iaconio. Glidden won 85 NHRA National Events. He won it back to back in 1978-79, again in 1983, then won an incredible four straight, 1985-88. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. I loved him dearly, Dillman said. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. He won three events including the Springnationals and U.S. Nationals. Glidden earned the nickname Mad Dog due to his intense work ethic. [3] Among his numerous accomplishments, Glidden won nine straight NHRA national races in 1979 and was the No. He was an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Orrington Historical Society, and the First United Methodist Church where he contributed much time and energy. record at 7.277 seconds, the quickest Pro Stock run in NHRA history. 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Glidden won seven times in 1975, including at the Winternationals, Gatornationals, Fallnationals, and World Finals, to capture his second consecutive Winston title. [2] In the Professional classes, he was behind Force (147) and Warren Johnson (97). His last real competitive pass came in 2003, and he did return to the track in 2010 to consult with another team. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. U.S. Nationals wins: 9Class rank: 1 Overall rank: 3Only Frank Manzo (11) and Tony Schumacher (10) have more wins at the Big Go than native Hoosier Glidden (at the time of the video at right, he was still the winningest). Only Darrell Alderman and his controversial Dodge, really got the better of Glidden at 1-4. And now were one less, and what the heck else could be on my mind and in this this column today? He was a very curious guy. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Event wins: 85Class rank: 3 Overall rank: 7Warren Johnson (97 wins) is the overall class leader and, make of it what you will, won 49 on his victories after Gliddens final win (1995 Englishtown). Whos on the ballot? record of 7.277, the fastest in NHRA Pro Stock history at that time and won the championship. cemeteries found in Orrington, Penobscot County, Maine, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. We both kind of came up the same way, both cut from the same mold; he was a line mechanic and I painted cars. I remember when he crashed at Fremont, his car lay on its side. After barrel rolling six or seven times, Glidden crawled out of the rollcage and shrugged off the safety crew only to remove his fire jacket and place it over the intake manifold. Hed work all night long on his stuff looking for more power, and he was doing it by hand, not on a CNC machine. The Drag Racers Forum, created by longtime Division 2 Super Street racer Bob Williams, got together every Friday night to bench race and share our love of the sport. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. They were every part of that victory as their dad was. Please try again later. Force shared this comment with us: We all know what Bob Glidden has accomplished in a lifetime. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. After a victory at the Mile-High Nationals in July that year, he went on to win six of the seven final races of the season. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, I had been a fan for years before coming to NHRA, and my first road trip national event as a member of the National Dragster staff was the 1983 Springnationals in Columbus, which Glidden won. six times, and he did it with three different cars, including his old '74 Pinto, which he reacquired after a midseason slump. He spent most of the season chasing points leader Lee Shepherd and the Reher-Morrison Camaro. Upon his moving to the professional ranks, Glidden quit being a full-time mechanic and sold his two Cobra Jets to buy a Pro Stock Pinto from Wayne Gapp and Jack Roush. There was a problem getting your location. I have so many good memories of the Glidden family over the years. Search above to list available cemeteries. By the end of the season, Glidden tied Don Prudhomme's record of most national event wins in one season and broke the Pro Stock single-season record of six set by "Grumpy" Jenkins in '72. He is survived by and will be much missed by his loving children, Judy Patterson and her husband Vern, Gail Rowe and her husband Jim, and Dave Glidden and his wife Robin, his grandson Paul Patterson and his granddaughter Corina (Glidden) Fitzgerald and her husband, Chris who have been caring for him in his home since 2014. Ginnie Newhart, the wife of famed comedian Bob Newhart who came up with the innovative idea for how to conclude . Glidden leaves behind his wife Etta their sons Rusty and Billy. [5] Glidden was unhurt. He will be missed. It came as a shock this Monday morning to learn that drag racing legend Bob Glidden had passed away on Sunday evening. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. For those who raced with him on local streets many decades ago, when he and his friends put every spare dollar they had into their cars, news of his death has hit particularly hard. How about some more Bob Glidden numbers? Bob drove Ford's almost exclusively throughout his career, at times carrying the banner virtually on his own. He qualified number one 23 consecutive times and claimed nine national victories. Glidden began his drag racing career in the 1960s in a Ford 427 Fairlane. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Search memorial contributions by Connie Lagasse Russell. R.I.P. It was his whole life. And such a nice guy. In 2000 he retired and helped his wife Bonnie with her grooming business, Mutt Cuts.He married Bonnie Walker on October 10, 1981, at the Little Brown Church of Nashua, IA.He enjoyed golf, his coffee buddies at the Ventura Mart, socializing with his friends at Rookies and Clear Lake VFW, reading, playing sudoku and spending winters in Panama City Beach, FL. Fellow NHRA great Don Prudhomme shared his condolences on Twitter. Other accolades include back-to-back championships in 1974 and '75, three from '78-'80, and five championships in a row from 1985-'89. Although Bob Gliddens declining health had been known to many of us for a few months, and that he was, as his son Billy eloquently told us not long ago, on the road to the end, the shock, even five days later, is no less palpable or painful. "The shock switch had to be on, the computer switch on, the engine running and the throttle fully open. From the start of his career, racing was always a family affair. In 74 Gliddens very first full season in Pro Stock he won three major events and the Winston championship. Make sure that the file is a photo. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. He didnt get it handed to him on a silver spoon; he came right out of nothing and did it, and I really respect that. His wife Etta and sons Billy and Rusty provided invaluable support in his driving efforts, and his will to win and tireless commitment carried him across the finish line in first countless times. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. People wanted to be a part of whatever Glidden was doing, even if it was just killing time between runs. He is most closely associated with Ford cars, a manufacturer that he used throughout his career, except in 1979, winning the world championship in a Plymouth Arrow. He enlisted in 1943 and served in the 738th Anti-Aircraft Battalion attached to the 2nd Marine Division for the invasion of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Bob attended schools in Orrington graduating from Bangor High School, where he played trombone in the marching band. With no disrespect meant to anyone, to those of us who came into drag racing fandom in the early- to mid-1970s, Glidden, along with Don Garlits and Don Prudhomme, were the holy trinity of the sport, each the master of his own class. 1 ever since and, in all likelihood, for all time. The following year, Glidden broke through for his first NHRA national event victory, at the U.S. Nationals, where he paced the quickest-ever Pro Stock field with a 9.03 at a national record 152.54 mph and defeated fellow Ford racer Gapp in the final. 1 qualifier 23 times in a row, including the entire 1987 season. He is survived by his wife Etta and their sons Rusty and Billy. Okay, Bob, its nearly 30 years later. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. Carol L. Find a member. [5] He was dissatisfied with his sponsorship arrangement. Sure Championships: 10 Class rank: 1 Overall rank: 3 Glidden won his double handful of season titles in three streaks (1974-'75, 1978-'80, 1985-'89). In spite of this, he won one event, the Springnationals, and was runner-up in another three events. [5], He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005. 1987 was another year of dominating numbers with victories aplenty: Eight wins, 10 finals, 14 top-qualifiers, and 42 round wins. [5] He beat Gapp in the event finals. Throughout his career, Glidden almost single-handedly carried the banner for Ford. The Magnificent 11: The short list of non-U.S. born racers to qualify No. Hes in my top five, for sure. He started out in Stock and moved up to Super Stock. [4] He started the season on a strong note, winning five of the first seven events and seven out of the first eleven. Glidden sometimes came along with CJ. He had five top qualifier runs and eight top speeds during the season. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. He went on to state it drove like a fuel altered. Warren Johnson is the next closest in Pro Stock with six championships. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. When he retired as a full-time driver in 1997, Glidden was the winningest driver in NHRA history with 85 first-place finishes. [5] It was his sixth Pro Stock championship. Most of the development was with cylinder heads and intakes. Glidden, a ten-time NHRA Pro Stock champion, took time to pause for a minute during Friday's rain-drenched NHRA Gatornationals, to reflect on his experiences against a fellow champion. In recalling his Summernationals triumph, which he attained by defeating the Lombardo-driven Jenkins Monza in the final (8.55 to 8.71), Glidden said, "That was by far the biggest spread that I ever had over the guys in any race that I've ever ran.