Bob Glidden
Bob Glidden (August 18, 1944 – December 17, 2017) was an American drag racer from Whiteland, Indiana. He competed mainly in NHRA Pro Stock from the 1960s through 1997 and returned briefly in 2003 and 2010.
Glidden won 85 NHRA national event races and claimed 10 Pro Stock championships. His titles include five straight championships from 1985 to 1989, plus championships in 1974, 1975, and 1978–1980. He is remembered as one of the sport’s most successful drivers in the Pro Stock class.
His career was filled with records and remarkable streaks: nine straight NHRA national race wins in 1979; 23 consecutive No. 1 qualifiers, including the entire 1987 season; and a run of 50 eliminations rounds won in a row. He came close to 200 mph in a doorslammer car, reaching 199.11 mph in IHRA competition before another car hit 202 mph that evening.
Glidden spent most of his career with Ford, including a dominant run in the mid-1980s with Ford Thunderbirds after a short stint in a Plymouth Arrow in 1979. In 1984, his team set a national Pro Stock e.t. record of 7.277 seconds with the Ford Pro Stock program.
After retiring from full-time racing in 1997, Glidden worked on Ford’s motor program and served as a crew chief for other drivers. He briefly attempted to return at the 1998 U.S. Nationals but did not qualify. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005. NHRA ranked him fourth on its Top 50 Drivers list (1951–2000). Glidden and his wife Etta—who was also his long-time crew chief—and their two sons, Rusty and Billy, were deeply involved in his racing team.
In the late 2000s, Glidden joined Justin Humphreys’ racing effort. He passed away in Whiteland, Indiana, at the age of 73.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:48 (CET).