Billy Glidden fights back from crash to make NHRA U. S. Nationals return By Josh Hachat
Just days before the U. S. Nationals – Billy Glidden’ s first race since an ugly crash in Orlando in February – the longtime standout was asked if there’ s any ill-effects from a nasty crash that ended the reign of Glidden’ s beloved Mustang that helped the veteran to everything from ADRL titles to NHRA Pro Mod wins.“ No, just fat,” Glidden deadpanned. It’ s a brief tongue-in-cheek moment from Glidden, who hasn’ t exactly had an easy go of it since the crash. A shoestring budget has gotten even tighter, and that’ s not even taking into consideration the travails Glidden went through to get a new car. He ended up with a’ 68 Camaro first driven by Jim Halsey, but even that car underwent such a massive transition that Glidden barely had the time or resources to get it completed in time for the race at Indy.
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Considering that, just racing at the U. S. Nationals was a feat in itself. It wasn’ t even a sure thing until a test session at the track a week before yielded positive enough results. He admitted that it probably wasn’ t the wisest move, financially speaking, but for those involved, including his father, legendary Pro Stock driver Bob Glidden, Indy was earmarked as a goal.
“ The only request my dad made was if we could make it to Indy he would like that,” Glidden said.“ Mom and Dad have been very supportive. I know Dad wants to be more hands on, but I just want my dad to be as happy as he can. He’ s paid his dues.”
Billy and his wife, Shannon, have paid their dues as well and, all things considered, Indy went as well as it could have. Glidden didn’ t qualify in a record-setting bump of 5.846 at the U. S. Nationals, running a 6.038 at 225.75 mph, but it was progress.
As far as the next step, Glidden isn’ t quite sure. He warns he has to be cautious, but somehow Glidden has always managed to find a way. He is still part of the Mickey Thompson testing program, and if anyone can find their footing through
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delicate times and financial situations, it’ s Glidden. He has made a spectacular career out of doing things his own way, overcoming adversity every time it comes his way.
“ I don’ t know any different,” Glidden said.“ I’ ve always been very determined. This is what we do. I drove a big ole’ farm tractor in the spring and summer, helping a local farmer. I enjoyed that, but we just keep going. We keep trying and we’ ll keep trying.”
After NHRA Pro Mod wins each of the last two years, Glidden entered 2017 with plenty of optimism. But things quickly went awry in Orlando when his Mustang – one he had driven for thousands of runs – careened into both retaining walls during a February test session. The Mustang was irreplaceable, and despite being cleared by the doctor in April, the search for a new car was much more difficult than Glidden anticipated. He had purchased a Camaro previously owned by Dan Stevenson, but that deal quickly went awry. Glidden didn’ t want to comment on specifics of exactly what happened, only that“ the rest of that story is horrible. It turned out very bad, very bad.”
Back at square one, Glidden wrote himself
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PHOTO: COLE ROKOSKY |