Anytime you get in a record book alongside John Force, you’ ve done something well. So anytime I can be mentioned with him, that’ s a heck of a feather in the hat.
something where you’ ve had to learn how to be that teacher?
Well, if you go back to when we first started this KB team and I first got the opportunity to drive Pro Stock full-time with Ken Black, the first year or year-and-a-half, I was alone and it was all about Greg Anderson. Then came along Jason Line and he became my partner in our second operation. I won a lot of races over the years, but so did he. I basically had to learn to share the limelight and share the resources we had here. People said it a million times,“ You hired your own assassin,” because he beat me regularly, and now it’ s kind of the same deal.
Now I’ ve got several of them around me that are all a whole bunch younger. They’ re a whole bunch hungrier. The new generation could give a crap less that I got a thousand round wins or six championships or 110 race wins. They could care less. When they pull up alongside of me, they expect to and they know in their own head they’ re going to wear me out and they’ re going to kick my ass, and it’ s just a different deal to race with these kids now than it used to be.
But on the flip side of it, when they don’ t achieve that and when I do beat them, whether it’ s from experience or whatever it’ s from, it’ s a pretty damn good feeling because they’ re tough, they’ re good, and they’ re in the same equipment I’ m in and they’ ve got all these things that I don’ t necessarily have. They’ ve got the young reflexes, they’ ve got the attitude, they’ ve got the equipment that you couldn’ t get 10 or 15 years ago. You couldn’ t just walk into Pro Stock and step into a car that was just as good as the guy that’ s winning most of the races in the class. You couldn’ t get the same equipment. Now they can.
I’ ve put them in the same equipment I’ m in and now I’ ve got to find a way to beat that now. I ask myself,“ Am I nuts? What are you expecting out of your 64-year-old self?” But it’ s a neat challenge. I just have to try and find a way every weekend to reinvent myself and find a better way because the level just goes up. Month after month, the level it takes to win, it just goes up every race and every month. I’ ve got to keep looking, I’ ve got to keep searching, I’ ve got to try and find a way to be better. Obviously, I don’ t have the young genes anymore to rely on, so it’ s been a challenge, but it means a ton when you beat these kids anymore. It’ s a He-Man challenge, but it sure is fun.
One of the biggest success stories out of the team has been Dallas Glenn. The way that he came up working as a crew member and then getting that opportunity to drive, does he remind you of a young Greg Anderson?
Absolutely. That’ s absolutely the path that I took. All those years that I worked for Warren Johnson, I never had any thoughts or even desires to drive a race car. That all happened because one day, Warren got angry with myself and his son [ Kurt Johnson ] for critiquing his driving and he sent us both to Roy Hill’ s Drag Racing School to basically learn how difficult it was to drive one of these Pro Stock cars. Before that, I had zero plans of being a driver.
Dallas, on the other hand, he’ s raced bracket cars all his life and knew he always wanted to be a driver, but never really pushed the issue. He worked for me for a lot of years and he does every
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