ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 26, 1997 TAG: 9702260074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
BOB GLIDDEN, a 10-time NHRA Pro Stock champion, has quit racing to bring his expertise to Winston Cup engine development.
Bob Glidden, one of the greatest champions in drag racing history, announced his retirement Tuesday from the National Hot Rod Association to devote his time to developing engines for NASCAR Winston Cup teams.
``I've officially retired all of my drag racing equipment as of today,'' the 10-time NHRA Pro Stock champion said Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview from his shop in Whiteland, Ind. ``The decision was made today - a matter of a couple of hours ago.
``One of the guys here has got tears in his eyes, but the rest of us ... we're all excited. It's not that I wouldn't love to continue being involved in drag racing, but keep in mind, [NASCAR] is something different. I've done this deal for nearly 30 years.''
Glidden already has had an impact in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup series.
Glidden was the key reason Geoff Bodine ran so well with a restricted engine at Daytona, as well as with an unrestricted engine at Rockingham this past weekend, where he qualified fifth and finished eighth.
He also reportedly worked on Bill Elliott's Daytona engine. Elliott, seemingly out of nowhere, posted an impressive fourth-place run - the best among Ford drivers.
Glidden wouldn't comment on his relationship with Elliott, but he and Bodine's general manager, Lee Morse, confirmed they have reached an agreement for Glidden to do engine development for Bodine and ``are planning on bringing one or two other Ford Winston Cup teams into the program with us,'' Morse said.
The other two teams reportedly are those of Kenny Wallace and Hut Stricklin, but Morse said he could not confirm any agreements.
Morse said he could confirm Glidden ``definitely found some horsepower'' in the unrestricted and restricted engines built in Bodine's engine shop.
``The man is very impressive,'' Morse said. ``I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Bob Glidden's expertise in developing two-valve push-rod engines. He personally builds engines, personally runs them on [dynamometers] and personally drives a race car.
``He can relate from the dyno to the race car, and that's an area that I feel is quite new for Winston Cup teams. I really feel Bob can help us develop, potentially, an advantage. In drag racing, you're continually looking for that one-hundredth of a second. You get experience with very fine tuning.''
Said Glidden: ``In drag racing, probably 80 percent of our effort is engine development. Ordinarily, the guy with the most horsepower wins the race.''
Glidden, 52, is the winningest driver in NHRA history. His 10 Pro Stock championships far exceed the six Funny Car championships won by the next-closest pro champion, John Force. Glidden's last NHRA race was at the Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., at the end of January, where he did not qualify.
``The whole drag racing program will be stopped,'' Glidden said. ``It's pretty difficult to do both - like trying to fly airplanes and raise sheep at the same time. I've had a long career in drag racing, and I certainly don't wish I'd done anything different.''
``But I've got two sons, [Bill] 29 and [Rusty] 32, who have to have a future. And it isn't in Pro Stock drag racing. Drag racing has kind of become a hobby sport for rich people. It's tough to get sponsor support. It just isn't the same as it used to be.
``So the way I look at it, NASCAR is going to be around for as long as people breathe. It's a big deal. The people involved in this Winston Cup deal don't even realize how big a deal it is. They just do it every week. I just think that the boys can get involved in this and have a long future being involved in the development end of the engines.''
Glidden said he will not be building engines. ``We're just working on the power plants that come to try to come up with more horsepower,'' he said. ``The individual teams' engine shops will still be building the engines. And my hat is off to those engine guys. They get no credit.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB