Bob Glidden isn’t a man who spends time wondering “what if” but when it comes to a certain race in 1987, he can’t help it. On a qualifying run at Darlington Dragway in South Carolina, the Whiteland, Indiana-based Pro Stock legend reeled off an astounding 199.11 mph blast. That marked the fastest speed any legal doorslammer vehicle had achieved on the quarter-mile.

Later that evening, a Top Sportsman entry ran 202 mph to steal the accolades.

Many wondered what would have happened had Glidden nailed the 200 mph mark first. In all likelihood, Glidden would have had it not been for one detail.

“We broke a darn wheelie bar,” Glidden said. “The darn car came up real high and stayed up through the end of third gear. If we would have made a clean run then we could have run 200. We came close. We were really disappointed.”

Glidden said he still remembers that day. He said it was like the ultimate fish story – the one he let get away.

“That night is one I will never forget,” said Glidden, who made thousands of runs in his career. “The wheelie bar broke almost immediately and I had a line of fire behind the car from the metal dragging. You couldn’t miss it. The track had very little light and it was at night. We didn’t intend to be spectacular.”

Those who know IHRA Pro Stock racing will testify that Glidden didn’t need a 200 MPH time slip to solidify his legend. His legacy began a decade earlier when the IHRA ran under the pounds-per-cubic-inch format.

Glidden won eight events in 1976 and reached twelve finals in two years. When the IHRA adopted the mountain motor format, Glidden stuck to his small block program, but he made periodic appearances  at IHRA events.
Glidden amassed a 12 – 4 final round win record between 1984 and 1988, and he remains the second winningest driver in IHRA Pro Stock history.

Just to think Glidden ran only a 632-inch engine when the average displacement was well into the 700s.

Glidden has nothing but praise for the IHRA’s mountain motor concept.

“There were some great racers in the IHRA Pro Stock program,” Glidden said. “When you look at guys like Rickie Smith, and he was the best of them, that should tell you something about the caliber of competition you had out there.”