👉 Rusty Glidden Explains How Bob Glidden’s 623ci AR Hemi Beat 700+ci IHRA Giants 🏁

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:25]The finals in pro stock eliminator. The Oldsmobile  Calais of Warren Johnson has been experiencing some handling difficulties throughout this entire  meet. He's got a difficult task. He is facing the Ford Thunderbird of Bob Glidden. Steve talked with  Warren in the elapsed time department though. Your best about a 65, his best in the 50s. You got your  work cut out for you in the starting line. Well, I guess that would become under the term of a  monumental task, but uh I think we're up to it.

[00:00:50]We've uh we made a lot of changes of stuff that we  wanted to test and it's a a situation of we've got everything to gain and nothing to lose. So, we're  going for it. So, you've changed a lot of things on the car. Yeah, we've changed a lot of things.  We really don't know what to expect. Uh last two runs have only been uh relatively straight  and we changed some chassis uh parts in it, plus a lot of engine pieces. So, hopefully we'll  get a lot better. No. And you and Bob Glidden, it'll be a great final. I hope so. Bob Glidden in  the Ford Thunderbird has been absolutely dominant throughout the entire event, establishing both  ends of the record, but this is the final.

[00:01:23]Everything's on the line in this one race. And  there's those handling problems that Warren has been so concerned about. That gives Glidden  an advantage that he parlays into a victory.

[00:01:36]Bob Glidden winning the 25th annual NHRA Winter  Nationals in his Ford Thunderbird. The elapse time for Glidden. An outstanding 7.58 seconds at over  184 miles an hour. Glidden the champion defeating Warren Johnson. [music] As we look again, you can  see Johnson in the near lane has those problems that take him close to the center [music] line.  That left front wheel of that Oldsmobile really high off the ground. He has to let it back down  to the pavement so he can steer the car away from the center line as Glidden takes it all. Well, Bob  Glidden's performance here at the Winter Nationals could only be called total intimidation. Bob,  a 7.58. Congratulations. Thank you, Steve. Uh, I don't think anyone was really intimidated. uh  competition was well I hope they were uh we're just we're glad that we won the race for the Chief  people the Ford people you know Chief sponsored the race and I think they've got about 1500 people  back at the tent waiting for us to get back there so uh we're tickled that we won the race and uh  thank god we're here you've enjoyed an advantage off the starting line I thought maybe a little  I was kind of cautious with the track it looked like there was a slick spot you know we We we run  off to the side from where everyone else runs for some reason and uh I was afraid we were going to  get crossed up and I really didn't pay attention to Warren's car. Well, I have no idea what he even  ran. He was all over the racetrack apparently. But congratulations to you and Etta and the kids and  uh the whole game. Thank you very much, Steve. So, Rusty's got a great picture of the T-Bird and  check it out. I showed you some pictures before, but there is the straps that held this overflow  tank where they cut it off here on this. You can see it's a Shraco type radiator with a screw  on cap. Now, that looks like your dad there obviously. And that's what, Billy lean over the  tire. Now, is this IHR trim HR? Tell me about Do you know anything about that back in the day? Uh,  what what size engine was that? That was a 623, just a Hemi that we never touched. We didn't  touch that thing for I think three years and ran it for 3 years and only thing we did was lube  the cylinders. Um, dad is probably checking valve lash on one side and Billy is looking at the uh  here again here again the long exhaust rocker.

[00:04:03]Billy was checking exhaust rockers to make sure  that they weren't broke. They look like they got different ratios I bet. And um so but yeah,  that's you know the the aluminum plate for the 500 inch manifold bolts up to the wide deck. So that's  what's Okay, I knew there's a plate there. So that plate is there because of that make the manifold  because you know cuz it was a it was a obviously a a taller deck, get more cubic inches out of it.  Okay. So manifold would have needed to be longer.

[00:04:34]Well, got it. Instead of making a new manifold,  dad just machined out a couple of plates. Okay.

[00:04:40]And made the manifold longer with plates. So, you  got a gasket in between the plate and the and the head and then a gasket between the manifold of  the plate. And they we were competing with that 623. We were competing against anywhere from 735s  up to 7 750 and that was 623 could compete with over 700 cubic inches. Oh yeah. We were we were  killing them with it. Really? Oh yeah. In uh like 86 is where it got real bad cuz we got a real good  working car with the big engine. Yep. And um like we went uh like Darling for examp Darlington for  example we went a 7.19 and I think the closest to us was a I think a 7.32 or 33 at like 190 191.  Wow. And that was a 742 cubic inch mountain loader Ford. Okay. So yeah, we were we were with just  over just over 100 cubic inch or 115 120 cubic inches less. We were we were killing them. What  do you think that was attributed to? Just my my dad's brilliance. There it is. Dad's genius and  making horsepower. I mean every if you look at it everything he ever worked on, from the Cleveland's  to the the the Plymouth Arrows. Yeah. to the Hemi.

[00:06:11]Yep. To the the the Dodge stuff, you know, in  the 2000 early 2000s up to well, you know, when he stopped. Yeah. Um even with the Jim Cunningham  Ford, he was just getting that thing on track when he had that massive heart attack and couldn't  race anymore. Okay. Um everything he's worked on has been competitive. Let me let me just tell  you this. Yeah. I was working at a go-kart track in our hometown Whitland. Yep. And we had these  rental carts and we had uh one of the rental carts was for a heavier heavier set people and it had  a six six and a half horsepower Honda on it. Yep.

[00:06:51]Everything else had five and a halfs. Well, I dad  would come over just to hang out cuz you know he didn't really if he wasn't playing golf, he'd come  hang out with me at the golf cart. Okay. Or at the golf at the uh track. Yeah. And I had one of these  engines apart. I had to put a new cylinder head on it because um uh I think a valve seized up. Okay.  Well, I had a couple of them apart and dad said, "Hey, you got any grinders?" And I said,  "Yeah, air grinders." I said, "Yeah." He said, "You got any carbides?" I said, "Yeah, I had some  carbines." You know, I had some grit roll stuff like that. Yep. He ported the port he ported a  cylinder head on a 5 12 horsepower Honda. Okay.

[00:07:36]Just a lawn mower engine. Yeah. Did the intake  and the exhaust and that thing with somebody at the same weight, a light person in the six  and a half, that five and a half would outrun it like in in four laps would lap the 6 and  12 horsepower. Really, that's just I mean, no flow bench. That's just him doing what he knew  up here. I mean, it was it was the funniest thing because we had we had to outlaw that cart and I  had to I had to order all the parts to make a new cart because I kept that one for me cuz when the  boss wasn't around um we'd race at night and since mine was quicker, I'd always wreck those guys  and win. So, we always race for beer, you know, our food. Taco Bell, you know, midnight Taco Bell.  Yeah. So, yeah, it was fun. But yeah, this this p here this picture here is it's uh wow brings back  a lot of memories. That's Yeah, this is this this car in this picture is that car. And um like I  said, I think I didn't know without looking, but Mike, the owner of this car now, we won five NH  races with with this car and we won five IH races with this car. Okay. So, uh this this was a really  good car and I mean here having you know 100 plus cubic inches less and still winning five races  damn straight. So yeah, the door flies off and hits the guard rail on the passenger side. So Jim  messages me one night. He's asking me, he goes, "Why are all the rivets on the door up the door?"  I didn't see that. Jim Wickline. And and so I I'm watching a video and I said the door flies off and  hits the guardrail. Yep. And uh your dad's like, "Well," he goes, "If if if I can't get my door  back on, I'll borrow Ricky Smith's door and put it on the car." He goes, "The paint won't match, but  I'll be out here." So this piece right here you're you're pointing to, guys, it's kind of curved  to help with wind resistance. The wind off from going around the door and the door blew off. So  I I've got that video. I'll send that to you. Oh, yeah. Sure. And and and you can see it on that  picture right there that it's the right here.

[00:09:59]Wow. Nice. I I just think what a piece of  history. I mean, I was always a huge Glidden fan, Me too. Were you Rusty, a Glidden Fan?  There it is. Still am. Yep. We're going to take this thing out, play with it  somewhere. We'll get it back together.

[00:10:31]Heat.