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Glenn was just 17 when he beat Ken Stevens in the final round for the Sportsman Race of Champions win a little over a year ago. He wasn't allowed to compete in the NHRA Summit Racing Series National Championship, to be held during the world finals at Autoclub Raceway at Pomona, because NHRA rules state that racers must be 18 to compete at a national event. Though it was disappointing, Glenn was pleased with his achievement. "It took awhile for it to really sink in," said the Northwest Division competitor who claimed the title in the '68 El Camino owned by his grandma, Bernice. "I was at work at DG Machine [in Auburn, Wash.] about a week later, and there were so many people who we build race engines for coming in and congratulating me that it finally hit me what I'd done. Running the No. 61 the following year kind of painted a target on me, but I did alright."
"We all signed up for it," said Glenn. "My dad drove the wagon, Dana drove the El Camino, and I got to drive Tom Turner's Stocker. We went there just hoping to get a quick shot on TV, and we didn't think they'd pick a car with a lot of stickers so we untied the front shocks and let it loose. It was a little too loose on the first pass so we tied it back down, and the next pass it went about 150 feet before the front tires hit the ground. It was a lot of fun. The stands were packed, and the people were so loud. The best thing about it was that they were all there for the bracket guys; there were no alcohol cars, no Top Fuel, it was just the normal Saturday night bracket racers." Glenn made it all the way to the final round but got out of the groove early and was beaten by Dave Wakefield by five-hundredths at the finish line. He still went home with $2,000 cash for his troubles, though, a tidy sum for a weekend of enjoyable racing.
"Tom was a customer of ours at DG Machine," said Glenn. "I won Sportsman in the National DRAGSTER Challenge at Bremerton, and when Tom realized who I was, he gave me a call. The next weekend was the Divisional event in Seattle. We went out for the test and tune, and that was that. Tom built a really great car, and I think I qualified No. 1 that weekend, and I went to the third round. For it to be our first race together, that was pretty good." Glenn drove the Corvette at a few more events, and at the conclusion of the 2009 season, he made his way to the NHRA Finals for a little redemption after being denied entry the year before and picked up a pair of round wins in Stock.
The plan for this season doesn't appear to be any less aggressive for the aspiring Sportsman racer. In addition to competing in Stock, he intends to bracket race the El Camino, and he recently re-worked the 427-cid engine and is anxious to see the number it can run. If it's quick enough, and he believes it should take the quarter mile in between 11.80-11.90, Glenn will race in the Pro bracket category. He'll also be racing the family's '55 wagon in Super Pro. The chaotic pace provides a familiar environment in which Glenn is quite comfortable. "I got the taste for adrenaline when I was younger and we raced quarter midgets," said Glenn, who initially preferred working on the cars to driving them. "My brother, Dana, moved up to mini sprints and kind of dominated when he was 12, and anytime you're around something exciting like that, especially at a dirt circle track, you crave it. It can be overwhelming at times with multiple cars, but you're more busy and get a little more action on the track instead of the normal 'hurry up and wait.' My family helps out a lot, and whenever there has been trouble with one of the cars and I have to jump in another one, they work to fix the problem and have the car ready by the time I get back."
Last season, Glenn's big brother, Dana, wheeled the wagon in Super Pro and took a turn with it in Super Gas, collecting a semifinals finish at the national event at Seattle's Pacific Raceways. Their father, Steve, is a bracket racer as well, but these days he prefers supporting his boys as they challenge the competition. Grandparents Jim and Carol, mother Susan, and grandma Bernice all encourage Glenn's drag racing endeavors, and Dana and Turner are a tremendous help at the track. Little brother Jayce, now 15, is gearing up to get his turn in the trusty wagon next year, too, and just may get in on the friendly rivalry his two older brothers share. "Dana and I are really competitive," said Glenn. "It's in everything that we do, whether it's cards, racing, or even changing tires. We have to race each other." Last season, Glenn drove good friend Jim Mabry's dragster in Super Pro and finished five points behind Dana.
The younger of the two does have the edge on his older brother in one favorable aspect: this season he started out the year at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a Top Sportsman car owned by Shane Thompson. The '94 Camaro is a Jerry Bickel-built former Pro Stocker, and Glenn strapped in, cut a .009 light, and went a quick 7.86 in the first round of the Supreme Sportsman Series. Unfortunately, he was a thousandth too quick at the finish line and his opponent got the win light, but it was still a remarkable adventure. "That was my fastest pass ever," said Glenn, whose previous career best was 8.13 in a dragster. "My ultimate goal is to race Pro Stock, so sitting there all strapped in wearing a SFI 15 fire suit like they do and using a B&M Pro Bandit shifter that has a 45-style grip that feels like a Liberty Pro Stock shifter, it was a lot of fun. Plus, Pro Stock was the big hit of the weekend because the Showdown was taking place, and it was great to sort of be a part of that."
"This year, I would really like to win at least one national event," he said. "You would always like a world championship, but you have to be really good and really lucky at the same time to make that happen. This is the first full season I'll be driving Tom's car, and he is really smart, so I'm going to try to listen to everything he says and learn as much as I can. Winning a national event along the way would be great, and hopefully we can do that soon."
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