I don't think this is true. Gladden switched because NHRA was factoring him almost every run. So he switched to a Chrysler an dominated and NHRA went to factoring him again. So back to Ford.

That is why PS has the rules it now does. Trying to keep the bean counters out of racing as best they can.

Slantzilla's right, it was a Monza, not a Camaro.

It was a DNQ at the only race he ran with it.

Glidden said himself he switched because prior to him running the Arrow Ford hadn't even given him a pair of valve caver gaskets. He went back to Ford because Mopar went broke. Again, his own words.

So I just read an interview Glidden did for HR magazine. I read what he said. Fortunately, I was THER and I lived through it. He says in the interview he was getting weight breaks with the Chrysler and he dominated, like he did with the ford. He was no more broke with Chrysler than ford.

He was the most factored car in PS. He was sick of it. He may have went back to ford because he got a bone, but it was mostly about factoring. Still is today. Chrysler racers get corn holed by NHRA and yet Chrysler racers still keep taking it.

It was about factoring.

So talking to Bob in person doesn't count?

What counts is what he said in print, at the time. Not what he remembers 30 years later.

If you think he wasn't getting factored every week, all you have to do is go back and read the National Dragster from those years. It's all in print.

That's why you don't read a book about WWII written by a guy who talked to a guy who was there 30 years ago. You need to read what was written when it was happening.

or the other side of things are guys my age, im 22 years old just finished restoring my 71 challenger but as much as I love mopars and want to restore another challenger, cudas chargers ect. im looking into a 13 year old mustang to make a racecar because they are cheap, plenty of them out there and I can open up a catalog and get anything you want. they are hard to beat for the price. at my age its difficult to play with the old iron and still have money to put away for the future. my $.02

Barton brought pro stock tech to SS/AH when he hired some of the best pro stock minds to help improve cam and valve train issues. He started it and it really took off. The last couple of years before Jenkins passed he contacted a well know GM racer and talked him into letting the Grump build some SS/AH motors. Jack Roush was involved a short time in a blue & silver Cuda. Nickens built some power plants for a Texas AH racer and now with Reher & Morrison and Jason Line in the mix, where will it end.

Factored every week. No way as they did not change rules every week in Pro Stock. Honestly I only ever remember Pro Stock rules changing at the end or beginning of a season. Ron

Yes, rules changed often, but the fact remains Chrysler offered Bob money when Ford wasn't.

You're not tho only old guy on the board either. I went to my first race in 1974, so I was kinda there too. Lol!

If I was 22 again I'd go the same route as you with a turbo LS.


As far as Barton running a GM, Glidden in a Mopar or Line building a Hemi it only proves that sharp guys can make anything run hard, period! They're all air pumps, more air in equals more power out. These guys are smart enough to recognize and fix the short comings no matter what make.

Where did I say they were changing the rules? I never said that. I said he was getting factored. BIG DIFFERENCE.

In fact, I'd bet big money if you went back and did the research, you will find that Glidden threaten to drag the Ford back out if they factored (added weight) to the Arrow once more.

One of the FEW good things about getting old. You got to live through it. Other that that, getting old ain't for sissys.

Bob went to the Mopar for one reason........At the time, the SBM had a favorable weight per cubic inch and also Ford had made him mad. After the year he dominated with the Arrow, Ford stepped up with more help. Mopar offered to match it, but Bob had a shop full of Ford stuff.

Pro Stock at the time was weight per cube and those weights varied with the type engine it was. The Cleveland Ford had been hit hard and the SBM got to run MUCH lighter, because it did NOT make near as much power. Factors were not changed on a weekly basis and when they were changed, it wasn't JUST Glidden, it was anyone who ran that combination.

When NHRA went to the 500" combination, Glidden dominated for one reason. The BBF had a 4.900 bore space from the factory and a HEMI head available

How can you factor a Pro Stock car without changing the rules ? In fact I cant see what could be factored on a Pro Stock car other then rule changes. I mean its not like Super Stock car where they can add weight when ever they want ? Ron

The NHRA added weight to Pro Stock every time Glidden won a round. They did it to him in the Ford. Did it to him in the Plymouth. By about half way through the 1979 season the Arrow had been factored to the point Glidden was about to bring the Ford back out. The Arrow had lost its weight advantage.

So yes, NHRA could add weight whenever they felt like it. They still do it to this day.

Glidden wasn't running a Hemi head on his 500" BBF's, they were a 48 cc quench chambered design.

The NHRA added weight to Pro Stock every time Glidden won a round. They did it to him in the Ford. Did it to him in the Plymouth. By about half way through the 1979 season the Arrow had been factored to the point Glidden was about to bring the Ford back out. The Arrow had lost its weight advantage.

So yes, NHRA could add weight whenever they felt like it. They still do it to this day. [/quote]


It just seems funny that I followed Pro Stock alot back then and never heard of any Pro Stock car being factored with weight added like that during the season. I only ever heard that on Pro Stock cars at the end or begining of a season. I would have figured if that did it weekly as you stated I would have read about it as I am sure racers would have complained about that. I just dont remember ever reading or hearing about that during the race season. Course you are right as NHRA will do what they want and wont care what the racers say about it. I remember reading about Buddy Martin talking to Wally Parks about giving the Mopars a better break after they added weight to the Mopars and Parks basically said Chevy and Ford have the most money so we dont care about Mopar. Ron

When Pro Stock first started all engines used a 7 lb. per CI weight break. As particular engine combos showed to be quick they were given weight, or allowed to remive weight based on track performance. NHRA did add weight to the 426 Hemi based combos, as they dominated the first couple years of the class. I don't ever recall weekly weight adjustments, but I remember the 426 Hemi based combos ended up getting a lot of weight back off toward the end of the small CI era, and them having the lowest weight per CI factor of 6.4 lbs. per CI.