Dallas Glenn has traveled throughout the country to cities he never visited before. But this weekend he will be the expert when his work brings him home for the National Hot Rod Association’s 26th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways near Kent.
Glenn, who grew up in Covington and graduated from Kentwood High School, is a member of Pro Stock driver Jason Line’s mechanical crew. For the past eight months, Glenn spent a good portion of his time riding in the cab of the tractor trailer that hauls Line’s race car, parts and equipment from one race to the next on the 24-race Mello Yello Championship Drag Racing Series.
“It’s been real good,” Glenn said. “I’ve definitely gotten to see a lot of the country. I’ve been learning a lot, trying to pay attention and learn everything, getting the hang of everything. It’s definitely different. I’ve basically been living in a hotel.”
His job on the race car involves working on the back end. Glenn, who drove in the sportsman ranks when he was a teenager, worked in an engine shop, so he knows his way around a car. Learning the ins and outs of the suspension, though, is a new experience.
“I’m starting to get how every little thing affects the car,” Glenn said. “A lot of people don’t realize how complex and touchy these (Pro Stock) cars are. It’s definitely a whole different experience coming out here and you’re working week to week to week.”
While he works in the pits thrashing with the rest of the crew on the car, which can cover a quarter-mile on the drag strip in less than six seconds and hit top speeds of greater than 200 mph, Glenn realizes how fortunate he is to have this job. He watches people wait patiently in line to get 30 seconds of time with their favorite drivers at an event that comes to their town just once a year.
And while the drivers are serious about what they do, Glenn said, he had the chance to see the humorous side of their personalities.
“It’s definitely a fun group of guys to work with,” Glenn said. “It’s definitely been a good experience so far.”
Line, who spoke to the Reporter by phone from the team’s shop in Mooresville, N.C., said Glenn is an unusual hiring choice.
“He’s very young,” Line said. “Normally, we don’t hire people that young. He’s very enthusiastic and is very mechanically minded and has had no problem adapting to the things we ask him to do. He certainly brings some enthusiasm to it because he is young.”
By young Line means Glenn is in his early 20s. Because he is the new guy and so youthful, Line said, Glenn gets picked on often by the rest of the team but handles it well.
And when things aren’t going as well as Line would hope during races — the two-time Pro Stock champion has won just one event this season, Houston in April — he said Glenn’s passion for the sport can help. Especially at the end of a tough day like Line had in Sonoma, Calif., last weekend where he left just a little late in a close race and went out in the first round, losing to eventual event champion Vincent Nobile.
“It helps at the end of the day,” Line said. “I certainly enjoy that part of it. It’s a good thing. After doing this for a while you sometimes lose a little bit of that enthusiasm. He is definitely a good reminder of why I started doing it (nine years ago) and why we all started doing it. He’s a good guy and certainly enthusiastic about doing his job … and that makes it more fun for everybody.”
Line dropped into sixth place in the Pro Stock standings after Sonoma and the primary goal, as always, is to win the Northwest Nationals. It’s critical as the Countdown to the Championship looms Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.
Winning won’t come easily this weekend, Line said.
“Right now we’re not really good enough to win consistently, so we need to get better,” Line said. “We need to get more consistent. We need to find a little bit more speed before the Countdown starts.”
Glenn said that there are some distinct advantages to the drag strip at Pacific Raceways as well as some elements to compensate for, while Line explained that each track on the circuit has its own personality.
“They especially like the air here,” Glenn said of the drivers and crew members who have raced here many times. “Being close to sea level … it’s nice and cool. You can run pretty fast here. We seem to run pretty good at sea level tracks.”
Glenn will be busy this weekend. He also will serve as the team’s de facto tour guide in Seattle.
“He definitely has a future,” Line said. “There’s no question. He’s a bright guy. He has the two most important things in my mind, which are desire and ambition. A lot of folks have the desire and not the ambition. I think he’ll be able to do whatever he wants to do.”
Glenn is ready, in the meantime, to offer up his suggestions on where to eat and what to see. He’s also willing to offer up his perspective on Pacific Raceways, but, only if he thinks the crew wants to hear it. He knows they have reams of notes on the place.
He plans to just focus on working hard and having good restaurant suggestions.
“One thing that is kind of cool about coming to Seattle is we get to see all those different things and eat at all these different places (all over the country),” Glenn said. “Now I get to be the expert. It will be cool.”
Line, however, is looking forward to meeting all the sportsman drivers Glenn has raced against.
“They tell me stories,” Line said. “So I’ll pick up some more dirt.”
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