The legacy of Pacific Raceways in Kent will always be special to those in and around racing.
Locally, Dallas Glenn is making his case to be included in that conversation — the kid from Kentwood High School who is fighting for championships at some of the highest levels of racing here in the United States.
For the first time in his professional career, Glenn can call himself a champion at home. He claimed the top spot in Pro Stock winning his first career event at his home track, Pacific Raceways.
The 35-year-old now sits in first place on the Pro Stock Classification table of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Series. He competed July 18-20 at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals on the drag strip at 31001 144th Ave. SE.
“It makes it a whole lot easier getting to the finals when you qualify well. If you don’t qualify well you end up running against tougher competition earlier on race day. Then when you get to race day you gotta perform there too, then you gotta have some luck too,” Glenn said.
His humble attitude doesn’t quite capture his dominance on the track this season, it’s a bit more than luck from Glenn, raised in Covington and a Kentwood High School graduate.
In nine races heading into his home race, Glenn has missed just one final. He has won four races so far in Florida, Las Vegas and North Carolina and now Seattle.
“It definitely is going to be a lot of fun, I’m excited. We have a lot of momentum, our car is working good. We are ready for it, I just need to go out there and be aggressive on race day,” Glenn said.
Glenn has grown up racing at Pacific in his youth racing days. To come home, to his home state, really his own back yard is special. It’s one place where he doesn’t even need the help of Apple or Google Maps.
“Driving on the way in here I know all the roads and where everything is at. I got my favorite restaurants that I like to go to that I grew up with. It’s a good place; I got a lot of friends here, a lot of people I know that come out and race still. It’s definitely a busy weekend for me but I have a lot of fun. I love racing here, I have always wanted to win here,” Glenn said.
Racing in the RAD Torque Systems car, Glenn has the unique opportunity to be teammates with Greg Anderson. Last season Glenn finished the regular season atop the Stock Car table, but when the playoffs came around Anderson made his way past Glenn.
But the two have a good relationship on and off the track, iron sharpens iron in the Rad Torque Systems garage.
“Greg is really tough, super-fast. For some reason, I don’t know if it’s cause we are teammates he always does a good job against me. He’ll go and make mistakes the round before and get by, then against me does everything perfect and beats me,” Glenn said.
“He’s extremely tough and been out here forever. He knows what he is doing. I have learned a lot from him. He’s in the shop seven days a week, he’s a great leader to follow and a fantastic guy to learn from.”
Leading up to Northwest Nationals, Glenn is coming off a second-place finish in Ohio. The car is in a great spot according to Glenn, and he is eyeing the podium come Sunday at Pacific Raceways.
“The engine guys worked really hard in the offseason. The car shop guys have been working really hard and we have come out strong and done a good job on track especially on Sundays. Everybody is working together real well, everything is kind of flowing,” Glenn said.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
