Sloan Racing Engines

05/30/2026

Nice 442 we just worked on leaving shop!

05/29/2026

Bob Glidden built engines the way a watchmaker builds watches. Every thousandth of an inch mattered. Every port. Every valve angle. Precision wasn't a goal — it was the baseline.

Born 1944 in Whiteland, Indiana. First race car: A 1957 Ford built with his brother. Local events. Two kids and a Ford on a strip of asphalt. From those grassroots, the most dominant career in Pro Stock history.

Glidden built his own engines. Not supervised. Built. With his own hands. Cylinder heads machined by Glidden. Camshaft profiles selected by Glidden. Every component assembled by the same man who strapped in and went 150 mph.

His cylinder head innovations set him apart. He understood airflow — moving air past valves with maximum efficiency. Other teams spent years trying to replicate what Glidden figured out first. In 1975, he became the first Pro Stock driver to break the eight-second barrier. Because his engines breathed better than anyone's.

85 NHRA national event victories. Ten championships. While Pro Stock filled with Chevys, Glidden carried Ford's flag. Pintos. Fairmonts. Thunderbirds. Probes. Often the only Ford in the field. Always competitive. Usually dominant.

The 1986 crash: Parachute caught by wind. Thunderbird barrel-rolled six times. Destroyed. Glidden walked away. Returned a month later. Won six of the final seven races. Won the championship.

The team was family. Wife Etta ran the operation. Sons Billy and Rusty turned wrenches. A family team that outperformed factory-backed operations with bigger budgets.

Lee Shepherd and Reher-Morrison won four straight titles from 1981 to 1984. Morrison admitted: "We got tired of Glidden winning so easily." Glidden's response: Five straight championships from 1985 to 1989. Nine wins in '89 alone.

He retired in 1997 to build engines for Ford's NASCAR teams. Came back occasionally through 2010. Never won again. Didn't need to. The legacy was already carved in stone.

Bob Glidden died December 17, 2017. Age 73. Hall of Fame 1994. No. 4 on NHRA's Top 50. "Common sense and the will to survive." That's all it takes — if you're Bob Glidden.

03/23/2026

Lee Truell in the Finals!!

03/23/2026

CONGRATULATIONS!!!🎉🎉🎉 LEE TRUELL
For getting RU at the IHRA National Event at Darana in Benson NC.

01/06/2026

Worked on this nice 55 Ford F100 Truck for a Lady. This was her dad’s truck, Jerry Fallin.

01/01/2026