In 2024, Dallas Glenn had the weight of a dream on his shoulders. Coming into the NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, the bracket racer and NHRA Sportsman standout-turned-Pro Stock racer was competing for a world title against the most winning driver in the history of the class, a multi-time champion and statistically one of the greatest drag racers in NHRA history. He appeared calm and cool on the outside, smiling, excited, grateful. But Glenn admits now that two years ago at this event, he was a bundle of nerves racing Greg Anderson for the championship. He was just a kid from Kent, Wash., who somehow found himself in the position of either defeating a Pro Stock legend in a David vs. Goliath battle or being crushed.
Glenn did not prevail in 2024, but the next season he achieved the ultimate goal. Now, 24 months later and as the defending world champ, he holds the reins entering these final days of the 2026 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. If he was crushed back then, it was only while he gathered his wits and prepared for the next assault, and then, the next.
“When I was going for it in 2024, I was a nervous wreck,” admitted Glenn. “I told myself after that season, when Greg took it from me by .002, that I didn’t even want to have to deal with Pomona, the nerves, not being able to sleep. I wanted them to give me the trophy in Vegas —let’s go ahead and handle everything and not even have to worry about Pomona. That was last year. This year, okay, I’ve won a championship, I know I can do it. I’ve proven it to myself. This year is for all the people that said last year’s championship had an asterisk next to it and it wasn’t real because [the NHRA Finals] were rained out.
“There isn’t pressure to prove that I can do it, I’ve gotten that weight lifted off of my shoulders. Let’s go out, do our job, do what we know how to do. Let’s do it again.”
Ahead of this year’s rendition of the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Glenn had an 87-point lead over Matt Hartford. In a way, it’s an all-in-the-family moment as Hartford’s 500-cubic inch Pro Stock engines are supplied by the acclaimed KB Titan Racing powerhouse — the team that Glenn joined in 2013 as a crew member before achieving what many thought impossible and putting together a partnership with Dan Provost of RAD Torque Systems in 2021 to drive a Pro Stock car for the historic team. Glenn is still a crew member; he drives Anderson’s race rig to and from every race on the tour, does his own clutch and transmission, and earns his keep in the race shop during the week. He’s a tireless mentor to younger crew members and has had a large hand in teaching rookie drivers the ropes, including Anderson’s son, Cody — a strong contender in the 2026 Rookie of the Year competition.
Glenn’s intention ahead of this race was to stretch his lead by three points to 90, which would give him a full three-round lead over Hartford. On the first day of qualifying in Pomona, he was quickest in the first session with a 6.512-second pass in his RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro for four bonus points and second-quickest in the later session on a 6.520 for three more extra marks. The first part of the mission was accomplished.
“So far, we’ve done exactly what we wanted to do,” he said. “We got our bonus points that we needed, now the next major goal for tomorrow is to hold onto that No. 1 spot and make sure no one takes it away.”
If Glenn should retain his position after Saturday’s final two qualifying runs, he will earn his fifth No. 1 of the season and 17th of his career. More importantly, he would earn the first-round bye, and the solo run would be a victory lap as it would be all that is needed to secure a second straight NHRA Pro Stock world championship.
“If we do our job tomorrow, make two really nice runs and hold onto No. 1, all I have to worry about is making a nice, clean run [in the first round of eliminations], and I won’t have to worry about anything else,” said Glenn. “Then, the ultimate goal on Sunday will be to go up there and win another one of the 75th Anniversary Diamond Wallys.”
