ahead. “Even Martin
started out rough,” Glaser told. “I blew a tire just south of Indy.
Then drove about another hour and blew another tire. I didn’t have
another spare so I had to backtrack to Indy to get a tire. When I
fixed the tire the second time there was a pothole there and I didn’t
see it. I stepped in it and twisted my ankle. Then when we got up
there we hurt another torque convertor in qualifying. We switched
converters. Then the next pass we broke a flywheel in the motor so we
had to pull the transmission out again. So the trip up there and
qualifying was testing for us, but once we got to eliminations things
came together.”
Glaser qualified fifth at the Summer Drags with a stout 4.08. The
Glaser Collision Center ‘69 Camaro proudly bears the number 1 from
winning the ADRL Championship. As anyone who’s been privileged enough
to wear this badge can attest, it often acts like a bullseye. With
Glaser having yet to win a round in 2013, he and his team were anxious
to shake off the demons plaguing them. When he got past Boyd Beyer in
round one without breaking anything, the team was able to breathe a
quick sigh of relief before focusing on round two. He put friend and
competitor, Glenn Butcher, on the trailer and marked his path to the
semi finals, where he met up with Curt Fredrich. Another win light and
Glaser was back in the final round. He would face off against fellow
Kentuckian Eric Burnett.
“Me and Eric grew up together,” Glaser said of his final round
competitor. “I’ve raced with him my whole life. They’re a great
family. I’ve painted all their cars. It’s pretty cool to be in a final
at a national event like that and race someone from your home town.”
Although Glaser and Burnett may be friendly off the track, that is all
pushed aside when the helmets go on. Glaser drove like the Champion he
is and earned his first PDRA trophy.
“We’ve been struggling this year so [the win] really helped pick
morale up for the team. We’ve got the car sorted out now. As long as
we don’t have any more breakage I think we’ll be good. The car’s
running well, really well. The big thing for us is consistency. I
couldn’t do this without my crew. Joe Riggs is a really good friend
that goes to all these PDRA races with us. My father does most of the
tuning on the engine, calls the shots, keeps the car running well. My
mom takes care of the dial in prediction, downloads the Racepak, takes
care of all the computer stuff. It’s great because it’s the same group
of us that goes to all the races. We’ve all got our jobs. We all do
the same thing. We’ve been doing this so long together and we’re such
good family or friends, I can trust them to do their jobs. I don’t
have to worry. I can focus on driving the car and doing what I need to
do because my crew is spot on. They are awesome. We’ve got a great car
and a great crew.
“Part of what made this win special was that my whole family was
there,” Glaser continued. “Usually my wife, Heather, stays behind to
take care of the boys and the businesses so I can go play. I owe a lot
to her. It makes it a lot better when you have the whole family there
to celebrate.”
Adding to the cool factor was a unique repeat in history for the
Glaser family. “It’s pretty cool that we won Martin because when my
oldest son Connor was two or three months old we won an IHRA race at
Martin and we have a picture there with him in the winner’s circle and
now we got to do it all over again with my youngest. Pretty neat to
have the same picture at the same track with both boys when they were
each just a few months old.”
Now Glaser’s oldest is nine and is following in his father’s
footsteps. The Summer Drags was Connor’s PDRA debut. “It’s pretty cool
[to have Connor racing]. He has a big ol’ time with it. He’s raced a
lot locally, but this was his PDRA debut.”
When Glaser and his family aren’t racing together, they’re running the
family owned and operated Glaser’s Collision Centers together and
enjoying quality family time. “If I'm not racing or working I'm
playing with the boys. My older son is big into basketball. All winter
long we’re doing the basketball thing with him. We’re real big on
family. If we’re not racing, we’re all still together.”
The Glaser family businesses support the race team. Aaron also credits
a few other companies in the industry with aiding in his success. “We
were struggling a little bit with our engine program and hooked up
with Pat Musi last year. He’s helped us quite a bit so we want to
thank him. We switched to a Jerry Bickel car last year also, and,
without a doubt, it’s been the best and most consistent car we’ve ever
run. Without those couple of companies and my crew we couldn’t do this
by any means.
“One of the reasons I love Top Sportsman so much is because of the
competitors,” Glaser added. “All the guys we race with - like Bruce
Thrift, Cheyenne Stanley, Billy Thomas, and Glenn Butcher - they’re
all very good competitors. These guys are tough. It’s amazing the
competition, because they’re great guys and competitors, but some of
the best friends you’ll ever meet. In fact when we won the race every
one of them was down there high fiving and congratulating us. I can’t
say enough about the competitors we race with.”
Among those competitors, Glaser himself is one of the toughest.
Besides the 2013 ADRL Championship, he also owns two IHRA Division 3
Championships. Although an experienced and decorated veteran of the
sport, Glaser is still younger than much of his competition. Looking
to the future, he hopes to one day compete in Pro Nitrous, the class
he admires the most. But for now, Glaser is content. “Once my boys get
older and my business is a little more established I’d like to take a
run at Pro Nitrous. I'm the type that if I can’t do it right, I don’t
want to play. Right now [in Top Sportsman] I’ve got the equipment,
crew and ability that when I roll through the gates I’ve got as good a
chance or better than anybody. I know I can win.
“I’ve got great kids, a great wife, couple cool race cars, good
business so I'm happy right now. Life is good, real good.”
Photo Credits: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com / PDRA66.com
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