The racing career of Billy Glidden has had untold twists and turns, from his time learning at the knee of his father, legendary 10-time Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden, to competing himself in NHRA Pro Stock, racing and winning championships in the NMRA and NMCA, and now it’s come full-circle, as he’s headed back to the NHRA with his nitrous-assisted Mustang for the 2014 season to compete in the resurgent Pro Modified class along with longtime sponsor Mickey Thompson Tires.

We caught up with Billy this morning to find out the scoop while he was taking a short break from working on the car at Kooks Custom Headers, where he and the Kooks team were working on building new headers and custom parts to take to the track. “We’re already on the list for Gainesville. We have a 708, and an 840, and Brian Shaw, who we’re partnering with, has an 833 cubic inch Fulton engine to use if necessary. The engines I have are originally from Jeff Naiser — Jeff and I have formed a really good friendship, and we try to collectively work together on them,” he says.

Now you have to remember, the Mustang Billy races is a former 500-inch NHRA Pro Stock car, and wasn’t designed specifically for Pro Mod racing and the unique challenges it presents. He’s cautious about predicting performance, given the limitations his program will have compared to his competition – most of whom are racing state-of-the-art cars built in the last few years specifically for Pro Mod racing.

His partnership with Shaw and his wife will lend two extra sets of hands in the pits if necessary – it’s a new experience for Glidden to have anyone assisting him other than his wife, Shannon.

“It will be Shannon and I, and Brian and his wife. While she won’t be working on the cars, she’s a valuable part of this program, whether it be scheduling, or ordering parts, and it is a change for us to have some other hands involved. We know that it’s a change we needed to make. Things are going to be a little different than they have been,” says Billy.

The pressure is on the team to try to be able to perform at the upper echelons of racing. “The naysayers will say that the car I have isn’t sufficient for what we plan on doing – it’s a shorter wheelbase, it wasn’t built for Pro Mod racing, and we’re using a Liberty transmission, which is unusual as well. Last year we just couldn’t get to the finish line, but we ran down in Florida in December. Although I didn’t perform well I did go far enough on the runs to experience what I had been experiencing all year, and I didn’t. We have a tire test starting Tuesday morning in Bradenton, so I’ll have a better feel for it after next week,” he explains.

As tire development and his work with Mickey Thompson never stops, Glidden will be focusing his efforts on the NHRA, with opportunities to go elsewhere should time (and parts) permit. Last year he raced in the NMCA’s Pro Street class. He says, “currently there are no conflicting races. I plan to race with NMCA also, but if the car’s torn up, obviously where we need to be will take precedence.”