GLIDDEN WINS SLAMMA' IN ALABAMA
The build-up to the big day promised a battle of epic proportions. Trash talk and taunts spilled forth from both camps and their followers fanned the flames of fanaticism. It was billed as the Hill-Billy Showdown, a play on words based on the fighters’ (drivers') real names, Mike “The Hitman” Hill and Billy “The Kid” Glidden. Weighing in at an ORSCA-legal
3,000 pounds Hill and his '06 Mustang knew they'd be in tough against Glidden and his flyweight 2,450-pound Fox-bodied Stang, but Hill hoped his Fulton-bred horsepower would be enough to pound Glidden's self-made ride into submission.
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They met Oct. 7, on a hot Alabama afternoon at Phenix City Dragstrip, Hill, the South’s favorite son and Glidden, the pedigreed challenger from the North. This day, Oct. 7, belonged to Glidden, however, starting with a first-round KO after Hill performed the equivalent of tripping over the rope while climbing into the ring for their first round of competition. His ORSCA-legal Outlaw 10.5 '06 Mustang was shut off on the line after the burnout, victim of a broken nitrous fitting, giving Glidden a free pass and a 1-0 lead in their best-two-out-of-three match. Glidden took the opportunity, though, to demonstrate he came ready to fight, proving his rigorous pre-race preparations would be formidable to overcome with an off-the-gas 4.59 at 130 mph after posting an impressive 1.06 60-foot time.
