Please help me Huge problem!!!

My car was running fine the other day and when I went to get in it that night it wouldnt start at first then finally it did but it was louder than usuall and there was a ticking noise and the exhaust was sputtering and the check engine light came on. I thought it was bad gas so I had my dad follow me to the gas station and I filled up and put gas treatment in and it did nothing. So he followed me to my house and on the way he noticed the exhaust was glowing red all the way up to the precatalytic converter. Somebody told us if we took the exhaust loose and cranked the car if it was running good again then it would be the catalytic converter ,but it wasnt running good... So please help me..What could it be?????

I don't think i've ever heard of an exhaust glowing like that other than when the car is running leaner than hell. However i would imagine that if your catalytic converter is clogged, that would also be causing that glowing problem. Go to an advance auto parts or auto zone and get that code read. It would be a little more helpful to us because there could be a million possibilites.

hmm...does it feel like it is down on power? probably...does the ticking sound like electricity arcing? if so it sounds like one of your wires just went to shit...but that wouldn't explain the glowing exhaust...

Yes it is very much down on power I could barely get up the hill to my house. I will go get that code from advanced auto part and let you guys know.. Thank you so much for your replies.