Landing on the bump spot might sound troublesome to most drivers, and it is to Pro Stock's Matt Hartford, too. He wants to make good use of the two qualifying sessions left to him Saturday, for 17 cars are vying for just 16 positions during the NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, located outside of Dallas.
 
However, his performance was pretty memorable, considering that he learned only at 12:45 Monday afternoon that he would be racing Kenny Koretsky's NitroFish Ultimate Gear Dodge this weekend.

Landing on the bump spot might sound troublesome to most drivers, and it is to Pro Stock's Matt Hartford, too. He wants to make good use of the two qualifying sessions left to him Saturday, for 17 cars are vying for just 16 positions during the NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, located outside of Dallas.
 
However, his performance was pretty memorable, considering that he learned only at 12:45 Monday afternoon that he would be racing Kenny Koretsky's NitroFish Ultimate Gear Dodge this weekend.
 
He is the third driver this season to drive the NitroFish Dodge, following Johnny Gray, who ran it through the Western Swing, and Dave Northrop, who has driven the car off and on all season. And he was No. 13 in his first run Friday.
 
Besides making a positive showing with his chance to compete in the Pro Stock class, which he calls "a dream come true," Hartford gets a close look at the Texas Motorplex quarter-mile. That's especially relevant, because he'll return here in three weeks in pursuit of an ADRL Pro Stock championship with a mountain-motor version of the factory hot rods.
 
"Our final race is here in Dallas.  At least we get to see what it looks like," he said.
 
The Arizona resident might not be all that familiar to Pro Stock fans, who have seen him in NHRA action several times before this season. But he is a champion -- a two-time champ, at that. Hartford, who works in the engineering department for Total Seal (and who's competing against his customers this weekend) won the 2001 Pro RWD and 2002 Modified series titles.
 
He got the chance to race for Koretsky this weekend through his association with close Koretsky friend David Nickens.
 
"I raced with David Nickens for half the season last year," Hartford said. "This deal came up with Nickens and Koretsky. They asked me if I wanted to run at Indy, test at St. Louis and run at Indy. They had some other commitments with Dave Northrop, who ran last weekend. This weekend Dave couldn't come. I think I'm sitting in a pretty good pit space."
 
Some might confuse him with off-again, on-again Pro Stock driver Matt Scranton. But Hartford said that's understandable.
 
"I ran Sport Compact the entire time that Matt Scranton ran it. We were competitors back then. A lot of people get us confused," he said, "because we both ran Sport Compact and we both won championships over there, then we both showed up in Pro Stock the next year."
 
Hartford said Koretsky "didn't say a word about it," but that he certainly thought about Koretsky's qualifying crash here at Texas several years ago with Metroplex native Bruce Allen. He said the same situation nearly happened with himself and Jason Collins in a recent ADRL race.
 
"About five or six weeks ago, at St. Louis, I had a crash that looked like it was going to be the same kind of deal as Kenny and Bruce Allen," he said. "I crossed lanes, upside down, right in front of Jason Collins. When I looked at the footage, the first thing I thought of was Kenny's accident with Bruce Allen, because it looked the same. Flipping over a car in front of someone else is never a good idea. He had shaken and gotten out of the groove."

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