Matt Hartford knew he needed to be as close to perfect as possible in a final round loaded with drivers who would gouge out an opponent’s eyes on the starting line if it meant one more Wally.
When the tree flashed green Sunday at zMAX Dragway, Hartford not only kept both eyes intact, he drove away with his second Pro Stock victory of the season and the first four-wide triumph of his career.
Hartford covered the quarter-mile in 6.526 seconds at 210.05 mph in his Total Seal Chevrolet Camaro, defeating Cody Coughlin, Greg Anderson and Matt Latino in the final round of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. It was the 10th national event victory of Hartford’s career and another reminder that Pro Stock’s so-called powerhouses are not the only teams capable of landing punches.
He opened the season with a win in Gainesville, then stumbled with first-round exits in Phoenix and Pomona. Charlotte became the answer round, the kind veterans need when momentum starts slipping away.
Hartford advanced through the opening quad, then moved into the final by finishing second to Anderson in the semifinals. That set up a championship round featuring three proven closers and one lane where mistakes go to die.
“I can tell you those guys over in the KB camp, not only do they have good power, they’re getting really good at letting the clutch out every single time,” Hartford said. “You’ve got to be on your game. If you’re going to win in this class, you pretty much have to leave ahead of everybody. That’s really hard to do. I struggle with it. I was .024 in the final, and I thought it was a great light for me, especially on the four-wide. There’s a lot going on. It’s very confusing. I just took my time, made sure I was ready, and rolled in.”
Dallas Glenn retained the points lead, but Hartford’s surge moved him to third and tightened the early-season fight. That matters in April because championships are usually lost before they are won.
What made Hartford’s win resonate deeper was not only who he beat, but how he beat them. This was not a giant corporate operation unloading bodies over the wall.
This was a compact family team swinging above its weight and connecting clean.
“An easy way to see our team versus the other teams is just stand up there in a final and look at how many people are behind our car and how many people are behind the other car,” Hartford said. “Some of these teams, it looks like there’s 60 people behind their car. With our team, there’s Amber, Eddie and Adam. That’s it.”
“So to come out here, run and be competitive with these super teams, it’s incredible. It’s an honor to have my wife do it alongside me, my brother do it alongside me. Eddie, I don’t know if he’s like my brother, my father, my uncle, my grandfather, great-grandfather. I don’t know what he is, but he is our family.”
Hartford said the work did not stop after qualifying ended Saturday. While larger teams dissected data in trailers, his group handled business in a rented house over dinner and a glass of wine.
“We got done with qualifying last night, went back to the house, cooked some dinner, sat there and talked about it,” Hartford said. “We strategized how to come out today and not make the same mistakes we did yesterday. There’s never blame between anybody on anything. We’re a team, and there’s only four of us, so it’s really easy to have that.”
Hartford also knew the pressure did not ease with experience. If anything, it sharpened.
“I was in the 60s in the first round, I was in the 40s in the second round and the 20s in the third round,” Hartford said. “I knew if I didn’t step up my game, they were going around me and we weren’t winning.”
He stepped up, won all three quads he entered, and left Charlotte with what racers call three blinkers lit on the scoreboard. That is how respect is earned in modern Pro Stock.
“At the end of the day, we got three blinkers,” Hartford said. “That’s pretty good to win all three quads, not just advance, but to win them all. I was really proud of that, really proud of my team.”
