Matt Hartford always had the passion to chase an NHRA Pro Stock world championship.

The veteran driver has surrounded himself with a great cast and crew, and he’s right in the mix to be No. 1 in the class at season’s end – especially after this weekend.

Hartford qualified No.1 and then cruised to the title at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, on Sunday.

Hartford, in his Total Seal Chevy, secured the victory by clocking a 6.624-second time at 207.02 mph to defeat Dallas Glenn, who slowed to 17.599 seconds after severe tire shake off the starting line.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Hartford said about his team’s success. “It goes back to all those people back at the trailer and all the sponsors that support us and the engine program and the chassis builder. We just have such a great group of people around us that I'm surrounded. They've always said, ‘Surround yourself with people who work harder than you, are smarter
than you, are more motivated than you and you can be successful.’ That's what I've tried to do is put myself in a position where everybody around me can do so much that I can't do. I think it starts showing when you just let everybody focus on their job, and at the end of the day, let the boxscore be where it may, but it's a team effort and we've had a great car all year long, and to be honest with you, the races that we haven't won, it is driver error.”

This was Hartford’s sixth win of his career and first since the Mile-High Nationals in Denver last July. He now has gone six seasons in a row with at least one national-event win.

“I mean, we've given it up to Dallas (Glenn) now, in the final Pomona, we had him covered and I just couldn't learn how to drive,” Hartford said. “So, we gave that race up, which has still been a thorn in my side and thinking about it before I pre-staged today. So, it's so rewarding to be sitting up here and just knowing that when I was a little kid and you're going to Englishtown (N.J.) in 1982 and you just look at these Pro Stock guys. Wow. Then I thought if I could ever even be around a Pro Stock car, and then it was like,
‘Wow, if I could ever even maybe work on one.’ Then it was, ‘What if I could drive one?’ Then it was like, ‘Wow, if I could qualify in one.’ And then it was like, ‘If I won one race, I could quit. I'd be happy.’

“Then I did win one and that guy needed a friend, so it was kind of an addiction. We tried to add another one, and I said to Mr. Bader, at the end of the track, ‘This facility here, the people here are the nicest people that you'll ever run into at any racetrack.’ He should be commended for how well of an organization he runs because it doesn't matter if you're trying to get through the lanes or you're in a hurry, his people are just outstanding. So, it's an honor to win at Norwalk and get an ice cream scoop.”

Hartford was smiling Sunday afternoon thanks to victories over Fernando Cuadra, Deric Kramer, Aaron Stanfield, and then Glenn. He believes a trip to Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in the offseason has been a catalyst for his success in 2023.

“I will say this, over the winter, my brother had a pretty milestone birthday, and so his birthday gift was, after Gainesville (Fla.), we sent him to -- my brother's Adam, who works on the car, he does everything on the car -- I sent him to Frank Hawley School to get a Super Gas license. Adam had never been down a racetrack in his life in anything, not even a moped. Sent him to Hawley School and he came out of there with a Super Gas license, but for the two days that he was there, immediately, Frank grabbed me from Moment One said, ‘I want you to sit through my class. Just come sit through it and just listen.’
 
“Unbelievable what you learn when you sit there and you listen to a man like him, the arrows, how to clear your head. I came out of Gainesville going, ‘There are so many things that I know I don't know, but this just proves I don't know.’ I think that really helped me as a driver this year, and I wasn't in the class, I was just listening. My brother was in the class. We didn't want to disturb him, but that didn't really work. So, I think that that mentally really helped me, and I think about it week in and week out, about all the stuff that I learned there.”

The next race on the slate is Denver from July 14-16, and Hartford would love to add to his victory total there.

“Well, we kind of have a liking to Denver,” he said. “I'm hoping that our streak can continue. The last eight elimination rounds there, we've been in all eight of them, so one runner-up, one win. I'm really hoping that all the parts that we put away last year saying, ‘Don't touch those till we get to Denver next year,’ I'm hoping that all that's still there because Denver is such a fun place to go. So, to us, going up on a mountain, we're looking forward to it because that's always a challenge and we love it up there.

“Then we don't run Sonoma (Calif.), and Seattle, so we have a few weeks off, but it comes down to momentum. Tell me I didn't have some luck today. I mean, Dallas could have gone triple zero and outran me. He shook. That's luck. Today we had breaks fall our way, and that's rewarding.”

Hartford, who improved his elimination-round season record to 13-7, is optimistic those wins will grow moving forward.

“It builds driver confidence,” he said. “Anytime when you go up there and you struggle as a driver, honestly, you start thinking, goes back to what I said about going, sitting there, and listening to Frank (Hawley), if you don't
clear your mind and a negative creates a double negative to a triple negative. Before you know it, you're so messed up that a hundred light is the best you're going to get. So, you have to go up there with a clear mind every time. Today, it gives me a lot of confidence getting in the car. I'm ready to go for another round right now. Let's go, service a car. Let's drive, let's do a grudge match. But I don't know, it's surreal to know that we won another race.”

The last two times Hartford won he said his comfortable level was at a different level.

“The two races that I've felt the most relaxed in the car was Denver last year and here,” Hartford said. “I felt no pressure at either race. It's weird to say that. It's like, well, yeah, of course, you won both, that you say that. No, I mean, and you read me very well, there's races that I feel the pressure, it's like the weight of the world is on your shoulders when you roll up there for
round one or two. Today I was like, ‘We have a great car. Just go up there. If you have a good light, you hit your shift points, a win light will come on in one lane or the other. If it's mine, that's great. If it's not, we did our best.’ We want to win every round, but sometimes the luck doesn't fall your way. Today, it did today. The win lights showed up in our lane and it was that way
in Denver last year.

“So we're going to continue the path, as I said on stage, who cares about the distractions? Every car out there picked the left lane today in Pro Stock except us. We chose the right lane at every run. When we watched all the KB Titan cars all taking the left lane. I asked Eddie (Guarnaccia, his crew chief), ‘What do you want to do?’ He says, ‘Matt, I think the right lane's better. But Greg just went in the left lane.’ I said, ‘Well, why would we do what he does if you think it's better?’ He goes, ‘We're not. Roll up in the right.’ So, keep the distractions to a minimum. Focus on your own program. Hire people who are smarter and more motivated than you, and have more drive than you, and let them make the decisions and good things will happen.”

They did for Harford Sunday.