Pro Stock racer Matt Hartford came out of the gate swinging Friday night, as he drove the Total Seal Pro Stock Camaro to the provisional No. 1 spot at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, the ninth stop on the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. His 6.533, 209.92 pass was enough to edge Kyle Koretsky by .008.

"We thought we could probably go somewhere in the neighborhood of definitely low .54 maybe a mid .53," Hartford explained. "The car just transferred so well, and 60-foot was great. It transferred well, and the 6.533, I'd say we got all of it.

And as Hartford sees it, Saturday's warmer conditions could result in the run holding. However, he's not counting his chickens before the eggs hatch.

"If you look at the weather typically here it's definitely pretty warm here at Noon and 3 PM. So we would think that the weather would be worse than it was here tonight. The track conditions, definitely it'll be greasier than it was tonight. That track is really tight. So there's a better-than-not chance that that .53 holds for tomorrow but I've raced a long time, it can change in a heartbeat."

Looking ahead to Sunday, Hartford believes the best thing about starting the race is the possibility of starting from the top spot.

"Sundays are hard, I mean first round is miserable every time for all of us drivers because it doesn't matter if you qualify one or 16," Hartford said. "Anything can happen on race day. But I'll tell you what, I'd rather be qualified one, two, or three going into Sunday than I would be either not qualified or in the bottom half. So we're happy where we're at.