To say the last couple of weeks for Matt Hartford and his Total Seal Chevy Camaro Pro Stock team would be an understatement. Hartford was able to capture a monumental win in Pro Stock last weekend in Denver, Colorado, at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals, using a psychic (.004) reaction time against Aaron Stanfield in the final round to stop team Elite's five-race winning streak.

For Hartford, it would be his fifth career win in Pro Sock and his first since Houston last season. However, the fascinating story behind the win and the journey to get to this weekend's Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals from Sonoma Raceway makes the win stand out even more.  

Hartford had a considerably slow start to the season capturing just four round wins through the first eight races of the season entering the western swing. To add to the slow start, Hartford and his team had to borrow a truck driver from Top Fuel driver Josh Hart's sponsor, R&L Carriers, to get to the race in Denver. Then while in Denver, the team's truck decided to give them problems. But the team was fortunate enough to borrow one from former Pro Stock racer and winner V.Gaines.

Despite all the chaos, Hartford still left Denver with the trophy. But during qualifying at the Sonoma Nationals, the hits kept on coming. Oddly enough, the door to their tractor trailer broke, forcing the team to spend a few hours trying to fix it. Their efforts and crazy few weeks would not go unnoticed, however. Hartford and his team were awarded the "Never Rest" Award by NHRA here this weekend in Sonoma. An award that Hartford believes is fitting for his team.

"We never get a lot of rest," Hartford said. "We're all up early every day. We all have day jobs. Five a.m., you're already at work and working till whatever time at night you need to. Then we get back to the track and focus on the racecar."

But while Hartford is thankful for the award, he says the struggles he and his team have had the past couple of weeks are pretty typical.

"There's always something happening behind the scenes that the fans never see," Hartford said. "It's not just with our team; every team out here has these struggles. These transporters are on the road eighteen to twenty-two to twenty-four weekends a year, depending upon testing and racing. It's normal for every team. You just never see it."

Aside from Hartford breaking team Elite's winning streak in Denver, it's been no secret Elite has been the dominant faction in Pro Stock so far this season. But Hartford, who gets his power from KB racing, believes the whole KB organization is ready to make a serious run in the second half of the season.

"Make no bones about it, you look at how the Elite team is running this year, they definitely are the dominant team right now in Pro Stock," Hartford said. "They've shown they can run away with the first half of the season. But at the end of the day, Greg Anderson and the entire KB crew back at the shop their working day and night to build power, and all the teams out here are doing everything we can to get these cars to be as solid as they can be on race day. When I say we're coming, I mean everyone with a KB engine, were coming for everybody, none of us like to lose."