On Sunday, Matt Hartford believed he had the quickest Pro Stock car on the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park property.
 
Monday, he proved it.
 
Hartford clocked a 6.624-second elapsed time at 206.57 mph in the final round to defeat Fernando Cuadra Jr., who slowed to 7.099 seconds at 178.87 mph.
 
This was Hartford’s seventh career Pro Stock national event win and first of his career at the U.S. Nationals. This was the second this season. He also won in Norwalk, Ohio. Hartford ended the regular season a career-best second in the points standings. The points standings will be reset for the six-race Countdown to the Championship, which begins with the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa., Sept. 14-17.
 
Hartford’s victory parade Monday consisted of wins over Mason McGaha, Camrie Caruso, Erica Enders, and Cuadra Jr. He did it from the No. 1 qualifying spot.
 
“Look, we came in here Friday night, as I told everybody that our goal was to qualify No. 1 Friday night,” Hartford said. “If we could do that, we felt that that would stick, and we would have four really good test runs to just try different stuff. What we ran in the final was what we tested in one of the qualifying runs. The track conditions became basically what that was. So that being able to be on the pole and have that test data played a huge role in the final.”
 
And Hartford acknowledged none of the drivers he faced were easy.
 
“Mason, he went to the finals in Gainesville (Fla.),” Hartford said. “He’s a killer in the tree. Sooner or later, they’re going to find their footing again, and when they do, there’s going to be people going, ‘Oh my god, how did they get beat by him?’

 
“They’re a great team, good driver, and he’s hungry to win. So, we didn’t go up there soft. We went up there knowing we had to make a run. And I was a little bit tardy and got back, and I said, ‘Okay, I need to work on that.’ So, we worked on a few things. Then Camrie... Well, Mason, he slow-played me really well. He tried to play the trick that I like to play on Erica just typically, and he waited forever to stage or pre-stage and then stage—no big deal. We get up there with Camrie and she’s basically putting on the second bulb because I’m so pre-stage. I’m like, ‘All right, we can be this way.’ I actually got it in a little deep. So, our 60 foot was off, and we ran a little bit slower, and we have a (6.) 64.3, and I thought, man, that’s not good because now we’re not going to have lane choice, and we’re going to be first pair out.”
 
Despite the frustrating run, Hartford’s attitude changed when he did have lane choice over Enders.
 
“Well, I got down there, and I’m looking at the numbers, and we did have lane choice, and we were second pair out against Erica, so my whole attitude changed pretty quick,” Hartford said. “And going up there against Erica, you guys know, I think we’re pretty good rivals. But neither one of us plays games. We both basically bumped into the first ball pretty close to each other and the second ball pretty close to each other. I don’t know if I went in first or she did, but nothing was out of the ordinary. It was just get in and go. We made a nice clean run, our win light came on, and Eddie (Guarnaccia, Hartford’s crew chief) came on the radio and said, ‘All right, let’s go. Let’s close this deal.’
 
“We get up here for the finals, and there’s no pressure. I realized I don’t know how to do a burnout in a Pro Stock car. Let’s just add some drama for everybody. So, after I figured out how to do a burnout, Eddie’s like, ‘Okay, that play’s over. Focus on the job at hand.’ I’m like, ‘I’m already past that. Let’s go.
 
“The only issue was, by screwing up in the burnout, I put a ton of fuel in the engine. The engine didn’t want to start after I tried to refire it to do the second burnout. The manifold distilled the fuel. The thing was idling at about 4,000. I couldn’t get it to come back down. And finally, it got back down about 2,800 before I pre-staged. I said, ‘I don’t care. We’re looking for wide-open throttle anyway. I don’t care what it’s idling at. And this is the finals at Indy, so it’s going in.’”
 
Then, the rest was a blur for Hartford.

 
“I let the clutch out, I pulled second gear and never saw (Cuadra Jr.),” Hartford said. “Put it in fifth gear, and I’m still deaf from my crew chief screaming in my ear. So that’s the recap. I sat in the car for a little bit and just took it in before I got out because once you get out, and I have all of this and cameras, and I just wanted to sit in my car and just chill for a second. So, I did.”
 
Hartford’s first national event win came in 2018 against Enders at her hometown track. He was the heavy underdog then and knew anything could happen – especially on Monday.
 
“What I do know is when I rolled up into Houston in 2018 for the final, there was no way I was expected to win, and I did. And I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, please don’t let this be one of those days to where he’s not expected to win. Just based on performance, nothing else. He is as good a driver as anybody; they have as good a team behind him as anybody. But if you just look at numbers, just data, we were favored, he was not. “But in Houston, when I won my first race, we were definitely not favored. It was 99 to one; she was favored over me. So to me, I did think about that, and that may have led to a little bit of what happened in the burnout. I’m just like, ‘Don’t make a mistake.’ And the minute you think, don’t make a mistake, you make a mistake. And they’re a great family; they’re great competitors. I want to see them win races. I don’t want to get beat by them, though.”
 
Although Hartford’s burnout was a mess, he didn’t let it ruin his run.
 
“I have a lot of faith, and I wasn’t concerned at all,” Hartford said. “What I was concerned about is the fact that he’d already done his burnout and backed up, and I didn’t want the starter really standing out in front of me, trying to get me to shorten my burnout because I wasn’t going to. I really didn’t want to have an issue with that. So, it’s Indy, I’m doing my full burnout, and I’m backing up. And they were quick about it, so it’s not like we’re going to hold anybody up. But that was the only thing that went through my head is, don’t make it to where they got to shorten my burnout ’cause that would be a detriment.”