NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series world championship drama swirling all around them with just two racedays to go, you couldn’t find two cooler customers than Pro Stock veteran Matt Hartford and Pro Stock Motorcycle wunderkind Gaige Herrera, neither of whom is in first place.

Hartford, who entered the event third in the Pro Stock, 41 points out of the lead, is probably in the best position of his 20-year career to win his first championship. The Scottsdale, Ariz., pro has finished third twice, last year and in 2023. In 2023, he was in first place with four Countdown events to go but faltered at the next two events and fell to third. Last year he never got higher than third the entire season.

This year, he’s already matched his career-high three season wins and has four runner-ups to go with them. His 29 round wins are two shy of his personal best of 31 with eight rounds of racing left. His Total Seal Camaro has been the No. 1 qualifier at three of the last five races, so he’s peaking at the right time, but all of the online championship buzz has been about the two drivers ahead of him, Dallas Glenn and Greg Stanfield.

Not that it bothers him. Quite the contrary.

“I don't pay attention to social media nor anything on the internet,” he said matter-of-factly. “If I have been part of that discussion, wow. If I haven't, oh well. Honestly, I don't know because I pay zero attention to all of that.

“At this point, I don't feel any pressure at all for it because it's going to be what it is. If we can come out here and win this race, or if we were to lose first round or anything in between, that's what happened. That's what we did as a team, and we have to deal with it. If you go into it with all the pressure, I promise you, I'm not going to do as well, so it's better to just keep my mind clear of it. Math is a great thing. The points will add up on their own, and at the end, someone will say you finished 1-2-3-4-5. They will tell us where we finished, and that's how I'm looking at it.”

Herrera, on the other hand, knows all about the hype of a championship battle. His first world championship in 2023 was one for the record books, a 10-win season where he was in first place at 14 of the 15 events and finished 10 rounds ahead of his current crew chief, Eddie Krawiec, at the end of the season. He won the championship again in 2024 with another 10-win season and last year was poised to challenge teammate Richard Gadson at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals to win a third title, but the race was rained out, and Gadson took the crown.

Throughout his career, Herrera has welcomed the challenges of the class he has dominated, welcoming the head games and starting-line battles with relish. He’s rather be in a dogfight like he is this year with Gadson and six-time world champ Matt Smith than have another runaway title.

“I would rather it be three, four, or five riders deep,” admitted Herrera, who sits second behind Gadson by 58 points and ahead of Smith by 27. “Right now, it's Richard and me and Matt in the championship battle, and it puts me in a different mindset. It just makes me hungrier to go out there and do the best I can, to cut good lights.”

Would he rather be in first place now, as the hunted, or does he relish being the hunter?

“Honestly, I’d rather be in second. You have to have a different mindset when you're the one being chased. I feel like it's less stressful chasing the person because you know they're the person that's in the front. They're always counting the points, and then if they don't make a good run, they're like, ‘Oh, so and so gained this many points.’ I'd rather be the one chasing for sure.

“With Richard, I know what kind of equipment he's on. He and I basically have the same thing, and he's a heck of a rider. He's very consistent on the Tree and the bike. We bring out the best in each other and push each other the hardest we can. He's a thorn in my side, but a good thorn at the same time. I feel like I elevated the class when I came, and then he's done it even more, so we’re pushing each other, pushing Matt. He's a good teammate, but sometimes I wish he wasn't my teammate.”