Matt Hartford returns to the driver's seat in Kenny Koretsky's Nitro Fish Dodge Pro Stock entry for
the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals, Friday through Sunday at the Texas Motorplex in
Ennis, south of Dallas.
Hartford believes this weekend he can accomplish what he wasn't able to do in the U.S. Nationals
three weeks ago - qualify in the top 16. He recorded solid runs early in qualifying at
Indianapolis but was eventually sidelined by mechanical issues.
"Our plan is to have a much better weekend at the Motorplex," Hartford said. "Eddie (Guarnaccia,
crew chief) has worked hard to get the car running better and David (Nickens) has been working on
the motors. I'm 100 percent certain they will be able get us solidly qualified in the show."
Guarnaccia echoed the optimistic outlook. "The car is obviously better, so if things stay
together, we should be able to get quicker elapsed times early in the run. If it does, then I
think we have a good chance of qualifying."
"Eddie does have the car running good," said Koretsky. "We came within nine-thousandths of a
second of having Dave Northrop qualify for Sunday's race at Charlotte. We'd like to get in there
Sunday and win some rounds.
"I'll be cheering for Matt Smith to get his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season and for
Tony Pedregon to keep his lead in Funny Car this weekend."
Smith, riding the Don Schumacher Racing Nitro Fish Suzuki, is sixth in Countdown points while
Pedregon, a Nitro Fish associate sponsor, holds a one-point advantage over Ashley Force in the
Funny Car title chase.
Race schedule:
Pro qualifying - Friday, 2 and 4:45 p.m.; Saturday, 11:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations -
Sunday, 11 a.m.
Television schedule: ESPN and ESPNHD, all times ET
Sunday: two hours of qualifying, 12:15 a.m.; NHRA Race Day, 11 a.m.; three hours of eliminations, 7
p.m.
