Hartford Crashes at Denver race

During qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals last Saturday, pro stock driver Matt Hartford slowly drifted out of the groove and [unexpectedly] took a hard turn and crashed into the wall. Luckily, Matt would be uninjured but the car was sidelined for the remainder of the race.

Below there is a short video on the mishap:



Be it pro stock, extreme pro stock, or mountain motor pro stock, basically quick doorslammer classes always run the risk of ending a race on their roof or into the wall. It is inherent to the horsepower they put to the track, the lack of downforce combined with poor track prep when running right after the nitro cars.

As often is the case, this is not the first time Matt bruised his ego at the track. Back in 2009 when he drove for Billy Dingman in ADRL, he put a Chevy Cobalt into the wall as well.
In a first round match with Jason Collins, Matt got loose, but made a correction. Unfortunately, track conditions were unfavorable as the tires dug into the track forcing the car to bicycle out of control into the retaining wall, barrel rolling and landing in the middle of the track.

Below you can see a two-picture sequence of that accident at the ADRK Gateway Nationals.

Thanks for reading.

Source: NHRA, Competition Plus.
Photo credit: Roger Richards through Mike Baker.