Matt Hagan, Matt Hartford, and Gaige Herrera join WFO after winning NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
WFO Radio Podcast
Matt Hagan, Matt Hartford, and Gaige Herrera join WFO after winning NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
WFO Radio Podcast · Jun 16, 2026
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Term
diesel particulate filter
A diesel particulate filter is a device that catches the smoky soot from a diesel engine. Over time it cleans itself by burning the soot off so the exhaust stays cleaner.
Term
diesel oxidation catalyst
A diesel oxidation catalyst is a part in the exhaust that helps clean up the gases coming out of a diesel engine. It works with other emissions parts to reduce pollution.
Term
OEM replacement
“OEM replacement” means the aftermarket part is made to fit like the original factory part. The goal is that you can install it without major modifications.
Term
reverse OEM lookup tool
This is a website tool that helps you find the right emissions part for your specific truck. Instead of guessing, it uses your vehicle details to match the correct replacement.
Term
remanufactured
Remanufactured means a part is rebuilt from an old used version. The ad is saying they sell new parts instead of rebuilt ones.
Topic
NHRA Nitro is back
They’re talking about NHRA Nitro, which is NHRA drag racing coverage. It’s basically a “drag racing is back” moment tied to recent race weekends.
Topic
Thunder Valley Nationals
Thunder Valley Nationals is a drag racing event in the NHRA schedule. The hosts are saying they just had a great weekend there.
Person
Gaige Herrera
Gaige Herrera is one of the NHRA-related guests they’re trying to get on the show. The host says he’s busy but they’ll try to include him.
Person
Matt Hagan
Matt Hagan is a drag racer in NHRA. The show is bringing him on because he and his team just had a big winning stretch.
Person
Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart is a famous race car driver. He’s also connected to drag racing, and the host is mentioning him to describe the kind of fans listening.
Term
composite gaskets
A gasket is a seal between engine parts. Composite gaskets use special materials to hold tight better when the engine is running super hot and under a lot of pressure.
Term
ring seal technology
Piston rings are supposed to seal tightly inside the engine. “Ring seal technology” means the rings are designed to seal better, so less pressure and gases leak where they shouldn’t.
Brand
Total seal piston rings
Total Seal makes piston rings. Piston rings help seal the combustion chamber, and better sealing can mean the engine makes power more consistently.
Term
torque converters
A torque converter helps the engine and drivetrain work together when you launch. It lets the engine keep making power while the car gets moving, which is crucial for quick starts in drag racing.
Term
transmissions
A transmission sends power from the engine to the wheels. In drag racing, it’s built to handle big launches and repeated hard runs.
Term
engine spray
An engine spray is a product you apply to an engine to help it run better or protect it. In racing, people use them to try to improve how the engine behaves under extreme conditions.
Term
hot
Here, “hot” is being used like slang for performance stuff—things related to making the car fast. Fans sometimes get really excited about getting those parts signed.
Term
number one qualifier
In drag racing, qualifying is like a timed practice where everyone tries to set their best run. “Number one qualifier” means you were the fastest in qualifying, so you start the event with the best position.
Term
track surface
The track surface is basically how grippy the racing surface is. If it’s different (new or hotter), the car may hook up differently, so teams have to adjust to get the best launch.
Term
140 degree racetrack
A “140 degree” track is extremely hot, and that affects both tire grip and how hard the engine has to work. Teams usually need to change their setup when the track is that hot.
Term
crew chiefs
In drag racing, the crew chief is the team’s main decision-maker. They decide how to set up the car and what changes to make for each run so it performs well that day.
Term
pull the motor back
“Pull the motor back” means reducing how hard the engine is being worked—typically by dialing back power/boost or limiting load—when conditions are hot. In drag racing, that helps prevent overheating and keeps the engine from making unstable power under high thermal stress.
Term
lugged
“Lugged” here means the engine is being run more gently—at lower speed or load. Teams sometimes do this to manage heat, but they still have to keep the engine running the way it likes.
Term
put cylinders out
“Put cylinders out” means some cylinders stop working as effectively, so the engine doesn’t make smooth power. That can make the car behave unpredictably and lose grip.
Term
looping the tire
“Looping the tire” means the tire spins too much and doesn’t hook up. When that happens, the car can start sliding or rotating instead of going straight.
Term
under power
“Under power” means the engine is actively pushing the car forward, not coasting. It’s the part of the run where the car is working the hardest.
Term
eight cylinders
An “eight-cylinder” engine has eight cylinders that work together to make power. More cylinders firing usually means smoother and stronger power delivery when the engine is loaded.
Term
140 degrees
“140 degrees” is a heat number that can change how the car runs. When it’s hot, the engine and air behave differently, so the team has to adjust to keep performance consistent.
Term
buy run
A “buy run” is basically a free pass in a drag-racing bracket where you don’t have to race in that round. Teams use it to make a run and get the car dialed in for the next race.
Term
semi-final round
The semi-final round is the race right before the final. If you win here, you move on to the last race of the event.
Term
lopsided numbers
“Lopsided numbers” means one racer/team has been way faster than the other based on past results. It can make the matchup feel like a mismatch going in.
Term
horse power garage
“Horsepower Garage” is a drag-racing media/garage brand that shows up around events and interviews people in the scene.
Term
starting line
In drag racing, the starting line is where the cars line up to launch. Getting off the line cleanly and consistently is a huge part of winning.
Car
1978 Trans-Am
The 1978 Trans-Am is a classic Pontiac performance car from the late 1970s. The host brings it up to explain that he can’t just replace the car easily, so he wants insurance that covers it properly.
Term
staging lanes
Staging lanes are the controlled area at an NHRA-style drag strip where cars line up and prepare for a run. The host is saying the policy covers the race car not just at the track, but also while it’s in that pre-run staging area.
Term
race fuel
Race fuel is a special kind of fuel used for racing. Regular insurance policies may not want to cover it because it’s considered hazardous, so the host is emphasizing that his motorsports insurer will cover it.
Term
friction
In engine terms, friction is the resistance to motion between moving parts (like piston rings and cylinder walls). Higher friction increases heat, which can raise wear rates and reduce effective power output—especially important in high-stress drag racing.
Term
cylinder walls
Cylinder walls are the inside surfaces of the engine where the piston slides. If the surface is worn or rough, the piston rings can rub more, which increases friction and can hurt performance over time.
Term
swapping some engines
Engine swapping is when a team pulls out one race engine and puts in another. In racing, they do it fast so the car can keep competing even if something went wrong.
Term
bolted in our frame rails
“Frame rails” are the main longitudinal structural members of a vehicle’s chassis. Saying the engine is “bolted in” there describes how the engine mounts to the drag car’s frame for strength and alignment under hard acceleration and vibration.
Term
weld the motor plates
“Motor plates” are mounting brackets/plates used to attach the engine to the chassis. Welding them is a structural change that prevents movement and can improve repeatability of engine position—important in drag racing where small alignment differences can affect performance and reliability.
Term
dyno
A dyno is a testing machine for an engine. It lets teams measure how much power the engine makes so they can tune it for better performance.
Term
top speed
Top speed is the fastest the car gets during a run. In drag racing, it helps show whether the car has enough power and gearing to go all the way down the track.
Term
qualifying sessions
Qualifying sessions are the runs where drivers try to post the best times. Those times decide the bracket positions for the elimination rounds.
Concept
first round
In drag racing, the competition is set up as a bracket. The first round is the first head-to-head race—lose it and you’re out.
Term
motocross track
They’re basically saying the track used to feel rough and uneven, like a motocross course. For drag racing, a smoother surface helps the tires grip better and makes launches more consistent.
Term
glass
“Like glass” is a racing way of saying the track is super smooth and grips well. That usually helps cars get off the line more consistently.
Place
Bristol Dragway
Bristol Dragway is a drag racing track in Tennessee where NHRA events are held. When they improve the track surface, it can make the cars hook up and run more consistently.
Term
660 feet
In drag racing, the track is measured in sections. “660 feet” is an important early part of the run where the car is still getting up to speed, so the track surface there can make a big difference.
Term
pro stock
Pro Stock is a category in NHRA drag racing where cars are based on production models but heavily modified under strict rules. The goal is to make the car launch and accelerate consistently.
Term
lane choice
In drag racing, you race in one of two lanes. Even though they look identical, one lane can grip the tires better than the other, so choosing the right lane can help you launch harder and run faster.
Term
burnout
A burnout in drag racing heats and conditions the tires so they can generate maximum traction at launch. In top-level racing, the timing and execution of the burnout can strongly affect how consistently the car hooks and how repeatable the launch is.
Term
rosin
Rosin is a tacky substance used to help the tires grip. Drivers and teams use it so the car can launch with more traction instead of spinning the tires.
Term
pre-stage beam
The pre-stage beam is an early signal in the starting system. When you roll into it, it tells you you’re in position, so you can be ready for the actual start signal.
Term
both bulbs
The bulbs are the starting lights. If both cars trigger the lights at the same time (instead of one clearly leading), it can mess with timing because each driver is trying to react to the other car’s exact start sequence.
Term
mechanical power unit
They’re talking about the engine package that actually makes the car go. The supplier builds and owns it, and then the racing team uses it in their own race car setup.
Person
Matt Hartford
Matt Hartford is the person they credit for what they do with the engine after it’s delivered. Basically, he’s part of the team that turns the engine into a race-winning setup.
Brand
KB Titan
KB Titan is the company they’re talking about that provides the engine/power for their race car. The team then does its own tuning and setup to race their way.
Term
transmission ratio
It’s the “gearing” that determines how the engine’s RPM translates into wheel speed. The right ratio helps the car accelerate harder and keep the engine in its best power range.
Term
clutch
The clutch is what lets the engine power get sent to the drivetrain. In drag racing, how it’s set up affects how the car launches and hooks up.
Term
air pressure
It’s how much air is in the tires. The right pressure helps the tire grip the track better and launch consistently.
Term
timing
In engine tuning, “timing” refers to ignition timing—when the spark occurs relative to the piston’s position. More/less timing changes combustion pressure and can make the engine faster, but too much can cause knock or other damage.
Term
fuel curve
A “fuel curve” is the relationship between engine operating conditions (like RPM and throttle position) and how much fuel the engine is commanded to inject. In racing, tuning the fuel curve is essential to control mixture for power and to prevent detonation or bogging.
Term
shock
“Shock” here refers to the suspension shock absorbers (dampers). In drag racing, shock settings affect weight transfer, tire loading, and how the car launches and stays stable under acceleration.
Term
tree
The “tree” is the set of starting lights at the drag strip. Drivers try to launch right when the lights tell them to so they don’t lose time—or start too early.
Term
diamond Wally
A “Wally” is the NHRA trophy awarded to event winners, named after Wally Parks. A “diamond Wally” is a special/variant trophy presentation that’s typically associated with winning a particular marquee event or achieving a specific distinction.
Brand
Fogget
Fogget is a rust-prevention product. In this segment, they use it to protect metal and to keep an engine from rusting while it’s stored.
Company
Summit Racing Equipment
Summit Racing Equipment is a parts store that sells performance and racing supplies. They’re mentioned here as the place where you can buy the product and where the NHRA-related trip is going.
Term
surface rust
Surface rust is the early stage of rust that shows up as a reddish film on metal. It happens when metal is exposed to moisture, and it can get worse if you don’t protect it.
Term
fogged down
“Fogged down” means spraying a protective coating inside the engine so it doesn’t rust while it’s sitting. It’s a storage step to protect internal parts from moisture.
Concept
Project Pontiac
“Project Pontiac” sounds like the team’s nickname for a specific Pontiac they’re working on. They’re saying they protect the engine from rust when it’s going to sit for more than a day.
Concept
drag strip
A drag strip is a track built for straight-line racing. People go there to see which vehicle accelerates the quickest and runs the fastest.
Term
fog it
“Fog it” means spraying a mist of lubricant onto the chain. The idea is to coat the parts so they move smoothly.
Term
WD 40
WD-40 is a spray you can use on metal parts to reduce friction and help keep water out. The point here is that some sprays don’t last—they can wash or run off quickly—so a better product can stay on longer.
Term
centerline
The centerline is the line down the middle of the track. In many race situations you’re not supposed to cross it because it can mean you’re cutting across the track or driving in a way that could affect other racers.
Term
tag the wall
“Tag the wall” means you hit the track barrier. In most racing situations that’s a big deal because it can damage the car and be dangerous for everyone.
Term
330 block
A “block” is the main part of the engine. “330 block” sounds like a shorthand for a particular engine setup the team was using, and it’s mentioned here as part of what happened during the burnout.
Term
race control
Race control is the officiating/operations group that monitors the event and enforces rules in real time. They decide whether cars can proceed, issue warnings, and manage safety and compliance during on-track incidents and specific phases like burnouts.
Place
Summit Motorsports Park
Summit Motorsports Park is a drag strip where NHRA races are held. The track can be tricky, so teams have to dial in their car setup to get good traction.
Topic
NHRA Nationals
NHRA Nationals is a big drag racing event run by the NHRA. Teams race through qualifying and then elimination rounds over the weekend.
Person
Bill Bader Jr.
Bill Bader Jr. is a person connected to running the event/venue. The host is praising how smoothly things are handled.
Person
Antron Brown
Antron Brown is a professional drag racer. The host is saying they’ll talk about him more later.
Person
Brian Karate
Brian Karate is a professional drag racer. The host is mentioning him as part of the group dealing with launch/setup challenges.
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This is WFO Radio.
Everybody, WFO Radio, NHRA Nitro is back.
Joe Costello here in the WFO Studio, super excited.
We just finished three in a row from Maryland and New England to Bristol, the
Thunder Valley Nationals, just awesome, just awesome.
On this show, we got the Triple H, we got Hagan, we got Hartford, we got Herrera.
We might have Herrera.
Herrera is working, so we're going to try to get something in with him.
If it doesn't work out, but Matt Hagan is just seconds from now.
So if you're a fan of funny cars, if you're a fan of Tony Stewart Nitro, if you're a fan
of Matt Hagan and his race day fit, I ask you to share the show.
He is just a couple of seconds away, it's Father's Day this week and all kinds of good
stuff going on.
Before we get to our guests, what a great just three in a row and a great race weekend and
my nature factored in a little bit, but we got it in and that's what matters.
This show, I've got people who make it possible for me to do this show and so I just want
to acknowledge them at the very beginning.
You might not need them right now, but at some point you might.
So keep them in mind.
HustyPerformance.net, not just copper gaskets anymore, they do composite gaskets for race
cars, race engines.
We appreciate David Allen and the team.
Also, Larisse Motorsports Insurance, if you've got a race car, your whole operation can be
covered very, very easily.
Total seal piston rings, the leader in ring seal technology, Matt Hartford going to be
on.
We're going to talk total seal.
We're going to talk about his third win of the year coming up in just a little bit.
FTI performance transmissions and torque converters, FTIPerformance.com, you got to get them if you
want to win races.
DPF Exfit, the Jesse Brand, Frank Holley's Drag Racing School and Marvin Rodak, my main
man down there in Fort Worth, Texas.
Appreciate Marvin.
I think Matt knows Marvin and of course Fogget, Gary Stennett's engine spray that works on
everything.
Don't just spray it, Fogget.
All right.
Joining us now.
He's the guy who got the job done out there in Thunder Valley.
Mr. Matt Hagen.
Oh, no sleeves.
Headin' to the lake, man.
Headin' to the lake.
I was like, I better grab a Dodge Hat or something at least to get on the show.
You know what I mean?
But yeah, sorry about that.
I probably should look a little bit more professional, but man, it's hot and it's muggy and I'm
going to hit the water is what I'm going to do, man, like going to kind of chill out,
get on the boat for a little bit and have some fun, man.
You've earned it.
You've earned it.
This was tough.
Three in a row.
People think, and I know I used to think.
That's when I say people think, I used to think like, oh man, it's all just fun and
racing and you're goin' and you're traveling.
It's tough.
It's physically and mentally draining and I'm just standing around.
You're driving one of these beasts, the acceleration, the deceleration, concentration, winning
a race.
You deserve a weekend off.
Well, you know what, man, you guys do a great job too.
I think Joe, nobody gets to pat you guys on the back.
I mean, you're out there standin' in the sun all day long and then get up in the booth
and doin' all the things.
I think people don't realize the grind sometimes.
They see this show and the production and you know, we are showmen.
You're a showman.
We're all putting on a show and you guys do a great job, man.
You know what I mean?
We watch it live back in the pit, you know what I mean?
And then we go back and watch the show later on and everything else and that's off to you
guys, man.
You all put on a great show and you should be proud of yourself.
I think what people don't understand is it takes everyone to make this circus wheel go
around and around, you know, and it's kinda wild because it runs so smoothly and it looks
so good sometimes.
You just think it's easy, but there's just a lot of things that happen and a lot of
travel, man.
I mean, that's three in a row.
It's a grind, you know what I mean?
And thank goodness it's been on the East Coast because the West Coast stuff, man.
When we used to do the Western Swing, it would be like getting used to the time change.
I don't know how like Caps and those guys do it, man.
Like, you know, they come out here and then they run back there and then come back out
and we race a lot of times on the East Coast, but it's kinda, it's cool because everybody's
like, well, what's your home track now?
And I'm like, well, all of them run my home track.
Everything's two hours from me now, you know?
So it's been neat to see that.
But, you know, I was a little disappointed that Bristol didn't have like a second Wally
or second trophy, man.
I was, you know what I mean?
Like Epping, they had the buoy and then, you know, when I won Pomona, they had the
snowflake thing and, you know, so I was kinda, I was looking forward to that.
So I was a little disappointed that there was, I was like, man, Bruton's got a little
bit of money.
I'm sure we can get a, you know, put two pieces of metal together or something, you
know what I mean?
But, but I was looking forward to that a little bit, you know what I mean?
Cause it's always those little extra accolades that they kind of like stand out, you know,
when you, you start accumulating some of this stuff.
But, but at the end of the day, we're, we're very, very blessed to, to do what we did out
there in Bristol, man.
And it really truly is kind of like my home track, the two hours away, like an hour and
45 minutes, you know, and there's so many folks that come out and man, I just, I wish
I could spend more time with people and I try really hard not to be rude, you know,
but like, you know, you see people that you've grown up with and, and they, you know, they,
they just want to talk and then that's great.
But people don't realize a lot of times you're doing a job, you know, and you got to crawl
in a car and you got to be focused and you got all these things going on.
And, you know, you want to give the kids the parts and the pieces and sign that stuff.
And it's funny to see grown men fight over kids for, for a piston or hot and different
things.
And it just, it's unreal, man.
But, but we're, we're very, very blessed to do what we do.
It was such a humbling day because it was so hot and I was so exhausted at the end of
the day and you could just, it felt like a mop, man.
You could just wring yourself out and you, you know, it's bad when after you win the
race, the thing, you know, instead of celebrating or drinking a beer or anything like that,
you're looking forward to the cold shower.
I, well, you said that you said something like that.
You're going to soak yourself.
I do want to address a couple of things that you said because not to compare my experience.
Well, first of all, thank you for the compliment on the broadcast.
It's, uh, we work, we try, we feel, um, try to live up to the moments and I can definitely
speak for Jason and Courtney when I say that we're putting in the full effort that we're
capable of at that given moment and trying our best and not always living up to it, but
trying real hard.
So thank you for acknowledging that and appreciating that.
And then secondarily, I was in the airport and try cities and I'm totally zoned out,
Matt, like, like, you know what I mean?
Off the clock and all of a sudden here's this guy and he's like, Joe, and I'm like,
Oh my God, back on the clock and I was getting my boarding pass out and I'm trying to like,
Hey, sir, but really like, do I have my boarding pass?
I got to go on and I felt like maybe that could have been perceived as a little rude
because he was interested in talking about stuff.
Yeah.
You know, it's like, what do you do?
You know, you know, and I think like, uh, you know, that old saying you want to be famous,
but like, man, I don't want to be nearly as famous as Tony Stewart, man.
Like that guy, I feel for him.
Honestly, like he'll come out of the hospitality to try to eat breakfast.
And it's like, Tony, Tony, I'm like, dude, the guys are human being, let him let him
eat breakfast and I'm sure he'll get over there and sign stuff.
But I get it.
You know, I mean, everybody paid their, their, their, their pass to get in and they want
their shot and God bless them, man.
I mean, I remember when no one wanted my autograph at all.
So it's like when I do get a little bit like hot and, you know, the sweats running on your
back and you've been standing out there and people don't realize when they come up,
you know what I mean?
Like you're the, you know, the hundredth and fiftieth person to do that.
But it's just for them, it's 55 seconds and they move on, you know what I mean?
But it's just, uh, you got to remind yourself like, Hey, this is, this is what this is
about.
Our fans are what keep us out here.
We, we need to show them love as much as we can.
And, and even though it's hot and even though it's brutal, you, you got to stand out
there, man.
You got to, you got to try to sign those autographs when you can.
And, uh, you know, I think that that's, uh, that's just a good reminder of like the
show doesn't go on without our fans.
Absolutely.
And just to double back on the, uh, special award, I think the folks at Bristol
might say something like, yeah, maybe next year, uh, especially this year, man,
new concrete, concrete this year, which was nice.
Oh, we lost someone texted him.
It's like, Hey, you're on WFO right now.
I see on there and it's just knocks out our broadcast, which is unfortunate, but
whatever, like he'll be back in a second.
I'm sure there he is.
He's back, right?
People are like, Hey, you're on WFO right now.
We see on there.
Yeah.
Can you see me?
Yeah, I see half of me or something.
You're back.
You're back.
Look at this.
I got you.
You're full.
Hey, Hey, and then you're now you're back.
You're back.
You know, it's a miracle.
So everybody is saying congratulations, right?
We got, uh, Kara saying congratulations and Gary is saying congratulations and Blake
is saying what's up and congratulations to you and the team.
Let's go through the round by round a little bit before we, uh, let you go to the
lake.
People are wondering that's going to the lake, man.
He's earned a little, uh, cruise time.
Number one qualifier, right?
It was a challenge.
This new track surface and that Friday session, me and Daryl going in the booth.
Nobody going down the racetrack, but it was the beginning of a process that
led to a good race day.
Talk about being number one qualifier and running John caps in the first round.
Well, if you would have told me four flat would have held for number one
qualifier, I'd have lost my money, man.
Like we would have, we would have taken that bed and I said, Nope, you're
going to lose your money and, and I sure would have lost mine because I would
have never dreamed for flat would hold.
Um, but that just, it goes to show you like, you know, 140 degree racetrack.
Um, it's just tricky and challenging for, for everyone.
And I don't care how talented these crew chiefs are.
I think a lot of people forget like, you know, when it gets hot, you have to
pull the motor back, but these motors like to really be lugged on.
They like to be pulled on and, and doing that they, you know, you, they basically
if you don't pull on these motors and you don't have a load on them, when you
free them up, they want to put cylinders out.
Well, when you put cylinders out, then you start looping the tire.
Um, you know, start moving the car around.
So these crew chiefs are truly in the heat.
Um, they have their hands full all the time, every run.
Um, and it's just, just a reminder of how tricky these cars are to get them
to the other end, um, under power and under on eight cylinders.
So when you're doing that, when it's 140 degrees and you can run on eight cylinders,
you've truly done something, you know, so I think like people don't understand
how these motors want to be really ran.
And when it's, when it's like, you know, obviously cool and good.
And, you know, it's nighttime and the tracks tight, you can pour that power
to them and expect them to run on eight, but man, it is super challenging
for these crew chiefs.
I don't care what, how brand new a track is or how old it is or what it,
when it's just that hot, they, uh, they, it's just challenging.
Absolutely.
Uh, but we got through, you got around, John, you earned the buy run.
That gives you an opportunity to set the track, to test prepare
for a semi-final round against Austin proc, which a lot has been made
about the lopsided numbers.
Now you're coming back.
You got a couple, couple of wins in a row now and that, uh, tell me
about that matchup now that Austin is over there.
Well, the one with John, I was, that felt more like a, a final round
because, you know, if you don't beat John, we, and actually the last time
I earned a buy into the semis, we got beat by Jack Wyatt and he went
to the semis and I was just like, man, that didn't go the way we
thought it was going to go.
You know, but like that's drag or sense.
What's so humbling?
And it's just like, you always have to be humble and you always have
to be kind and you always have to understand that no matter how good
you are, how hard you try, there's, there's room for error and there's,
there's going to be times when things don't work out.
And I was just, I was more nervous about the, the first round with John
than I was in my, in the final with Wilkie.
And, uh, you know, cause it's like, you know, you do get that shot
and then the rain comes in and you're like, man, I sure am glad we got
the buy because, you know, who knows what the track condition is going
to be after the rain, if it's going to have a lot of peel and different
things like that.
So, uh, uh, it really, really worked out in our favor to have those,
those, uh, you know, that buy run, uh, moving into the, the race against
Austin and, uh, and I had fun racing Austin, man.
I mean, we set up there on the start line for a while.
It probably didn't look like that much on TV, but, but he didn't
want to go in and, and, uh, and I'm one of those guys where I don't
care when I really stage, man.
I don't care if I stage first or for stage last.
I just kind of go up there and stage whenever it was.
And I know Austin likes to stage last and I'm just like, well, today
I'm not going to stage last.
You know what I mean?
Like it is what it is.
And then I said, well, you know, if it burns down and blows up, I just,
I just made my mind up.
This is what we're doing today.
And, and, you know, so he stage first and, and, uh, we got a couple
of hundreds on the tree and the car ran well and, you know, just one
of those things where, uh, my guys were super pumped up about it.
I hadn't seen them that excited.
And I was like, I wasn't really trying to play games.
I just went up there, made up my mind that it was, this is what
we're doing today.
And, and, uh, but to see my guys come back and they were like, that
was awesome.
You know what I mean?
But it was just, I don't know.
It was just fun, man.
And it's just having fun.
You know, and it's kind of one of those things where you feel comfortable
enough with the car to be able to do what you want to do up there.
And it's not, uh, not a game plan.
It's just you make a game plan and that's your plan and you stick to it.
You know?
Yeah.
I think while we're having fun and they're going to come back and
everybody's going to come back and everyone has mutual respect and
it's not hateful.
It's fun to watch you guys go after it.
Uh, but the final round though, you said it, you, you knew, you sensed
that like a lot of people want to see this guy win a race.
Daniel Wilkerson and Tim Wilkerson are beloved characters and they
haven't punched it in yet with Daniel, but, but not against you.
Sorry.
Those are the breaks.
You, you communicated that to the world afterwards.
Talk about setting up for a run like that where you know where, you
know, everybody, not everybody, but a lot are pulling for the other way.
Yeah.
You know, Daniel was, he was driving his tail off too, man.
Like he really was driving his ass off and like, you know, I looked
at his lights and there was, you know, uh, sub 60 every run and he was
thin and he was just, he was up, man.
You could tell like this is his day and he's, he's hungry and he wants it.
You know, and he's driving well and the car's trick, you know, it's tricky
to drive out there on the track and he's keeping it in the groove.
And, and so I knew going into the final, I was like, Hey, I need to be
up for this kid, you know, and, uh, but I got respect for him too.
He's a good driver.
So I mean, when you do get up for somebody, it's because you respect them
and, and you know what they're capable of.
And, and I just, I truly love his dad, man.
Like I have so much respect for Timmy and, and you know, my first run
in a, in a fuel car was with Timmy, I got my license and, you know, he
kind of pointed his finger at me like, what a terrible bad driving job I did.
But I got it to the other end.
And, uh, you know, it's just one of those things where I have, I have
love for that family, man.
And they're just good people.
And, and, uh, you know, Daniel, he's a great tuner and he's a good driver.
And, you know, all of it, you know, and you want to see him get their win
and he will get his win.
And it's just one of those things where, uh, you know, it just, it
just wasn't meant to be that day.
We just had the car that was, uh, I wouldn't say we had a great race car,
but we were doing better than everyone else that we were up against.
And, uh, you know, and it just kind of worked out that way.
Um, you know, my, my crew chief, man, I'm just, I'm so, so excited
that, that Mike is doing so well.
I mean, uh, you know, I kind of stuck my neck out on the line a little bit
for him and, you know, cause Tony was like, you know, Hey, look, you
know, we bring this new kid in and he don't do well.
He's like, I'm going to fire you too.
You know, and I was like, all right, well, well, let's try to chance it.
But, uh, to see Mike really thrive in this environment and to, to continue
to win races and continue to make good calls up there on the racetrack.
I'm just, I'm so proud of him.
I mean, you know, working with him for so long and seeing him come up
from working on the car to be an assistant crew chief to now crew chief
in the car.
Um, you know, I really feel like I got a shot at winning a championship
with this guy over the years and, uh, you know, it'd be cool to win.
I would be, you know, if we can win with Mike, it'd be my third, you
know, third different crew chief that would win championships with.
And, um, you know, I really believe in my heart.
We can do that, you know, and, and he's a good teacher too.
You know, he's teaching Alex Conway, you know, how to, how to tune the car
and, and spending time in there and going over graphs and doing that
kind of stuff.
Um, you know, and Phil is just like a great add.
Uh, Phil is so cool.
He's like, he's like, got that dad feel to him a little bit where, you
know, like if you get off track a little bit, he's going to reel you back in.
Um, so it can't give you that safety feel because Phil's been through it so
much.
I mean, all the way back through where he was putting a clutch in with Austin
Cole, you know what I mean?
And, and so he's, he's seen it all.
He's done it all and, and he brings that, that, that sense of security
to the, the program and, and, um, you know, I've had a lot of things
over the years and I've been very, very successful, but I've never had
what we got right now.
And I know we're not out here just dominating or, or killing it, but
man, when I show up to work, I am extremely happy to come to work and
we're in an environment where it is just unbelievable.
And our sponsors with Dodge and J H G and, and American Rebel and on a
mobile one, all the folks that are supporting what we do, we just have
great sponsors too, man.
So it's like you wake up and you want to pinch yourself.
You're like, is this real?
Like after 20 years, we're finally here.
We got a great team that note.
There's no drama.
There's no back and forth.
We communicate well.
So I'm like, I'm excited to see where this goes.
And I'm like, like I said, we're not dominating like the prox did, you know,
the last two years or anything like that, but we have something I've
never had before and in my, my history of the sport of almost 20 years.
And that's what's exciting for me.
Amazing.
One of NHRA is 75 greatest drivers.
Speaking of Johnson's horse power garage saw Jason and Nikki at Bristol
hotel and he was super excited.
Like this was a big, big deal for those guys.
They brought out, you know, I don't know if it's every single person
that they know, but a lot of people.
The starting line was full, man.
It was hats off to NHRA for allowing that, you know, up there.
I know they try to, you know, monitor that and keep the starting line down.
But man, they rolled in with a group.
I was like, man, you guys are giving scat guys a run for their money, you
know, and it is one of those things where they were all there.
But that's what everybody's about.
They want to feel that adrenaline.
They want to feel that excitement.
They want to feel what it's like to win and be a part of that.
And, and it's, uh, it makes me so proud that we can bring that to the
table and, and give that to our sponsors and give that, that feeling
that everyone chases out here for that, that moment in time where you
get to, to be on top and you get to win and everything that you put
forward, it comes together.
I mean, that's, that's what everybody's up on the starting line.
That's what everybody wants to feel.
That's that, that sensation that everyone's chasing every weekend.
And, uh, you know, when you're there, it's just, it's just the high of the
high man.
There's just nothing better than that.
Yeah.
The, the Wally hanging out at the post race, victory, meal, beautiful
stuff and great stuff.
All right.
Next race is Norwalk before we let you go.
It is my understanding that you were approached to be a part of the
annual Norwalk ice cream eating contest that Gianna Everisto has won
three consecutive years.
We're not exactly sure if your schedule is going to allow for it, but,
but they, they want you in it and we're trying right.
I got, I got my son.
We were going to be doing some training like I'm already, we've already
lined up some ice cream.
I don't think I got a shot at it cause watching this little girl eat
ice cream, I think it's, it's game over, but, uh, but we're already doing
some home training where we're getting ready for this thing.
We're, we're ready to, uh, to inhale some ice cream, man.
You know, I'm a big dude, man.
I got big mouth.
So let's see if we can give this little girl a run for money.
That's it.
Anybody that wins anything in the NHRA three consecutive times, whatever
it is, they're, they're pretty good at it.
So we're going to see, uh, I appreciate bringing a little star
power to the ice cream eating contest as hopefully we can.
Speaking with Kelly, trying to get it all worked out schedule wise,
but we'll, we'll try to make it so where it's available for you to do.
All right.
Hey, again, go have fun at the lake, man.
Go have fun.
Say hi to everybody.
Appreciate it.
Everybody in the audience is stoked about the win.
Happy father's day as well.
Happy father.
Thanks guys.
And just again, thank you to our fans, man.
I mean, I think that the biggest thing is that, you know, you, you have
to realize that they support what we do out here and they, they buy the
products and they, you know, they go out here and spend their harder
and money to come watch us and put the butts in the seats.
And, uh, man, we're just, we're just very, very thankful for that.
So, um, for amazing fans that we have.
Thank you so much.
There you go.
No, I agree.
Wholeheartedly.
All right.
We'll see you in Norwalk.
Have fun at the lake.
Happy father's day.
There he goes.
Matt Hagan with us here on W F O radio.
How great is that?
Hagan's going to try to do the ice cream eating contest.
John Everisto, I asked her like, are you ready to lay down now?
Are you done?
She's not done winning.
She is not done winning.
She loves this thing and she is excited about being a part of it.
And the juxtaposition of Gianna, who is little and Hagan, who is not
little eating ice cream together.
We've got a couple of others that have agreed on Matt.
A Latino of Jesse converters and fast diesel solutions.
He's, he's, he's in on it and he's ready.
He says, I'm going to take it down.
I'm going to win.
Matt Latino is going to be the one to beat Gianna Everisto.
Is that possible?
I don't know.
He's a big underdog.
They're all big underdogs.
Speaking of underdogs coming up next, Matt Hartford speaking of
people on the starting line, they got three on the starting line and one
in the car and that's it.
It's wild watching them go up against Elite Motorsports and KB because it's
like an army of people and then there's like a couple of people and they're
winning three out of four final rounds that they've been to.
Only two drivers have won three races this year.
He's one of them.
We're going to speak with Matt Hartford when we return.
But first, I want to tell you about the folks at Larisse Motorsports insurance.
LarisseMotorsportsInsurance.com is where you go look when I was building
Project Pontiac, it was very obvious to me that I can't bring this thing out on
the roads without covering it, right?
I can't replace this.
Like, I'll just go get another 1978 Trans-Am and it'll be great.
No, can't do that.
So I reached out to the folks at Larisse Motorsports Insurance and they wrote
me a policy that covers my trailer, everything in it, including the race car
at the house, at the track, when I'm in the staging lanes, when I'm on the return
road, a really great policy that makes me feel much better.
Now, is a meteorite going to fall out of the sky on top of me?
Who knows?
But I love the fact that I'm covered.
And the problem with other insurance companies is that they love to write
these exclusions and exemptions into the policy.
Like, do you have race fuel in your race trailer?
Well, we can't cover you then because, you know, that's hazardous.
Like, yeah.
Yeah.
No, we have race fuel.
Larisse doesn't do that.
And there's hundreds of examples.
Was your car on the lift?
Oh, your car was on the lift.
Oh, yeah, no, sorry.
Yeah, but of course it's on the lift.
That's how we get it out of the trailer.
Yeah, sorry.
We don't cover that.
Larisse doesn't do that.
So reach out to hold and reach out to the team.
Jeremy and Carrie Lerke, Jake, whoever is they got multiple people
writing policies, reach out to Larisse Motorsports Insurance and ask them
questions, just ask them questions.
And I think you will feel at peace with the way they do things the way I did.
Larisse Motorsports Insurance.com.
Thank you, Larisse, for supporting WFO radio.
All right.
When we come back, we're going to speak with Matt Hartford, the second of
the triple H, right?
Yeah, Hagen Hartford Herrera, which we're working on Gage.
Gage is working.
You know, he's working.
He's got the guys working, man.
He's got a job.
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It is Matt Hartford holding up the Wally and here he is, Matt Hartford
hanging out with the Wally.
What's up, Matt?
What are you doing, Joe?
Good to see you.
Yeah, good to see you as well.
Hagan Hartford Herrera, coincidence or conspiracy?
Conspiracy all the way around.
I mean, 3-H is it Bristol?
So would we have Antron?
Yes, it breaks it up a little bit.
Breaks it up.
What are you going to do?
All right, so I talked a little bit about the crowd on the starting line.
To me, I've got a video I want to play.
I want you to walk us through the video.
It's three minutes, right?
But it's a whole final round and I'm going to lower the volume a little.
I'm going to want you to talk us through it because I got the meta, right?
I got the meta.
You said you don't want to see the videos that I'm taking with the meta.
There's one that you have to watch and I want you to, I'm going to try to bring it up.
We'll see how this works live and just talk us through it.
Tell us what you're thinking about in the moment.
And, you know, this is the Joe's eye view, literal Joe's eye view of your third
win of the 2026 season.
Let's see.
There we go.
I look right there.
I think you see our entire team up on the starting line.
Sam's up there, too.
So Sam works for a task and he helps us with track analysis.
You get to get a good view of what's going on in the racetrack.
Of course, Kenny Delphi hanging out, right?
Oh, of course.
Kenny's everywhere.
I love Kenny.
I love a character.
Everybody loves Kenny.
Everybody loves Kenny.
You're looking over there at Greg because I heard that you get a crowd poll and they
all thought Greg was going to win.
You did better than we expected you to do.
That's good air.
I mean, this guy's been around for a long time, just years in, right?
Look, Greg's the best.
I mean, far not in Greg, especially in this, you know, you get that place like
Bristol, he's got to be the fan favorite.
Yes.
But yeah, now Amber, you know, Amber drags me up into the beams.
Eddie's back there making sure I get, you know, left, right, left, right, get it
straight as we can get it.
And Adam's always just checking inside the car making sure everything's ready to
go.
That's that's our team.
You've got the whole, whole team right there.
That's wild.
It's just there's three of you and the driver, three plus the driver.
And then over the other side, I think I looked over here in a second like 40 people.
And when we pre-staged, both kind of went in at the same time, I believe, and it
kind of threw us both off on reaction times.
I didn't get to see this, obviously, from my point of view.
When we get an interview with Eddie here, too, Eddie or Adam or someone on the
right.
Yeah.
How about Amber?
She won't come to the interview.
Come on.
Come on.
Says no.
He didn't allow him.
And he's always gained for a good interview.
He's great.
The silly, silly accent.
Man, I don't know about these glasses.
You get a lot of stuff that maybe we don't want you to stand.
You know, when you're a family, you definitely always, you always aggravate
in each other in some way.
Next round in the world, hopefully, go celebrate.
Thank you.
Yeah.
What, what, what an awesome time, Joe.
How about that?
Right?
Yes.
You signed the Ryan Fleck over there.
Congratulations, Eddie.
So yeah, Brian was excited.
So let's tell the story behind the story, right?
Like, so you, you had kind of a tough weekend in that you were, you know,
swapping some engines and word on the street is that poor Michael Heiner
and Derek Kramer might not get their engine back.
What's up with that?
They got their engine.
It's called 54.
It's what was in their car.
They went 648 with it at the last race.
I don't know what they're going to complain about.
I hear 67 is their engine and that I was told by someone.
I won't say who that 67 is their engine and that they got a call from you
saying you're not getting 67 back.
67 is being held hostage.
I guess that's a fact.
I mean, that's not speculation.
67 is bolted in our frame rails.
I asked Adam to go ahead and just weld the motor plates to our, to our frame
so that it can't come out.
So, I mean, look, we had 67 in and in epping went to the finals.
You know, wish we would have won obviously had 67 in during the mission in
Bristol had 67 in during the race in Bristol.
I don't know.
I've heard Michael say that maybe 67 isn't as good as what it could be.
So we put it in our car just to prove it.
Well, oh, wow, you didn't have to do that.
I'm just saying, where's he at to defend himself?
Yeah, watch out.
He might be out there now.
I want to point out to everyone the cultural significance of this moment.
The engine is 67 and Matt and I are just letting it go.
That whole thing that used to happen about it six months ago.
That's it's over.
Congratulations.
We've killed it.
Excellent.
He might not even know what I'm talking about.
Let's talk about the reaction times though.
First round, you had to go up against Shane Tucker.
People don't realize like that team all of a sudden Rob and Shane,
they got lump over there.
They got championship caliber engines that were purchased,
which now I'm just saying it now.
Gray Motorsports.
They got an inventory.
They got a guy that is consulting on the engines doing the dyno, as I
understand, who's pretty good.
That is not I don't want to say anybody's ever a walkover, right?
But that is definitely not a walkover right now.
No, we did not roll up there thinking we had an easy first round.
You know, we watched how good they ran at the last couple races and you
know, they set top speed at one of the events, you know, running well deep
into the field at in many of the qualifying sessions.
Look, I don't forget.
I think it was 2019 or 20.
I lost first round.
It might have been 19 lost first round to Shane and Gainesville.
You know, he was, you know, he left on me and ran with us.
You don't forget these things.
We rolled up there knowing that that's a very tough round and you
know, we lost at number one qualifying position.
So, you know, we had, we knew to go to the finals.
We had to go through four or hard rounds and you know, Shane was the
first round.
If you don't get past him, you're done.
And our track record this year has shown that we've been able to
lose first round at times when we shouldn't have.
So, we were concerned rolling up there against him.
But if you do get out of first round, you go to the final or win the race.
That's pretty much the numbers this year, which is a wild statistical
anomaly.
What's up with that?
No, we're trying not to think about that.
We definitely, we shouldn't have lost first round a few of the races.
There's a couple of the races we understand why we lost, but there's
been a few of them that were just, you know, very tough, close races.
And some, some anomalies.
So I think we have a car that's pretty consistent.
The box score looks a little, you know, over-weighted one side.
We shouldn't have lost first round that many times, but we did.
And we've been fortunate enough to go to four finals, which has helped
us stay third in the points.
So we're, we're, we're actually really happy about that.
Reagan's out there saying 67 aka Rowan, what?
She was six and now turned seven.
Is that what happened?
That's right.
She turned seven on Friday.
So, you know, you've seen it, you've seen the happy.
We've seen all the artwork that Amber did on her back window.
I mean, that was, that was a massive amount of artwork she did.
I couldn't do that even with AI.
Let's talk about AI for a minute.
And I seen a picture last night that you're utilizing my, my likeness
without my permission to create.
Not your likeness.
It's a, it's an amalgamation of your wife's favorite people.
You should have warned me.
I would have put it on the air.
I would have put it on.
I was laughing.
Oh, you finally saw that, huh?
So that's amazing.
Um, you know, how do I explain that storyline?
The last time Amber was on, which we did not share the link with Amber
because I don't want her feeling pressured that she has to come on
every time you win anymore.
But, um, someone said that you look like the Dax guy.
And she said, no, Billy Bob Thornton, young Billy Bob Thornton
is who I like.
So what I did was I went to chat GPT and I told it to merge
young Billy Bob, Dax and you and put it in your fire suit.
And it came up with this.
What'd you think of that character?
I don't know.
But last night, my wife told me she's leaving me for that guy.
Does she like print up a large form of photograph of it?
I don't know.
Then you're okay.
Then you never, you never know with her, but no, in all seriousness,
it was Rowan's birthday on Friday.
Um, what better gift for a seven year old than a diamond, a diamond
and Wally coming her way.
That that is going to be, uh, she's our biggest fan.
She's always, you know, she's always rooting for us.
Always got the crew shirts on and, and you know, we're, we were
thrilled to be able to close the deal for them.
You know, that was connections.
Just been such a, such a part of our team for decades now.
And we've got a lot of really good partners.
Same thing with Rottler.
We've, they've been with us for an eternity and, and actually
when we get to Seattle, uh, David Bianchi, son Dean is actually
going to come out and he is going to be our tire apprentice.
He is going to help Amber in the tire department in Seattle.
So we're really looking forward to that as well.
That's the way to do it.
You got to, uh, you got to bring in the extra help.
So it'll be, uh, you know, five people on the starting line.
All right.
So, uh, Gage Herrera is down there.
I don't know how long Gage is available for.
So if I see him enable his camera, I might pop him on for a minute
or two, just to see what he's dealing with.
He has enabled his, uh, disabled his camera, uh, at the moment.
And so we'll check in with Gage the next time he comes out.
Okay.
Uh, Ford wants to know his Amber under contract for the 20, 27 season.
That one WFO radio appearance, she's still getting feedback on it.
And people are disappointed that she, she says she's quitting after this year.
Well, she's under contract until 2032.
That has nothing to die.
I don't even know why this is a discussion.
Good.
So she's good contract.
Yeah.
No, it's, uh, she's doing a great job.
I love the team.
Let's talk about that second round race against Cody.
That one to me, Cody is he's 22 on the tree and he's capable of anything.
He could drive like Greg.
He could drive like Dallas.
He could drive.
He can make a mistake.
You just don't know.
It's a total X factor with Cody Anderson.
Well, when you roll up there against an Anderson, you know, he's going to be good.
Whether it's Greg or Cody, uh, you know, Cody came from Greg Anderson.
Greg Anderson is the best it's ever been in a car.
You're not going to take Cody lightly.
He has a fast car.
He's been really good on the tree.
He's starting to build a lot of confidence.
Throw in the fact that it was his mom's birthday weekend.
You know, there's always that, you know, is that going to be the special?
She's going to, he's going to win the race and it's her birthday weekend and it
all comes together.
You just never know.
So we went up there and, and luckily we both left, uh, I think we're pretty even
and, uh, you know, we, we had a, I think we went low for the round.
So, you know, we, we were not taking him lightly.
We were definitely on the side of the fence that we, we got to outrun him.
And, and just looking at reaction times, right?
Okay.
So first of all, someone from Matt Hartford racing's account says
Hartford is a big fat liar.
We don't know who this is.
It could be anybody.
All right.
I think it's Amber.
Okay.
Um, you're, you're locked in Amber.
That's it.
The contract has been agreed upon and, and that's it.
But first round 13, uh, you won the mission food too fast to Tacey challenge,
right?
Yeah.
And 28 second round, third round against Aaron.
He's 18, you're 15.
Let's talk driving.
What's, what's going on?
What are you eating?
What's different?
Why?
How many times can you handle losing because you got beat by the other guys?
Reaction time.
I mean, it, it wears on you, you know, time in and time out.
You know, you go home and say, wow, we could have won that round.
Had we just been X or better, you know, 30 or better, 25 or better.
Now epping, you're not Dallas double O two.
You're not going to be better than that, but it starts to wear on you.
And you really, you just have to figure out a way to focus and have your
composure, no matter what's going on on the starting line.
Aaron is going to be 20 or better every single time.
I mean, you can, I don't know what his average reaction time is for the year,
but I guarantee you it's, it's, it's not worse than 30.
So to go up there and say, if you're 40, you can win the round.
You're not winning.
If you're 40, you'd better go up there and be on time.
And luckily we were, and we, you know, we had a good weekend, all six
elimination rounds, you know, the two mission in the four in the, in the main
race.
I felt that we had good reaction times.
The worst was the final round, but to be 15 against Aaron, I was happy to
leave on them.
That's not too many people can ever say that.
All right.
So look who it is.
It's Gage Herrera.
Are we, you're muted.
Yeah, yeah, you know, all right.
So this is, you know, Hartford, um, how long do you have?
I know you're working.
So I want to, I got some time.
So don't, don't be rushing that.
Okay.
Thank you.
You're going to put you back in the ready room.
I just want to make sure we could get you in.
Look, everybody.
Gage is here.
I'm going to put you back down there.
You'll be up right after Matt.
Matt, you got an update for Gage real quick while you guys are on at the same time.
Yeah.
So what, what did you think of the track out there?
I mean, from a bike.
I mean, you've raced Bristol.
What was your opinion this year versus previous years?
Honestly, it didn't even seem like the same track to me.
Um, I mean, it was very smooth.
You know, before we used to go there and think you were racing on a motocross track
and now it went out there as per, I mean, it's basically like glass.
I mean, it was definitely a big improvement and a huge shout out to Bristol Dragway for that.
Yeah, I would definitely say the same thing.
It was, it was not the same track and they did offend whoever, whoever handled the first
660 feet of redoing all the concrete did a phenomenal job.
Yeah, absolutely.
Still got tunnels like no track with tunnels can possibly be perfect, perfect.
But there's a little bit of it, just a tiny little dip out there.
But look, we, we've raced over the last few weeks.
We, we've definitely raced over some different conditions.
Bristol was like glass compared to where we've been lately.
Yeah.
Gage, you got any questions for Hartford?
31 pro stock, you know, like anything that is on your mind about the factory hot rods?
Not really.
I mean, it's just always exciting to watch, you know, and I'm glad to see the lone survivor
team go out there with all the big teams.
So, you know, congrats, Matt.
It's always a pleasure and I love watching you out there whooping the butts.
I appreciate it, pal.
You know how hard this is.
Oh, yeah.
That is awesome.
All right, Gage, we'll be back in a second with Gage Herrera.
We'll finish up with Matt Hartford.
People, when we do that, Matt, I have had people say that that's the best.
Like hearing drivers and riders talk to each other, you know, get me out of here and having
you guys talk about each other's race.
It's just, we don't see that too often.
We, there's no place where that happens.
Right.
You know, I mean, obviously, you know, we talk, you know, when we're up in the
lanes and everything, you know, all the teams are talking back and forth through the,
you know, the bikes and the pro stock cars and us and the funny cars, you know, the
teams are all, you know, we live together basically 20 weekends a year.
So there's a lot of, a lot of conversations that happen behind the starting line.
All right.
Talk about that final round against Greg Anderson.
So you beat Cody.
Now you got to run Greg.
Greg Anderson is the best ever.
He's got the hell's bell, bell that rings and it's intimidating.
We pulled the fans.
You did better than I thought.
And that tells me something like you're still, you're gaining fandom.
It be not everyone has been introduced or totally understands what Matt Hartford
is all about.
Every single person knows Greg Anderson.
You know, if it was you've got, you've got room to grow.
So tell me about that final round against Greg.
He obviously shook that tells me that they had to press.
Well, we were a little bit late getting up to the lanes.
You know, it was a fairly quick turnaround.
We had a couple of little things that we had to address.
So we were a tad late getting up there.
Greg was up there before us.
He was waiting on us when we got up there and, you know, you're getting in the car
and you're getting suited up and you know, he's over in the other car getting suited
up at the same time.
There's a lot of things going through your mind.
It's like you are racing the best that there's ever been in pro stock.
He's got a really fast car.
He's proven that he was number one qualifier.
No matter, he just finds his way to the finals.
I mean, he just, he's able to claw and just get around people no matter what
happens and was it going to be his day or was it going to be our day?
And you roll up there and, you know, last week we knew that, you know, Dallas had told us
that if it, you know, they were loaded up and if it sticks, it would be fast.
That's what he told us after the run and their car stuck and it was fast last week
and that being in the final and my thought was we had lane choice.
We were going into the lane that we preferred.
However, a lot of the teams were preferring the left lane.
So we were technically giving Greg the lane that I think he would have picked
that he had lane choice.
So that's in your mind.
And then, you know, you see, weather's, weather's coming in.
Are we going to get this in before the rain?
So there's all these things happening in your mind and then it's fire him up and
all that stuff goes away and it's just your head now is clear.
It's job at hand.
Hit your marks in the burnout, you know, try to make sure you get all the
rosin just, you know, it's extremely important.
And I felt a little rushed up there if you want to know the truth.
It felt like Greg started his burnout and he got back quick and he was, you
know, he was up into the pre-stage beam really quick and I rolled into the
pre-stage beam and I thought I just, I just had this inkling.
He was going to, he was going to roll right in.
So I just went in as well and we kind of both went in at the same time.
And, you know, it wasn't dead on both bulbs at the same time, but it was click,
And when that happens, I think it throws both drivers off a little bit.
I know it threw me off a little bit because I just wasn't quite ready for it
to be the click, click on the ball.
And, you know, we were 40 something and I don't know what his light was.
I think it was 60 something.
71 71.
Yeah, you're pretty sexy.
71.
So, you know, luckily, you know, we were leaving first at that point in time.
I pulled second gear and the shift light comes.
I put it in third gear and normally in your peripheral, you can see because
I don't have my helmet all taped up like some guys do.
I can in my peripheral see the car if they're next to me or definitely
if they're in front of you.
And I didn't see him.
I put it in fifth gear and I thought, oh my God, there's no shadow off to the
left and the shoots came out and and I see my windlight on.
I was I was actually shocked.
It was the fact that he wasn't there and I get out of the car and I see him
pushing off the short shoe, which that's that's not like them.
That was very uncharacteristic for them to shake in a final.
Now, people have said, like even saw a piece of social media go out, you
know, KB teammates in the final and I like bristled about that.
And you got to put that word out there.
Are you and Greg Anderson KB teammates?
Absolutely not.
We are, we are, we have a very good alliance, meaning we lease engines
from them.
So when we get an engine from them, that is 100% their mechanical power
unit, they own it, they build it, they develop it, you know, but when it
comes over to us, what we do with that engine is 100% on Matt Hartford racing.
There's, you know, obviously, you know, they have input about what
the last should be and, you know, you know, what we should do, you know,
different mechanical parts of the engine, but there's zero interaction
between KB and our team.
And that is a great thing.
It's they're out there to win.
We're out here to win to have a team like Greg Anderson and everybody
at KB Titan to be willing to provide a customer like us with power that can
go to number one, can win the mission, race, outrun their own cars.
That says so much about KB Titan and just how, how honest they are and just
how great of an organization it is.
But when it comes out there for racing, I don't know what tire
they had on their car.
I don't know what transmission ratio they had in their car.
I have no idea what's in their clutch.
I don't know what air pressure was in their tires on how much timing they
had.
I don't know what their fuel curve looked like.
I don't know what shock they had and they don't know any of that
about our team as well.
Completely separate when it comes to racing in the setups of the car.
Excellent.
I think that's important for people to know and understand.
All right.
So you mentioned Amber talked about Amber a lot and how she's working
so hard and the here it is.
This is this is the there it is hard for there it is.
You want to look at it like everybody just that's you.
Dax Billy Bob Thornton all assembled together and chat GPT.
Right there.
There it is.
So look there's Matt hard and it took 10 seconds Matt.
It took less than 10 seconds.
It was the quickest thing ever.
Right.
I know you guys are into the AI over there a total seal.
What do you think?
I think it came out pretty good.
You know, I mean, you know, if he's got a big enough check,
you can come drive this car too.
Well, he doesn't he doesn't exist.
He's not real.
He's just a generated person.
Okay.
Look at that.
You guys are a mess.
We do have a little too much time on our hands.
All right, Matt.
And anything else we need to know you want to tell the WFO audience
about you're going to Norwalk.
We got the get trick shootout.
We got some big pro stock stuff happening.
This is the best.
This is the best you've been right.
Isn't this the best season you're having?
Is it safe to say that this is the best the team has worked
together since its inception?
I think so.
Like, you know, we're definitely off to the best start.
We've ever had, you know, we're coming into Norwalk.
You know, the all-star callouts here this weekend, you know, put on
by Get Tricks, who's obviously been a big supporter of our team.
We've been to the Get Tricks, the finals in both callouts for
the last two years, runner up first year and we won it last year.
So there's a little bit of pressure that, you know, we definitely
want to go there and try to collect the money again.
But we're we're not going to get to pick this year.
Someone will pick us.
So we're the number four on point.
So by the time it gets to us, the picks will be will be completed.
It'll be interesting.
Will one of the KB cars actually call us out or will they just let
it, will they go down party lines?
Because there's four KB engines and there's four elite cars.
So, you know, I'm trying to figure out what's going to happen,
but it's going to be a good race.
And, you know, we got great power with KB.
We got a great car from Jerry Haas.
We got great partners with, you know, Rotler and the hose
connection and and and Rob's, you know, collision.
If if we can go there and execute and I'm hoping for a very
hot and humid Norwalk, if we can go there and execute, you know,
I think we have a chance to maybe take some money home on Saturday.
There you go, Matt.
Thank you for making the time.
We'll let you go back and run Total Seal.
But I appreciate you coming on the show.
Have fun with Gage.
There he goes.
Matt Hartford with us here on WFO Radio.
Matt Hartford wins three out of four final rounds he's been to.
Looking pretty good.
And let's go right to Gage.
Let's get Gage on here because this guy's working.
He's out.
He's got the bosses tapping the toe over there in the corner.
Oh, you're muted again.
Unmute.
There we go.
There we go.
How's it going, Joe?
Glad I could make it on here.
Yes.
Well, I'm glad you could make it on as well.
It's been kind of wild right after two years of Gage domination.
The worm has turned a little bit, right?
But you're still fast and you're still competitive.
And now you're back in the winter circle.
Yes, it's made it exciting.
You know, as far as I feel like how the class has been going,
you know, not only as a racer, but as a spectator of it.
And, you know, just the love for seeing other people, you know,
you know, Richard getting the championship last year and then,
you know, what we've had four different winners so far this season.
So it's just brought a lot more excitement to the class for me.
You know, as a racer, I love the good competition.
You know, obviously I always want to win and we all want to win,
but, you know, a good competition can't expect to win at all.
You can't expect to win at all.
I think it's all your fault.
I think I mentioned it to you maybe in the media center that your arrival
in pro stock motorcycle was a signal to others that they had to do something.
Matt had to change his clutch program.
He had to go back to work and he did and he's faster now.
You know, Richard seeing you working you, he went through a process
that ultimately he says it.
He raised his game.
I think a lot of that it has to do with you.
I know you won't take credit like that, but those of us on the outside,
we see what we saw the numbers like first to 30 wins, man.
That's crazy.
Yeah, I mean, I think I'm a little part of that.
You know, it was just one of those things when Andrew asked me to come
to ride their bike, you know, it's this right place to write time for me.
And did we expect to do what we did in 2023?
No.
And, you know, I think it was awesome as far as, you know, getting a lot
of people from the other sanctioned bodies, like the grudge scene and the
other bracket series, you know, people's interest in it that shows
that anyone can go and do it.
You know, you know, like Chase Van Zandt coming out, Brayden Davis,
Clayton Howie.
I mean, I don't think I really mean, me and Chase kind
of debuted the same year, but as far as like the other racers,
I don't think they really seen the opportunity was possible to, you
know, to conquer.
And so it's awesome seeing new faces out there.
And, you know, like I said, I'll take a little bit of credit for it,
but I don't deserve all the credit.
You know, it's a it was a group effort and none of it is possible.
Well, Vance and Andrew for sure.
And the timing, right?
Eddie and Andrew kind of, you know, let's I don't want to say aging out,
right, but making the decision like, hey, and I respect that so so much.
I think we need that more in the sport where someone says, I love
doing this.
It is a passion.
I am still good, but I can shepherd the next generation along and help
the next wave come in and be strong and look what has happened.
Eddie and Andrew, you got, you know, hate to say like this, right?
But you like to root for young people.
I don't know what it's all about, but they like to look at the root
for someone who looks like them.
You got Richard, you got you, you got all these guys.
You mentioned Clayton.
A wave came in after those two guys said, you know what?
We can still feel victory by helping others.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, even Matt Smith is mentioned about retiring and stuff,
but he's really going after the seventh championship.
I don't blame him.
You know, he wants to be the first person to seven.
So I don't blame him for still being out there and riding.
You know, unfortunately right now he's not being able to ride
because he got a little, you know, scared as far as, you know, he had,
you know, whatever, but yeah, go by that's right.
Yeah.
Sorry.
So, and then, you know, like this last week in a bristle is awesome.
See Joey glassone bag out there.
He's still got it.
You know, like we talk quite a bit and, you know, he misses being out
there all the time, but you know, he's enjoying working at KB Titan
on the pro stock cars as well.
So, you know, it's awesome to see the wave of new people coming
in the pro stock motorcycle.
You know, it might not look like it is or like, you know, that's
class is still strong, I feel from the outside, but there's been a
lot of new people coming in and a lot, a lot of new talk, you
know, I mean, on Facebook and all that, you know, there's a bunch
of people that say they're coming.
I know there's a bunch of people that still are out there testing,
but it's like anything, you know, I mean, I'd be the same way if
I had a new, new program.
I was putting together, I'd be out there testing and trying to run
competitive numbers before I showed up.
So I feel like there's going to be quite a few more faces here soon.
Well, I hope so.
I hope so.
All right, let's talk about the final round against Richard,
right? Because you guys are the two Vansenheim teammates.
He's burst onto the scene.
Everybody loves him.
Everybody loves you.
It's Eddie.
It's Andrew.
It's Bristol.
He won his first race.
Just walk me through the approach to that final round.
Yeah, you know, I mean, even the semi, I was more worried the
semi against Steve Johnson because I believe my first year I
went right against him and then in the semi there, I almost hit the
wall basically against Steve and I was waiting for him to come around
me.
So that was pretty exciting around there.
But then in the final against Richard, you know, it was basically
a, it was a replay as far as both of last year, as far as both
of us being in the final.
But you know, I ended up coming out with the win there.
But you know, we both had very fast consistent motorcycles.
I knew, you know, we were both going to be tough on the tree.
He got me a little on the tree, but I studied the video after our run
and it looked like he had to fight the bike a little bit from the
wind, a little cross when we had.
So that's where I was able to edge him out, you know, but it's
always an awesome race with my teammate.
You know, that was where he got his first win last year.
So I know that places hold a special place in his heart and you know,
but at the same time, I'm glad to get the win.
I felt like I was kind of in not really a slump.
I just kept having a little bit of bad luck so far this season.
So I definitely needed that win just to get my not confidence back,
but just to feel better, I would say, you know, going to the next
race and everything has felt like me and the biker back to a point.
I wonder was that the longest streak since your first win that
you've had to wait for another win?
It seems like when you bust through the door, it hasn't been very
long of a gap between race wins, but I don't know.
Someone's got that stat that much matter.
But what about this diamond Wally?
This happens to be Matt Hagan's.
But how bad did you want one of those for the trophy case?
It's very cool.
You know, I'm happy.
That's my second one.
You know, I got my first one at four wide in Charlotte.
Yes, but you know, they're they're very special.
You know, it's it's very cool that nature is doing that, you know,
for the 1775th anniversary and they're just one of a kind.
Those are those are going to be a special wall is that, you know,
whoever ends up winning one's always have a story behind it.
And you know, it's it's very cool.
You know, I'm happy to be a part of it and now I have two of them.
So I'm happy to have two for sure.
Now, the championship as we look ahead, like when is the time
when you start to think about that picture right now?
It's collecting wallies and winning races and being good
and being on the edge of performance.
But when do you start thinking about, you know, there's
that regular season points, there's positioning for the countdown
feels like the season is flying by Norwalk.
You know, you guys only have one more race, I believe.
Yeah, basically, we only have what Norwalk and then Indy,
you know, I feel like once we get in the Indy, it's when you
turn on the championship, you know, mindset, just everything.
You know, unfortunately, we're not going to Seattle or I mean,
some of us are going to Sonoma for the all star call out
or the get tricks call out, I believe, but we're not having
an actual points race there.
So basically, we only have Norwalk and then Indy left.
So, you know, I believe me and Richard are now tied
for mission wins as well.
So we're basically going to, you know, I'm just trying to
catch him and get as close as I can for the countdown because
I mean, he's been deadly, you know, riding the bike and then
Richard or Ed's been on it with the tune up.
So, you know, he's a he's a force of reckon with, you know,
this year, just like it was last year.
So, you know, Indy, I feel like I really got to turn it on
and put my game face on and go out there and have a minimum,
you know, mess ups as possible, minimal.
Well, we will see 11 last note.
I just want to get your perspective of it.
The Angie Smith, who was second in the point standings made
a really big deal about how the rival teams, namely you guys
were extremely helpful to her when Matt had his incident
and as much as we are all interested in the friction for
the fun of it and the entertainment of it and to cause
our audience to pick a side so that they care about the race.
Like cars and bikes going down the track, you know, do you care?
Right.
We want people to be caring about who wins and loses.
But at the same time, when there's something that's beyond racing,
you guys were right there and Angie was like, man, they were
helping me in every way and everybody came to help.
Just what's your your side of it for our fans out there who
like to know that NHRA is, you know, full of classy, respectful
people.
Yeah, I mean, one thing about NHRA, Drag Race in general is
I feel like everyone's one big family, you know, no one wants
to see anyone get hurt.
No one wants to see anyone struggle, you know, and, you
know, in Matt being in the hospital and Angie basically
running their whole four bike program over there by herself,
you know, with, you know, the crew members and stuff.
But, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we're more
than willing to help a former team, even if they are our
biggest rival, you know, it's just just one of those things.
It's a respecting, you know, you know, we might all talk trash
and stuff, but that's the competitive side.
You know, that's at the end of the day, everyone's got respect
for each other and, you know, just wants to see everyone do
the best they can and to help wherever is needed for sure.
I love that.
That's that's what I love about this sport and this sanction
and, you know, no shade at anybody else.
That's just what this is here.
And I love promoting that fact.
Gage, thank you for making the time on WFO Radio.
I know you're working midday.
This is a breaker lunch break or something.
Thank you for spending the time with us.
No, thank you very much, Joe.
I mean, even, even though most people don't think I work, but
yeah, you work, you work people to shade at you.
Like you just, you know, with your feet up, you know, there's
always those keyboard warriors.
I got something to say, but at the end of the day, the haters
are what make, you know, our motivators, as they would say.
So, but yeah, no, I'm glad I was able to make time to get on
here with you, Joe, for sure.
Thank you, Gage.
Appreciate you.
Good luck in the future.
We'll see you in Norwalk.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
There he goes.
Gage Herrera with us here, two-time world champion, 30 wins.
It's insane how fast he was able to accomplish that.
And there you go, the Triple H.
We got him.
We got Hagan.
We got Hartford and we got Gage Herrera just like that here
on this edition of WFO Radio.
If you're just logging on, if you just started watching, I
encourage you to share the show.
I would ask you, would you share the show, please?
This is our marketing platform.
It really is.
We're the mom and pop store going up against the big corporations
out there like trying to make our way in the world.
And what we rely on is you, the word of mouth, share the show.
Hey, this is a good drag racing show.
You should check it out.
Maybe you'll like it.
Watch it for at least three episodes because it's the kind
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Like, oh, this is what's going on with these guys.
All right.
I get it now.
I get it.
We would appreciate that.
And, you know, anytime you can share it on your social media
or drop a comment on the YouTube video, like after the fact
that YouTube video, you drop a comment about something like
what do you think about Gage?
Is Gage going to win the championship?
Yes or no?
Yeah, I think he's going to win the championship because
these reasons, what do you think about Hagan's shirt?
What do you think about that?
Right?
Hagan's going to the lake and he jumps on.
If you drop a comment, this is like defeating the algorithm
talk, guys, dropping a comment causes engagement and YouTube
thinks, oh man, people must really like this.
Let's show it to more people.
And I hate that it's that way, but we can, we can accomplish
big things by doing it.
So thank you for that.
I appreciate you all greatly and I want to know your comments.
We're going to go back through the comments.
I didn't get to all the comments because we were trying to
navigate Gage being on the show and Hartford and whatnot.
I had to bring up that photograph of that person who, you
know, whoever that may be.
This guy, what is that?
AI, it's just, it took 10 seconds to merge three different
people into one person, put them in a total seal fire suit like
an NHRI photograph.
Look, I got the WFO logo over the corner.
Who is that guy?
It's weird.
That's what it is, but it is what it is.
I want to tell you about the folks at PowerTube TV.
If you haven't downloaded the PowerTube TV app, you really
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Great friends at Bernie's Speed Shop.
B-U-R-N-Y-Z-Z dot com.
Bernie's Josh Hart, 100,000 square feet up there.
Shout out to our friends at Bernie's buying and selling on
consignment.
If you've got a classic, car of consequence.
You want to sell it?
These are the guys that can help you sell it.
Bernie's Speed Shop.
Appreciate the fine folks at Bernie's and all of our friends,
whether it be Jesse Converters, FTI Performance Transmissions
and Tour Converters, Redline Synthetic Oil.
Thank you, Redline, for being on board with WFO Radio for this
past year and Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School.
Frank and Lana Hawley getting people licensed and teaching
drag racing to people who have they're never going to go buy
a car just to experience it.
And that's what the Dragster Adventure is all about.
The hurdle to entry is a big thing in marketing in the
business world and you want to get new drag racers out there.
What's the hurdle to entry?
It's significant with exception of Frank Hawley's Drag Racing
School and their Dragster Adventure.
You can go drive dragsters and have a little fun for like 500
bucks.
You show up with nothing except the clothes on your back.
You can bring your friends.
You can set up a race.
You can do it for your clients, your sales team.
You can do a corporate event.
All of Frank Hawley's telling you heard about it on WFO Radio.
And finally, our great friends Marvin Rodak and RodaxCoffeeInGrills.com.
This guy's got hot sauces and spice rubs and grills and tools
and tips and information and recipes at his web website.
The Ribs site.
RodaxCoffeeInGrills.com.
But really it's the coffee that keep people coming back.
817-924-6821.
That's 817-924-6821.
Call Marvin.
Tell him you heard about it on WFO Radio.
And then our Patreons, right?
Our Patreon VIP listener club.
The Secret Society with Secret Content.
They're hearing about stuff.
They got Heiner doing a show.
Michael Heiner.
Heiner was on Ignition last night.
We talked about the big Ferrari victory.
They were not at the last race, but they'll be at Norwalk.
But Patreon.com slash WFO Radio.
And if you sign up for a year, I send you a t-shirt.
And I'm working on that, guys.
We'll do it.
We just did some giveaways, the Patreon giveaways.
It's a lot of fun.
What's going on with our Secret Society?
Just go check it out.
And you don't have to get in.
That's the thing.
It was forcing you.
The stuff is on sale right now.
Merch.
Merch.
All the WFO merch.
Project Pontiac merch.
Wide open merch.
You get a WFO mug.
You get a WFO shirt.
You get a hat for your head.
They got it all.
WFO merch on our T-Public store.
It's all 40% off, including Morris Motorsports.
Life's a drag.
Yeah, the life's a drag, guys.
Life's a drag with Elon and Abby going to be on tomorrow.
I have no idea who their guests are going to be.
Hopefully it's Antron Brown.
And well, not really, because I'd like to Antron next week.
So let's see what your comments are, guys.
Let's go back.
It was good to see ProStock Motorcycle get together and help
when Matt was in the hospital.
Yeah.
I made the...
Garlets told me years ago that the reason he got into drag racing,
his word was it was more gentlemanly.
You got not trying to run people off the track.
Think about every movie you've seen about where rubbing is racing.
Nine out of 10 of them have some guy gets angry and he's going to put
someone in the wall and try to hurt him or try to destroy their equipment.
And that's not drag racing.
It's just not.
And it's a different kind of person, I know.
And maybe it's less popular because of that.
Maybe some people like to see people like with such friction
that they're trying to do competitive harm to one another.
And that's not drag racing.
We're a sport where everybody really pretty much tries to help each other.
See five pizzas.
The guy looks like Ryan Reynolds.
Yeah, I can see it.
Oh, I missed this one.
Thank goodness.
D-Rail, I didn't show hard for this one on purpose.
Is Joe set up to do any kind of jobs on the ProStock car for content?
And we already did that.
And the answer he would give you is the tires, remounting tires,
because that's the one everybody hates to do, right?
Remount the tires.
That's perfect for me.
That's perfect for me.
I know Adam always wants me to remount the tires.
Hey, Joe, all the talk about all new teams and nitro, we will have short
fields for the rest of the year.
Yeah, I don't know.
Maybe not the whole rest of the year, but some.
Yeah, what do you think is causing that?
You know what?
It's a 70-50 year of the NHRA.
They've increased some payouts.
I think it's a worthwhile discussion, but really not really.
Because whatever we'd love for more cars to be there.
I spoke with someone on the starting line said, I think it was Neil
Strasbaugh would love to have some more cars.
There are a lot of cars just kind of sitting around waiting.
Some are running other races.
Some are they don't want to spend the money on diesel.
They don't want to, you know, there's everyone's got their own reason.
You'd have to talk Scott Palmer.
He doesn't want to be a field filler.
He's out there to try to win the race.
That's what Neil Strasbaugh said.
You know, I don't know.
What what is that?
What is the response to that?
Scott Palmer doesn't want to come out to NHRA, according to Neil
on the air on the starting line this past weekend to be a field filler.
So I hear that and I say to myself.
The competition is too tough.
You know, what are we supposed to do?
Make the Coletta cars carrying extra hundred pounds?
I don't I don't know.
So I don't care.
That's my analysis.
It's a bummer.
There's a lot of people like we who.
Who have cars that they're not going to run the cars for reasons
that are the personal to them and not as related to anything that
the NHRA is doing.
And that's it.
The races are about the people who are there.
So we just move on.
Shout out to the concert guys.
Nobody does it harder.
I don't know what when he means high gauge cool.
Oh, this was for Hartford.
It's such a great pleasure to see how your reaction times have improved.
Time for a world championship in 2026.
Yeah, I didn't want to say that.
Oh, not saying going to the gym and working out has anything to do with
it cough cough.
Oh, oh, about the reaction times.
Yeah, huh, huh.
Huh, I'm glad he didn't see that.
I'm glad he didn't have to see that KB Titans integrity shines with
Hartford's team and how killer his car has been this past two years.
At least says Mac.
Mac is out there doing her own content way to go Mac appreciate it.
You know, it's got to be.
It's got to be tough.
They got that huge brain trust over there.
You want to go ask him stuff and vice versa.
The 75th anniversary merch in the Nitro Mall is spectacular.
Yeah, I can tell you what I'm going to get.
It's going to go back there somewhere.
I got to get it.
I got to get it.
Norwalk maybe the sign the 75th anniversary sign.
It's just amazing.
Got to get the sign and the shirts and everything.
It's just like so great.
I told AJ was now graduated from high school says great show.
Great show today.
Thank you very much.
This person who is a Scott says great ignition show.
Thank you.
We had fun on ignition mostly.
Join the Patreon.
Cool kids doing cool stuff.
I like it.
But again, it's not for everybody.
It's probably not for you.
It's a secret society.
They really don't get much guys really.
But I may have my Patreons.
They have really it ends up, you know, all our Internet.
Costs some sort of cost for WFO radio to put the show on is
absorbed by that Patreon group.
I was on pastime in 2009 at MIR.
It's a great show.
It was a great show.
Pastime was a great show because it's exactly what every
person at the drag strip does.
You look at a car and you say, I wonder what that thing runs.
And you try to guess how see performance out there.
Thanks, Joe.
Thank you, David.
Appreciate you fog it.
The official lube on my bike for the kids.
When this guy race guitar goes and does his ride for children's
cancer, you know, what's he spray the chain down with fog it.
And that's the point.
You know, there's I'm going to use WD 40 as an example.
Imagine all the things you use WD 44 except something that is a
far superior product.
Yeah, it costs a little bit more.
No doubt.
But it's a far superior product and it stays there longer.
Whereas WD kind of just runs off.
This is a much better product.
But you know that.
Get a can of fog at its summit.
Hit the like button for Joe so he can keep giving us this amazing
content.
Thumbs up.
This is what it's looking like says Henry.
Henry, you're the best man.
Thank you very much.
You know, I could promote the show a little bit harder.
I did a gratuitous push out there in Bristol, not packed
grandstands, but nothing else was going on.
A gratuitous push, but I feel so much more comfortable promoting
loans or life's a drag or shake and bake.
When I'm on the mic out there like gratuitously promoting my own
thing just makes me feel a little weird.
But every once in a while I'll do it.
But many people have said I should do it more.
Another awesome show.
T real kudos to summit for the project Pontiac center fold and
the back page shout out.
Yeah, which is why on Wednesday next week, I'm going to try to
get out there to summit to their big meet and greet that they
have in Ohio and you should too.
Guys, man, this is a tough topic because the start of this
2026 season.
I was so excited to get to the races and bring these summit
catalogs and be on track with project Pontiac and give it a
shot to race for a Wally in Orlando and at the baby Gators.
And we all know what happened, right?
The thing with my mother and being in the hospital for 69 days
just wiped that off the top shelf of importance.
It became unimportant, but you know, you only get one chance to
race when you're in the summit catalog, right?
So it was kind of a one of the slight bummer like nothing
compares to hey, my mom is okay.
And she just did physical therapy this morning and thank
goodness and really it's worth the trade to miss out on being on
track while you're in the calendar.
But it's still a bummer, but I got boxes of those catalogs and I
am going to give those posters out to people and unfortunately
they're going to be outdated folks.
But when I'm at the track with project Pontiac, hopefully in
Rockingham in October, anyone that wants one can come over and
ask and I'll give you a wonderful January through March summit
pullout poster catalog.
And I'm sure most of the parts are the same.
It's the only summit catalog I've kept.
Thank you, C5P.
You know, you can't even imagine how proud I was of that.
And you know, it's dumb being proud of your car, right?
Like you should be proud of things like your education and taking
care of your family, but that's my dad's car.
And the fact that it was in the summit racing equipment
catalog and more importantly than that even is that summit helped
us get is on the track.
That's the real important part is that the folks at summit, Mr.
Greenleaf and others saw that it was going to be a fun project
and that it would be slower getting to the finish line without
their help and jumped in to help us.
You know, what's that?
What's that worth?
And then they put us in the catalog.
My goodness.
Thanks to Ron and Nicole for the photographs and hopefully you
guys will see that catalog out there somewhere.
Joe, what do you think of Jason Collins and the pro mod that he
hit the sign and the Christmas tree?
I think it was great.
It was really interesting.
It was a dramatic moment.
I've got an incredible video of the thing that I don't think is
able to be aired, but I'll share privately with Courtney and
Jason Galvin.
Many people didn't remember the rule that you can cross the
centerline on the burnout.
You got it like it's as if those rules come online when four
bulbs are lit.
Suddenly.
Don't cross the centerline and don't tag the wall in racing
conditions.
But on the burnout, those things are not active.
And a bunch of people Austin had, he goes, well, remember Derek
Kramer hit the 330 block on the burnout and he could run like
people.
I don't do that.
That's not me.
I need to get like that.
I need to improve myself.
Remember and be able to cite examples instantly.
Did not have that.
But being in race control, watching it all happen.
No, they were this example and
where people can cross or touch the centerline on the burnout.
And as long as the car is safe to go down the racetrack, they'll
let him go down the racetrack.
And so why do I think it was good?
Because it was a dramatic and amazing story.
You know, Mike staff, staff, Reno's local, local guy from
right around here.
Speed and truck world going red 5000.
What a great, great race.
He drove just big red evil eye came at him, but it's going to
make pro modified interesting when they go into their road to
the championship.
I watch it every week.
Joe, did you hear that chain Molinari passed away?
Yes, I did.
I called Shane's name many times, several years ago.
And, you know, I don't know all the details and it's always
terrible.
It's terrible.
That was supposed to be concrete.
My bad.
Oh, I was wondering what the concert.
What concert are you talking about concrete concrete?
Bristol.
As good a job as could have been done.
They did have tunnels tunnels are always going to give you a
little settling and a little difference.
That track is going to get better and better and more
importantly than faster and faster is safer.
And so congratulations, Bristol, Brandt cross everybody over
there.
Jerry called.
Well, everybody at Bristol, these people who are inviting us
into their home, you know, they're there all year long.
They invite us in every once in a while.
So it's like going into someone's house as a guest.
They are great.
So you in a month can't wait to be in Sonoma.
Kara.
Being able to watch the video of the ignition podcast is worth
being on Patreon.
Monday Moe is a plus and here from Heiner is gold says D rail.
These guys are pitching the patreons to you guys.
That's great.
It's great.
So I wouldn't, you know, that is a third party validation right
there.
Thank you D rail.
Walt Walker, Wally winner, Walt Walker, super stock winner,
Jacob DeLune on driver intro show tonight.
Driver interview show tonight with Bobby Fazio and Walt at seven
thirty.
Thank you, Walt.
Yes.
Walt, you are welcome to promote your show anytime on my show.
I've been on there with Bobby Fazio and Walt.
We had a nice discussion and that'll give me a insight to say
all the rest of the winners.
Thank you, Walt.
Thank you, Walt.
Good job.
It was possible in another world.
I would have just ended the show.
Jason Collins wins Pro Mod, Jake DeLune, super stock, Michael
Brand, stock eliminator, Chris Childress, super comp, Lauren
Freer, super gas.
Way to go, Lauren.
Gerard Millette, top sports and driving the wheels off that car.
Beat Jeff Brooks in the final.
The two fast two tasties.
Doug Coletta, Jordan Van Der Graef, Matt Hartford and Richard
Gatson and Jonathan Alagrucci won in factory stock showdown in a
final round where he and Ray Nash almost both crashed.
What?
You're not supposed to see both sides of the door, both sides of
the car.
That was wild.
Mr. Ant Dogg, gonna be out there repping WFO on a BMX track.
That was our favorite summit catalog.
Is there a favorite summit catalog?
Tell the folks at Summit.
This is my favorite catalog.
WD is water to placement, not a lubricant.
Correct.
Rick Ware racing and Lutz Race Cars has a live stream.
Do you have any kind of media credential press release on it?
No.
I watch a, I have a feeling what it is.
I've not watched because I am on WFO.
Well, shame on them for scheduling against us.
Sorry, guys.
I've been doing this time slot for a long time, but I'm pretty
confident if you go back to the NHRA finals in Rain Delay
spectacular, we were in Clay Millican's pit.
This is why you got to watch everything, guys.
The NHRA social media is some of the greatest stuff going on.
Even during Rain Delays, me and Nikki went into the pits and
next thing you know, we're talking to Rick Ware and Clay Millican
and Jeff Lutz and Rick Ware decides to break some news that
Jeff Lutz was going to get his top fuel license in the car at
some point in the 2026 season.
So me being able to put together the context clues of the
situation thinks that's what it is.
We'll find out soon enough.
Hit the like button, y'all.
Emma says, hey, oh, that always worries me.
Joe, let's not fool ourselves.
I don't know.
I don't know what that word is.
Has 15 top fuel in Columbia.
Joe, 15, too.
15 top fuel in Columbus this weekend for IHRA.
None of them entered for Norwalk.
Yeah.
So what are we saying?
What are you saying?
They're going for that money and let's see how it goes.
And then maybe they entered for Norwalk.
I don't know.
So what are you saying?
The IHRA is hurting NHRA?
I thought the goal was to make drag racing better.
Nice job, Josie, at Norwalk.
I thought it was phenomenal.
I love our Florida guy, Mike Steverinos.
But what a weekend for Jason Collins.
And look at that.
I have successfully gotten through all the comments.
Thanks to Matt Hagen.
Thanks to Matt Hartford.
Thanks to Gage Herrera.
Thanks to all of you.
We had a blast out there this three in a row,
but it took its toll.
It took its toll.
I'm going to try to work on Project Pontiac a little bit.
Next race, summit racing equipment,
NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.
It's a four day event.
I'm real excited about it.
One of the best tracks on the tour.
Bill Bader Jr.
They do a great job.
Everybody's smiling.
It's like going to a Disney theme park or a theme park
where everything is polished and perfect.
People going around collecting trash,
making it nice and beautiful.
They have all different categories.
It's great.
Antron Brown.
Didn't really talk a lot of top fuel
because my plan is to have Antron on in the future.
To beat both Coletta Motorsports cars,
that's a big deal.
That is a big deal.
Antron and Brian Karate getting down the race track,
tricky track,
figuring out their clutch disc situation.
Guys, the archive is open.
I know you haven't possibly watched all the WFO radio shows.
We've had a lot of great guests over the past few weeks.
Also tomorrow, 12 noon,
Life's a Drag with Elon and Abby.
I want to mention that 1,000 round win club collectible.
There's only a thousand.
John Force's autograph.
Greg Anderson's autograph with both 1,000 round win photographs.
Talk about a limited collectible.
I got to get one.
I got to get me one.
Just like that.
It's cool hanging out with Jason Johnson,
Nikki and the whole team after the big win up there
on the Bristol rooftop.
We had a lot of fun.
And guys, if you're new to WFO radio,
there's a lot of content coming at you.
It's all an effort to make your fandom of NHRA drag racing
even stronger so that you know that these drivers are worth
your while.
There's a lot of stuff out there.
This is the motorsport.
Appreciate all of you.
We'll see you next time WFO radio.
About this episode
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals winners Matt Hagan, Matt Hartford, and Gaige Herrera join WFO Radio after a grueling East Coast stretch. Hagan celebrates his recent success, talks through the physical and mental toll of Funny Car racing, and gives behind-the-scenes perspective on the “circus” of producing the broadcast and supporting fans. He reflects on Bristol as a near-home track, the challenge of a hot, tricky new surface, and the grind of qualifying and racing John “Caps” in round one. The show also includes sponsor shoutouts and light banter about post-race relaxation.
Original notes
#nhra #dragracing #nhraresults
Matt Hagan, Matt Hartford, and Gaige Herrera join WFO after winning the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Matt Hagan discusses his Funny Car win for Tony Stewart Racing at the all new Bristol Dragway. Pro Stock winner Matt Hartford will join to talk about his 3rd win of the season and his final round victory over Greg Anderson. Gaige Herrera of Vance and Hines stops by to give the details of his final round victory over V&H teammate, world champion Richard Gadson. Host Joe Castello will recap the event from Bristol, Tennessee.
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WFO Radio Podcast
Joseph Castello
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