Semifinal finish highlights Nobile’s Denver weekend
(7-23-2012) MORRISON, CO – It wasn’t the victory that he had hoped for, but Vincent Nobile isn’t about to complain after driving the NAPA/Mountain View Racing Dodge to a semifinal finish in this weekend’s Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. Coming off an historic double-victory two weeks earlier in Norwalk, Nobile drove to round wins over Warren Johnson and Mike Edwards, and appeared the be headed for another final round when his Mountain View Dodge encountered a transmission problem and slowed against V. Gaines. Nobile’s teammate, Allen Johnson, went on to win the event.
“We had a great weekend going, we just ran out of luck, said Nobile. “IT was just unfortunate to lose the way we did. The transmission went straight from third to fifth-gear. I was ahead at the time and V. Gaines just blew by me. I’m happy for V. for making it to the final and I’m happy for Allen for winning the race. The Dodge’s dominated this weekend and I think that’s a sign of things to come.”
Racing at Bandimere Speedway, which sits more than 5,800-feet above sea level, requires a completely different set-up than any other track on the tour but the Mountain View team, led by owner/crew chief Nick Mitsos and Nobile’s father, John, made the right calls and qualified solidly in the No. 7 spot with a 6.998. In eliminations, Nobile was also sold with a pair of six-second runs.
“Obviously we share all our information with Allen Johnson and his dad, Roy, and they have been the kings of the mountain for quite some time,” said Noble. “They really have this place figured out so that was a big help to us. I’m very pleased with the way we ran this weekend because this track can be very tricky.”
Despite the loss, Nobile was able to maintain the fifth-place position in the NHRA Full Throttle points standings. With four events remaining before the Countdown to the Championship playoff field is set, Nobile is just 11 points behind fourth-ranked Edwards.
“I’d love to move into fourth before the Countdown starts,” said Nobile. “Every point counts and if we could finish fourth, we’d be that much closer to the top spot. I’m not sure that we could pass Jason Line for third place, but fourth is definitely within reach.”
It will be a short week for the NAPA/Mountain View team as they will head to California wine country for this weekend’s Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. Last season, Nobile qualified ninth at the Sonoma event and posted a quarterfinal finish.
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