VINCENT NOBILE THRILLED WITH ATLANTA PERFORMANCE; HIS NEXT PRO STOCK RACE UNCLEAR

by Tracy Renck    Fri, 2021-05-14 10:55

 

Having some rust would have been expected for Vincent Nobile.

The New York native had not driven a Pro Stock car since the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif., Nov. 18, 2018.

Despite the layoff, Nobile was in top form at the Lucas Oil Southern Nationals May 2 at Atlanta Dragway.

Nobile, driving a Camaro for Richard Freeman’s Elite Motorsports team, made it all the way to the finals before falling to Greg Anderson.

“It was definitely good to be back, it had been almost two-and-half-years since I had driven a Pro Stock car in an NHRA race,” Nobile said. “It felt good to be back in the car. Richard (Freeman) called me the last minute and told me he wanted to try a few things on the car and whatnot. He told me to get out here and drive this car. I made it happen. I got out there and it was great to be back in the car.”

Nobile qualified No. 11 with a 6.600-second elapsed time at 208.62 mph, and then proceeded to defeat Troy Coughlin Jr., Aaron Stanfield and Deric Kramer before losing to Anderson in the finals.

“It was a great weekend,” Nobile said. “That just goes to show you what kind of operation Richard Freeman and Elite have. A driver’s weight means a lot to a car’s setup as well as how a person drives and it shows how good those guys are to put me in the car and make it run good and go nice and straight.”

Nobile was driving the Camaro Bob Benza and Bruno Masssel drive on a limited basis for Elite Motorsports.

“It was definitely cool to get back in the car,” Nobile said. “I remembered how to do it. I was a little worried at first, but it came right back to me. I was pretty proud to get back in a car and hop in like I never left. It was a neat experience.”

Nobile has competed in 189 career Pro Stock races. He has 13 wins, including three in 2018, and eight No. 1 qualifying spots. Nobile has a 232-172 elimination round record in his career, which began in Brainerd, Minn., in 2010.

Nobile said he has no definite plans for another race.

“I might run one more, but it is all up in the air right now,” he said. “I really don’t know. This (Atlanta) was such a last-minute deal when Richard called me. At first, I told Richard I was kind of busy and it is a little too short of notice because of my work. He refreshed my memory that the race was only Saturday and Sunday. I was like all right, perfect. I can work all day Friday and come in late Friday to the race. If I run another race, it will be with Richard and Elite for sure.

“I want to thank Richard again and Erica (Enders) and the rest of the guys at Elite for giving me that opportunity. It was awesome and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Nobile lives in Long Island, N.Y., and works for his father, John, a longtime Pro Stock racer.

“My father owns some trucks, and we haul sand and gravel, and we have a couple other businesses,” Vincent said. “We do a little bit of contracting and we flip homes, and we have another distribution business. We are full throttle when we are home. In hindsight, not racing was kind of a good thing because we have a lot going on at home and it gave us some time to get stuff done and not be super stressed and overwhelmed at work. 

“At the same time, drag racing is what my father had been doing since I was a baby. It is what we loved and every chance we get and any opportunity we can do it, we are going to be out there racing.” 

 

 

 

 
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