Yes, there was a sighting of Vincent Nobile competing in a new car at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., June 7-9.

Nobile was driving a 2024 Jerry Haas-built Camaro in the Johnson's Horsepowered Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock class.

“That was the first race for us in that car,” Nobile said. “We got to shake it down a little bit. We just picked a car up from Jerry Haas's shop in St. Louis. I drove straight to Maple Grove (in Reading, Pa.), to race a divisional with my Super Comp dragster. Then after the divisional we stayed for a day to try and shake the car down and get it tested. We fought some new car blues, which wasted a little bit of time, so we didn't get to really put as many laps as we wanted to before we got to Bristol. But we didn't want to miss another race just because we weren't 100% ready to be there.”

Nobile just missed making the eight-car field, but it didn’t leave him discouraged.

“Unfortunately, the results showed we weren't quite ready to be there, but neither here nor there. We will figure it out,” Nobile said. “Our next race is Virginia, which is the next race on tour. And we have an idea of what the problem is so we're going to make a couple changes and I think we're going to be just fine come Virginia.”

The PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at on tap June 21-23 at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond.

The Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Mountain Motor Pro Stock class, which featuring exciting and powerful 800-plus cubic-inch engines, will compete at six events in 2024. The scheduled started at the Four-Wide event in Charlotte, N.C.

Competitors are competing in eight-car fields and will race for a coveted Wally and in addition to an event purse, teams will also race for a world title for the first time in the class, with a champion being crowned at the end of the season.

The other five stops for the class were Bristol, and then Richmond, Brainerd, Minn., Reading, and the fall race in Las Vegas.

“Our intentions were to run the whole season, but obviously we missed the first race, which was Charlotte just due to the car not being ready in time,” Nobile said. “Then, Bristol ended up being a rush situation, but we made it there. But we intend on going to the rest of them. That's our plan.”

Nobile is no stranger to NHRA’s Pro Stock class. He won 13 national event wins in the class and last competed fulltime in Pro Stock in 2018.

That’s what led he and his father John down the Mountain Motor Pro Stock journey – especially since his father was former IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock world champion in 2004.

“I've been running Super Comp (since 2022) and having a lot of fun with that. And in my opinion, I still think Super Comp is one of the hardest classes to win,” Vincent said. “It's just you're racing against a lot of good people every weekend and it's a chess game for sure. There's really no room for error there, which is what makes me love it so much. It is such a tough class. But as far as working on things and working on the car, it's boring for my father. His heart's always been in Pro Stock. And when they came out with this class, it is a more affordable way to go race Pro Stock. We can't afford to go race the 500-inch stuff, it's just out of our budget. But this was something where we could purchase a car, we could purchase our own motor and have our own team for a way more affordable price. They are naturally aspirated of course. We run carburetors. You're allowed to run fuel injection if you would like.”

In Super Comp, Vincent pilots a 2022 dragster built by Billy Torrence.

“I enjoy driving both (the Mountain Motor Pro Stock car and dragster),” Vincent said. “Pro Stock's definitely my roots. It's where I've grown up watching my dad. It's really the first race car I've ever driven honestly was a Pro Stock car. Granted, I love driving the car. I like having that third pedal. I love banging gears with the liberty. But I guess you can't say I don't have a need for speed, but at the same time I could say I don't have a need for speed. I have just as much fun in my Super Comp car going 8.90 (seconds) at 185 mph just because it's really, it's the competition...

“Back to my Pro Stock roots, it's about having to be perfect in order to win. There's no room for error. That's what I enjoy about it. But naturally each car is completely different from one another as far as the whole process goes in racing. But fortunately, at Bristol, it was the first time I raced both at the same race.”

Which Vincent acknowledged made for a hectic schedule.

 

“At Bristol, it was just me and my father and my wife,” Vincent said. “And then fortunately, I'm sure you know the name Brandon Miller. He runs Pro Stock. He runs Top Sportsman. He came out and he gave us a hand in Bristol, which I'm very thankful for because if he hadn't been there, it would've been a stretch to make one of the runs just due to the time in between classes and whatnot.”

Vincent said his double racing schedule in Mountain Motor Pro Stock and Super Comp is going to continue moving forward.

“That was one of the deals I made with my dad was I don't want to not race my Super Comp dragster because we have a (Mountain Motor) Pro Stock car now,” Vincent said. “We'll make it work. If we just get one extra hand to come with us per weekend, we can make it happen. But if it's just me and my dad working on the car, it's definitely going to be tough. Unless, for example, Charlotte, there was six classes in between Super Comp and Mountain Motor, but at Bristol I had a class and a half. I say that because they had Stock and Factory Stock and Factory Stock only had I think 10 cars there. There wasn't a big-time difference in between classes there.

“So, I was bouncing back and forth, running around like crazy. No time to sit down, that's for sure. But we made it happen.”

Nobile advanced to the final round in Super Comp in Bristol, losing to Ray Miller.

“I've been to two final rounds (the other one in Bristol at the end of 2023), a couple semifinal finishes, but I haven't sealed a deal yet,” Nobile said of his Super Comp career so far. “But it's a tough game. I'm racing against people that have been Super Comp racing and bracket racing their entire lives. I've only got two years under my belt as far as bracket racing goes. The rest of it's been heads-up Pro Stock racing.”

The mental part of competing in a bracket racing class and a heads-up class is something that was thinking about – at least initially.

“It's funny. I wasn't worried about that part of it as far as racing the finish line, but I did say to myself, ‘Am I going to be able to just hop in this thing and remember this process and then hop in the Pro Stock?’ And man, it just came naturally,” Vincent said. “Honestly, being so hectic busy (in Bristol), it didn't even give me a chance to have to think about it. It just came naturally, hopping in one car and hop in the next.”

“I don't wear the same firesuit. I probably should wear my thicker fire suit in the Super Comp car, but when it's so hot out, I do what they allow you to do and use that thinner fire suit. I'm hopping back and forth in between firesuits. It was definitely a hectic weekend, but it worked out. Busy is good to a point. If you would've just seen us, it was pretty hectic. I mean, I'm telling you, we did not stop.”

Vincent said double racing duty is what wants to do moving forward.

“I'm going to continue to race in Super Comp and we're going to continue racing Mountain Motor,” Nobile said. “This is the first year that the class has a purse, it has points. We were really hoping to chase it this year, but now after missing a race and after not doing very well at the second race, our chances of finishing in the top three is very slim. But we're still going to go out there and try and win a race or two. That's our intentions this year. And hoping next year the class becomes even bigger and maybe turns into a 16-car field. I think that's the goal for everybody in the class. But naturally, we have to get through this year, prove to NHRA that we're going to have full fields everywhere. And then hopefully we get a little bit more money for the class and more people will show up.

“I'm going to miss one of my in-house (NHRA) (Division 1) races because we're going to be out at Brainerd with the Mountain Motor car. I'll be running Super Comp there as well. But that's a national event of course.”

Vincent was appreciative of the support he and his family have received to compete in Mountain Motor Pro Stock.

“My father owns the car and everything. We have a couple small sponsors. Naturally, I'm always looking for some help and that's why the doors are empty right now,” Vincent said. “It would definitely be nice to get a little bit more help. But the couple sponsors I have right now are RAM Clutches, Elite Performance. We got NGK on board, we got VP Racing Fuels and VP Lubricants on board, which I really appreciate and Frank Gugliotta who built the motor. Big shout out to Frank. He's really helping us out and he's been a huge help so far.”