Johnson Falls to Nobile

Mopar vs. Mopar First Round Duel at NHRA Winternationals

Mopar® Dodge Avenger NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson was dealt a tough first-round defeat today at the hands of fellow Mopar-powered Pro Stocker and teammate Vincent Nobile, exiting on a holeshot loss in the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif.

Johnson knew the rookie Nobile would be a formidable opponent — the young Mountain View Dodge Avenger driver competes with Mopar HEMI® engines supplied by Johnson’s J&J Racing team and the two drivers share a crew chief, J&J Racing’s longtime wrench-turner Mark Ingersoll.

Johnson, the No. 3 qualifier, recorded a 6.559-second elapsed time at 212.39 mph, coupled with a .055 reaction time off the starting line. Nobile’s near-perfect .002 reaction time proved the difference, however, paired with his solid 6.561/211.73 run. The No. 14 qualifier and Pro Stock rookie seized his first round win in his first career start.

“I don’t like to lose at all, but Vincent is going to be a good driver and his team is going to do well this year,” said Johnson, who leaves Pomona with the No. 9 spot in the standings. “It wasn’t a good day at the office. Maybe we’re going to reverse it; last year we had a bad run at the end of the year, but maybe this year we’ll get the bad stuff out of our system early.

“We plan to test at Bradenton (Fla.) with Kurt Busch a few days before the Gatornationals, and we’ll work out any bugs. We are real happy with the Mopar Dodge Avenger, real happy with the new chassis, real happy with our Mopar HEMI engines. This weekend the driver goofed it up, but we will rebound. We’ll come back at Gainesville and be strong, try to qualify No. 1 and win the race.”

“Getting that first round win was awesome,” said Nobile, who fell in the second round to Jason Line and is now No. 8 in the points. “I’m having the time of my life out here. It’s very exciting. I had a .002 on the tree. When I see yellow on the lights, I just let go of the clutch. That’s all I do.”

The third member of the Mopar-powered Pro Stock trio, V. Gaines, saw his day end in a first-round loss to Line, ending the event in the No. 10 position of the Pro Stock standings. The Mopar-fueled trio will become a quartet at the next race, the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, March 10–13, in Gainesville, Fla., when NASCAR Sprint Cup star Kurt Busch makes his Pro Stock debut in his Shell Dodge Avenger.