NORWALK, Ohio – Vincent Nobile wasn't sure of the last name of the fan he was paired with for the K&N Horsepower Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park on Saturday.
"Lucky," Nobile said.
Peggy Coleman of Jolpin, Mo., was fortunate, as she won a 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge Edition Toyota Tundra for being paired with Nobile, who took out Jason Line on a holeshot to win the Challenge.
"Honestly, it's not the money, it's not even the trophy. It's the story behind Peggy, the lady I got partnered up with," Nobile said. "She had a very bad few weeks. Her house got wrecked by a tornado. It was her day to win something back so I'm glad I could do something for her.
"She was my full inspiration to win this thing. Without her and her story, I might not have won it. It was just her day to get something back."
The Challenge is a special race-within-a-race for the Pro Stock class, with seven drivers getting in the field via qualifying points over the last calendar year, and one more added from a fan vote. The third and fourth qualifying sessions are used as the first two rounds of the Challenge, with Nobile and Line getting an extra run for the finals.
Nobile made a pass of 6.750 seconds at 205.94 mph that was slower than Line's 6.732 at 205.66 mph, but Nobile was nearly three-hundredths quicker on the Christmas Tree and got off the line first to earn the $50,000 first prize.
The victory was Nobile's second in as many races at Norwalk, where he won the national event in 2011 as a rookie.
"It's pretty freaky how this year's been going," Nobile said. "It's kind of been going the exact same way as last year. I won Houston in back-to-back years, and now Norwalk's treated me well. I don't see why we can't win it tomorrow and double-up. That would just be a dream come true."
Nobile is the No. 5 qualifier and will face Warren Johnson in the first round Sunday. Allen Johnson held on to his No. 1 from Friday, but he wasn't exactly thrilled with his two passes Saturday. The first, against Nobile, bounced him from the Horsepower Challenge.
"We stunk the place up here today," said Johnson, whose best lap of 6.663 seconds at 207.43 mph on Friday earned his sixth pole of the season. "But we've got a really good car. We've just got to make better decisions on Sunday. The Mopar Dodge Avenger team will regroup tonight. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow, probably more like track conditions were last night when we made the good run. Hopefully, we'll go back to that and adjust our car and come out tomorrow, swinging."
Steve Torrence held on to the No. 1 in Top Fuel with his run of 3.829 seconds at 319.98 mph from Friday. That's his second No. 1 of the season to go along with two victories and one other final-round appearance. Not bad for a new full-time team.
"We have put this team together relatively quick and have had a lot of fruits from the labor here in a short period of time," Torrence said. "I attribute that completely to Richard Hogan and the team, and the hard work and time they've put in."
In Funny Car, Johnny Gray remained No. 1, but like Johnson, he wasn't happy with Saturday's runs, either.
"I hope tomorrow is not like today because obviously we weren't stellar today," Gray said. "The Service Central/NTB car is a good race car, and we've got a good tuneup for it. We tried to run too hard the first run this morning, and this afternoon, we had the car lined up a little not to the left there, and it upset it and knocked the tires off. We're good. We know what we did wrong."
Gray went 4.094 seconds at 306.33 mph Friday to secure the No. 1, and he'll square off against No. 16 qualifier Robert Hight in the first round Sunday.
In the one class who saw a change at No. 1 from Friday, Pro Stock Motorcycle has a new polesitter. Andrew Hines went 6.961 seconds at 192.85 mph in Q4 to barely knock Hector Arana Sr. (6.962 at 188.02 mph) out of the No.1 spot.
"We just picked away at it all weekend long with our Screamin' Eagle V-Rod," Hines said. "It's a testament to how good my team is. We started off Chicago last weekend with a different mindset how we're going to come in and tune these races in the summer. Last year, we would get behind the 8-ball and not have good performance on Sunday. We're doing a completely different strategy than what we would normally do, and it's showing in our performance."
Rider Angie Smith escaped serious injury in Q4 when the brakes failed on her Buell, sending her off the end of the track. Smith rode through the sandtrap and a grass field before she finally dumped the bike just short of a cornfield.
"I came down the hill, and I was like, 'This is going to be a wild ride,'" Smith said. "I just decided to ride it out as long as I could. I went through the sandtrap, I went through the field, and the cornfield was coming up, and I was like, 'I don't want to mow the whole cornfield down,' so I just bailed."
Smith said she hoped to race Sunday, but husband/team owner Matt Smith nixed that idea.
K&N Pro Stock Horsepower Challenge
ROUND ONE -- Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.733, 204.54 def. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.724, 204.98; Vincent Nobile, Dodge Avenger, 6.714, 205.54 def. Allen Johnson, Avenger, 6.731, 206.83; Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 6.742, 205.51 def. Ronnie Humphrey, GXP, 6.741, 204.45; Jason Line, Camaro, 6.705, 204.91 def. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.746, 205.38;
SEMIFINALS -- Nobile, 6.733, 206.61 def. Edwards, 6.733, 206.48; Line, 6.718, 206.10 def. Anderson, 6.728, 206.32;
FINAL -- Nobile, 6.750, 205.94 def. Line, 6.732, 205.66.
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Top Fuel -- 1. Steve Torrence, 3.829 seconds, 319.98 mph vs. 16. Brandon Bernstein, 4.040, 272.89; 2. Antron Brown, 3.832, 321.27 vs. 15. Morgan Lucas, 4.036, 286.38; 3. Khalid alBalooshi, 3.836, 316.67 vs. 14. David Grubnic, 4.022, 294.95; 4. Tony Schumacher, 3.841, 313.88 vs. 13. Bob Vandergriff, 3.981, 301.54; 5. Clay Millican, 3.868, 313.00 vs. 12. Hillary Will, 3.968, 298.40; 6. Cory McClenathan, 3.911, 301.87 vs. 11. T.J. Zizzo, 3.963, 301.67; 7. Spencer Massey, 3.923, 310.05 vs. 10. Shawn Langdon, 3.949, 309.56; 8. Doug Kalitta, 3.925, 296.31 vs. 9. Keith Murt, 3.939, 289.07. Did Not Qualify: 17. Brady Kalivoda, 4.291, 215.31; 18. Chris Karamesines, 4.837, 159.68; 19. Ike Maier, 5.261, 280.25; 20. Terry McMillen, 5.543, 135.59; 21. Pat Dakin, 6.528, 292.33.
Funny Car -- 1. Johnny Gray, Dodge Charger, 4.094, 306.33 vs. 16. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.445, 271.24; 2. Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.112, 309.42 vs. 15. Bob Bode, Chevy Impala, 4.433, 248.25; 3. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Camry, 4.123, 306.67 vs. 14. Matt Hagan, Charger, 4.368, 288.95; 4. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.133, 307.02 vs. 13. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.310, 293.73; 5. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.139, 306.88 vs. 12. Blake Alexander, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.230, 290.01; 6. Courtney Force, Mustang, 4.140, 301.81 vs. 11. Todd Lesenko, Impala, 4.203, 295.66; 7. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.152, 303.16 vs. 10. Jeff Arend, Camry, 4.198, 302.08; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.172, 300.73 vs. 9. John Force, Mustang, 4.196, 300.40. Did Not Qualify: 17. Tony Pedregon, 4.613, 232.03; 18. Alexis DeJoria, 8.869, 181.03; 19. Jim Head, 10.479, 182.65; 20. Terry Haddock, broke.
Pro Stock -- 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 6.663, 207.43 vs. 16. Ronnie Humphrey, Pontiac GXP, 6.741, 205.85; 2. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.697, 206.10 vs. 15. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.741, 205.16; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.698, 206.32 vs. 14. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.739, 205.04; 4. V. Gaines, Avenger, 6.702, 206.73 vs. 13. Greg Stanfield, Camaro, 6.731, 205.57; 5. Vincent Nobile, Avenger, 6.706, 206.64 vs. 12. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.719, 205.94; 6. Ron Krisher, GXP, 6.708, 206.39 vs. 11. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.719, 206.48; 7. Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.708, 205.44 vs. 10. Jeg Coughlin, Avenger, 6.718, 206.89; 8. Kurt Johnson, GXP, 6.715, 205.98 vs. 9. JR Carr, Ford Mustang, 6.716, 205.19. Did Not Qualify: 17. Larry Morgan, 6.763, 205.60; 18. Chris McGaha, 6.774, 204.79; 19. Grace Howell, 6.851, 202.42; 20. Steve Kent, 6.880, 204.14; 21. John Gaydosh Jr, 7.074, 197.59.
Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.961, 192.85 vs. 16. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.107, 188.94; 2. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.962, 191.38 vs. 15. Angie Smith, Buell, 7.102, 188.83; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.984, 192.69 vs. 14. Shawn Gann, Buell, 7.093, 189.12; 4. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.992, 192.52 vs. 13. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.086, 190.75; 5. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.005, 192.08 vs. 12. Michael Ray, Buell, 7.084, 187.11; 6. John Hall, Buell, 7.016, 189.47 vs. 11. Jerry Savoie, Buell, 7.061, 189.60; 7. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 7.019, 190.32 vs. 10. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 7.057, 189.79; 8. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.037, 189.55 vs. 9. Chip Ellis, Buell, 7.051, 188.36. Did Not Qualify: 17. Matt Guidera, 7.133, 186.36; 18. Wesley Wells, 7.170, 186.20; 19. Michael Phillips, 7.269, 188.10.
