“We took advantage of all that we have been given,” said Johnson. “We have a fast race car and great Mopar HEMI engines. I’ve said again and again, our team motto is ‘Be Consistent,’ and that is what we were today. I knew we had a race car that had a chance to go all the way today.

“It was a testament to our entire team. Mark Ingersoll (Johnson’s crew chief), Jim Yates (team engineer), dad, all the crew and the guys in the engine shop, we’re just focused on being consistent, and it’s paying dividends. We’ve gotten so much from the folks at Mopar, all the great parts and the moral support from those at Chrysler Group headquarters. It’s great feeling to give them a win.”

A year ago, Vincent Nobile announced his arrival on the NHRA Pro Stock scene by racing his first final round at the Summitracing.com Nationals. Nobile reached the final round for the sixth time in 30-career events before losing to his Mopar Dodge teammate, Allen Johnson. Nobile shook the tires and ran a 6.73 to lose to Johnson’s 6.64 elapsed time.

“We got off to a little bit of a slow start this season so this was exactly what our Mountain View team needed,” said Nobile. “Even though the final round didn’t go the way we wanted it to, we still felt good about the way the car ran. It shook the tires in the final otherwise; we probably would have been able to give Allen a much better race. We’re looking for wins, but we’re also very happy with the results.”

Regarded as one of the top young drivers in the class, Nobile opened eliminations with a pair of holeshot wins against four-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr., and reigning champion Jason Line. Nobile reached the final after Greg Stanfield, also a four-time NHRA champion, red-lighted in the semifinals.

“The guys I ran in the first three rounds have 12 championships between them,” said Nobile. “That just goes to show you how tough this Pro Stock class is. There are no easy rounds. The race against Jason was especially tough. He’s so hard to race against because he’s got the best car in the class and he’s a tough driver.

Greg Stanfield’s new Camaro received NHRA’s special “Best Engineered” car award. (James Drew photo)

A little more than a week after Greg Stanfield made his first test runs in the new Nitro Fish/Coffman Tank Trucks Pro Stock Camaro, the team had a semifinal finish on its record.

Stanfield, crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia and the crew worked diligently once qualifying began for Sunday’s SummitRacing.com Nationals and they were rewarded when Stanfield opened competition with round wins over Roger Brogdon and Ron Krisher.

Guarnaccia gleaned tune-up knowledge on each quarter-mile run and the Camaro responded to the setups.

“We had a good day,” Stanfield said. “We continue to get runs on the car and we are learning more on how to tune it. We are really happy with it. We still have issues with it, but it’s nothing we can’t work out. This was a very good start for a new car. Our realistic goal coming in was just to qualify.”