Those familiar with video games over the last two to three decades know the "in the zone" concept. It involves an on-screen visual indicator that a player is feeling so good about themselves that they can seemingly make any shot, hit any ball or perform any task. While we lack that glaring optical sign in reality, if harness racing was a video game, that would be the current status of driver Dan Noble a couple of weeks into 2026. Through just eight programs (114 races - through January 13) Noble has amassed an amazing 48 wins. He is currently reaching the winner's circle at a 42.1% clip. If Noble just raced at Northfield Park all year and continued at the same rate, he would compete in about 2,900 races and win right around 1,200 of them. The win total and percentage would earn him a place in history. Consider that the single-season 1,000 win barrier has only been breached five times in North America. Tim Tetrick holds the record at 1,189 (2007), followed by Aaron Merriman with 1,144 (2018) and 1,095 (2017), then Walter Case Jr. at 1,077 (1998), and Anthony Morgan with a 1,004 (2006) tally. There are a number of things to unpack from this group and with these numbers. First off, only four drivers appear among the top 10 names in terms of single-season wins, and if you expand to the top 20, Dave Palone with 885 (2008) and Ronnie Wrenn Jr. at 847 (2014) are the only others in history to eclipse 840 wins in a year. Merriman has done it an astounding 11 times. Morgan is next with four appearances, while Tetrick and Case show up twice. Despite all of the impressive statistics of the six men listed above, the only somewhat equal comparison to what Noble could potentially accomplish in 2026 is Case's 1998 campaign. This is due to the fact that Case drove almost exclusively at Yonkers Raceway (978 of his wins came there that year) and is the only driver to break 1,000 wins in under 4,100 starts. He sat in the bike just 2,993 times in 1998 and recorded an unfathomable 36% win rate, quite a bit higher than the 23-25% numbers of his fellow top-fivers. Noble actually shares a record with Case and a few others (Greg Grismore, Aaron Merriman and Brett Miller) as the only drivers to win 10 races on one card at Northfield Park. Noble posted that lofty total on November 30 and December 30 at the Ohio oval. While you can argue that a few January dates is hardly a viable sample size to place him on the road to a record-breaking year, Noble's December figures also back it up. During that month he drove 79 winners in 235 starts at Northfield (33.6%). "If I can stay healthy and all goes well, I think I can get to 1,500 [winners]. I don't think that is something outside of possibility," said Noble, who also has his sights set on another record. "I think I can get more than 10 winners on a card. I'm the only guy other than Walter Case to win 10 twice in the same meet. I honestly don't think it is outside the box. It might not even be impossible that I can sweep the whole card. I'm just waiting on that day; taking it one program at a time and hoping things work right. "I believe it happens in spurts. When things are going right you can do no wrong and I keep telling myself that I might have a month when it feels like I can't do anything right. You have to try not to overdrive or overthink a race." There is no denying that Noble has always been a good driver. He began his career in 1999 and won the national driving wins title in 2011 with 773 victories. The 43-year-old has over 8,600 career wins and an 18.6% success rate. Those numbers aside, Noble kicked it up a notch in 2025, going from 566 wins the year prior to 713 last year. The horses he drove earned $9,140,095, a career-best total for the Ohio native. "I've seen so many comments from people asking how I got this good. Well, I probably always have been this good. About 11 years ago I lost my dad and I wanted to keep the family tradition going. My wife [Christi Noble] and I worked so hard to get where we were at; with about 30 to 40 head," Noble explained about how the barn took precedent over his catch-driving career but is now down to 15 horses. One has to wonder what changed in his thinking to loft up his 2025 numbers and how Noble is winning so many races at Northfield in the moment. How has he been able to dominate while perennial leading driver Aaron Merriman, who had 578 victories at Northfield in 2025 and led all drivers nationally (922), is just six-for-102 in the Northfield win column this year? Noble tracks everything back to a couple of key moments which changed his driving mindset. "I broke my ring finger last Thanksgiving week, and that is when I told [Christi] I'm done doing the barn," said Noble. "I didn't want to be a one-time wonder like in 2011 when I was leading driver in the country. I told her that I believe I can do it again and you can run the barn. "I don't know any good driver who can succeed with three to four hours of sleep every night. Now I get my eight or nine hours of sleep and all I have to do is focus on driving and spending time with my kids when I can. I think that has made a big difference. I drive clear-minded." The second change for Noble was more on the mental side. His Ohio Hall of Fame dad Sam "Chip" Noble passed away almost exactly 12 years ago, and Dan admits he never really let it sink in and it weighed on him emotionally. "I didn't grieve when my old man passed and about a year-and-a-half ago I went to his grave and finally let things loose," said Noble. Often when a driver controls the standings by winning even 20-25% of the races at a track, it is because he is hooked up with one or two trainers that win at a high rate. Noble's dominance defies that logic. During the week of January 6 to 11 at Northfield he won 22 races for 18 different trainers. There are probably catch-drivers who haven't won for 18 trainers in months, no less one week. "On the Ohio circuit as a catch-driver, there is nowhere tougher to drive than Ohio. There are numerous good drivers and trainers that could probably compete anywhere in the country but stay here for their family," said Noble, who has won driving titles at almost all of the state's tracks. "I'm starting to get a lot of respect [at Northfield] because I'm not just doing it with my wife's barn or our family barn. In some races I have three to four horses to choose from and I'm questioned by my wife, 'honey you took the wrong horse.' I respond, 'well, honey, I probably did, but I'm thinking it is first-time me and it has back class. Maybe the horse just didn't like something about the other driver.'" The theory of having a "new set of hands in the bike" has been a key handicapping angle for well over a half-century. Horses react differently to each driver and most certainly can tell who is holding the lines. For Noble, he sees his talent for getting the most out of a horse as partially God-given and also embedded from his childhood. "I'm fourth generation and my wife is fifth. I've been around horses since I was 2 years old running around. I sat on my father's lap from the time I was 4 until I couldn't anymore. I feel what's inside the horses. I feel what the horse feels," said Noble. "I believe it is a talent that the Lord gave to me and only he can take it away. I can't really explain it. I can usually tell [how the horse feels] when I'm scoring down." As "one with the horse" as Noble feels, even his sixth sense fails him from time to time. He was emotional when bringing up the loss of Magic Four N, who went down after the wire for him a few days ago. "I've been blaming myself because I misjudged how that horse felt. I know it's a tragedy and sometimes things happen but I blame myself," said Noble. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter It is impossible to tell the Northfield success story of Noble without touching on the reason he is even racing at the northern Ohio oval. After all, he won the driving title at Dayton Raceway in late 2024 and captured the Miami Valley crown in 2025 but was a no-show at those facilities when they re-opened in September 2025 and January 2026, respectively. While no track has issued an official release on the subject, according to Noble, he is not welcome as a driver and his wife may not participate as a trainer at Dayton or Miami Valley, and that ban will extend to Scioto Downs, where the trouble began for the pair. "My understanding is that some people didn't like what they saw the last night at Scioto Downs," said Noble, referring to four races where he, driving for his wife, won four races in times of 1:46 4/5, 1:47, 1:47 and 1:46 4/5, all lifetime marks. "All of those horse were imports purchased for between $100,000 and $300,000. They all came over with agreements that they would be able to achieve a certain level here or be taken back. They were all staked to big races like the Meadowlands Pace but had some hiccups along the way; some had surgery. They just never had a chance to compete at those levels." Noble said he was approached by a Scioto official after the card and informed they would no longer take his entries. Being the last night of the meet for the year and the track not reopening until May, Scioto has not officially denied Noble the right to drive or his wife the chance to enter horses, but the fact that Dayton and Miami Valley followed suit speaks to the likelihood that it will occur. Scioto Downs officials did not want to comment on the matter, and the Ohio Harness Horseman's Association said it is taking a neutral position, pointing out that the tracks are private entities and have the right to deny anyone. From the outside looking in, there appears to be two completely separate issues at play - Dan Noble as a driver and Christi Noble as a trainer. While in a perfect world he would love to go back in time to how things were before, he seems content with the idea of simply being a driver and owner while having his horses trained by someone else. "At this point the only place I can go in Ohio is Northfield, and I'm not allowed to own horses anywhere but Northfield Park. I can't even own horses and send them to another trainer like Ronnie Burke or Virgil Morgan to race on the southern [circuit] here in Ohio," said Noble, who can't get a grasp on why other Ohio tracks won't let him drive. "They just tell me you're just too good. Do they do this to LeBron James? Do they do it to Michael Jordan? If you are just too good in any sport do they kick you out? "As a driver I should be allowed to race anywhere I want and own any horses I want with anybody as trainer." With all the success, Noble said he's been searched and questioned about having a device in his bike or boot to get more out of horses, similar to controversy that has occurred with jockeys at times in the Thoroughbred racing world. His problems extend beyond the Buckeye State as the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Board handed him a $500 fine for a positive urine test for amphetamines and marijuana. He appealed stating that both are prescribed legal medications. Miami Valley, Dayton and Scioto are all within 60 miles of Noble's home in Xenia, Ohio. Since Northfield Park and the Ohio fair circuit are likely the only driving options available for Noble in the state, he is considering all avenues. Northfield is a 200-mile haul according to the driver. That means three hours in the car each way and more time away from his two young kids and family, which will play a huge factor in whether Noble elects to seek work in other jurisdictions. "I only have a handful of family left and I want to do what's right by them," said Noble, who mentioned The Meadows and Yonkers Raceway as possibilities. The Meadows is interesting because the travel distance (215 miles) for Noble is similar to Northfield Park. According to a source, the rules are also different in Pennsylvania than Ohio in that the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission would have to approve the banning of a driver. The Meadows also races in the afternoon, which would allow Noble to do doubleheaders and race at night at Northfield, similar to the schedule mapped out by Merriman for years. Yonkers Raceway is a bit more complex because it is 450 miles away from Northfield Park and some 600 miles from his home. Noble mentioned the possibility of driving at Northfield on Saturday and Sunday before heading to Yonkers for a Monday to Thursday week. That would allow him Friday to be with family. While he said he couldn't speak for the track or even as President of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York since he has to consider all members first, Joe Faraldo was intrigued by the possibility of Noble coming to Yonkers. "He's one of the best drivers in the world, and I think he can drive rings around anybody," said Faraldo, who added that if Noble made a multiple-month commitment as he suggested, he believes the driver would likely be welcome at Yonkers Raceway. "That guy should be here. I overwhelmingly would want to see him come here." There are of course economics to consider. There is a substantial cost in gas, tolls and lodging that comes with weekly trips back and forth from Ohio to New York. Assuming Noble is successful enough to win two races a night in New York at an average purse of $20,000 and picked up a few more checks along the way, he would walk away with about $10,000 a week before expenses. So far in 2026 he is earning $2,051 on average per night in driving commissions at Northfield. Of course, there is the possibility that he can be even more successful at Yonkers, which would tip the scales towards it being the best place to race. The track also has some lucrative stakes races in March and April that could appeal to Noble's bank account. As much as these are extraordinary times in the life of Noble as a driver, he clearly has difficult decisions ahead that could shape his future in harness racing. "I don't know how I'm driving this good right now with all this on my mind," said Noble about his current situation. For now all we can do is watch in amazement as Noble wins races in bundles at Northfield. He picked up seven wins in 13 starts on Tuesday (January 13) and increased his lead in the driver standings to 35 over Justin Irvine in second. He also tops the national leaderboard with 28 more victories (in 36 more starts) than Brett Beckwith. Are we watching history in the making? Will Noble branch out to other locations? If he does, will he be able to dominate the standings wherever he lands? The questions mount in what could be an intriguing story to follow throughout the year.