Tasca Racing

March 2010
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News

Tasca and Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Seek to Defend No. 1 Performance in Gainesville

DEARBORN, MI – March 9, 2010 – One year ago, Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang were confident heading into the Gainesville. That confidence, hard work and consistent performance enabled them to leave Gatornationals with their first No. 1 Qualifying position, but they also left with something a little more important – their first career win.

“From breaking the Alcohol Funny Car record to my first Funny Car win – Gainesville is hands-down my favorite track and an incredible place to race,” said Tasca. “We’re so fortunate not only to get our first win, but our first No. 1 Qualifier at such a special venue. As a defending race winner, it adds that much more excitement for everyone on the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Team.”

Although looking to repeat their success, Tasca and the team look at Gainesville as a familiar track and have set realistic expectations for the race weekend. Tasca and the team remain focused on the task at hand and with the proper tuning; there will be a similar end result.

“We’re looking forward to getting back to Gainesville because we’ve done very well there,” said Tasca. “We made a lot of changes to our Shelby Mustang during the off-season, but we have a very similar combination this weekend to what we ran a year ago. We are confident about our chances this weekend. This Mustang is the most competitive race car I’ve driven. I’m looking forward to that opening session on Friday.”

Tasca’s confidence in racing at Gainesville stems from the years of experience crew chiefs Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner bring to the track. Cunningham and Denner have more than 35 years of experience between them and they arm Tasca with the quickest Mustang possible.

“Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner will prep our Mustang to the best tune-up for the conditions at hand,” said Tasca. “The crew chiefs make their decisions on what they feel the track can hold. I have a lot of confidence in Chris, Marc and my crew. I know they want to repeat our performance from last year and I think we can bring home another win.” Read the rest of this entry »

tags:Gainesville press release

Blog – Off to Gainesville

Just before I left for Pomona, my brother Michael got married and my cousin Carl, and I were the best men. We had a lot of fun that day. Michael and Brianna had their reception at the same place where Terri and I had ours – the Alpine Country Club. It was great to be around so many friends and family for such a happy occasion. With everything that has happened over the last several months, it was nice to celebrate. My boys had a role in the wedding too, they were the ring bearers. It was a big event for them, because they had never been in a wedding before. They got in their tuxedos and they were about as happy as you can believe to be a part of the wedding. They were really excited about it. They got a kick out of walking down the aisle in front of everyone. I’m happy to welcome my new sister-in-law, Brianna, to our family 24017_387123905419_222238795419_5451725_121908_n

On my way to Pomona, I made a pit stop at the Cobra Jet assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. It was real special because the Cobra Jet was the car that my grandfather really pioneered. On the flight to Detroit, I wondered how many manufacturers would have invested all this time and energy into building a special run of 50 cars? When you look at the big picture, there will be over 13 million cars sold in America, and yet Ford designated a team of people, and dedicated an assembly line for 50 cars. It’s a tribute to the importance Ford Motor Company places on its racing programs and its dedication to the Ford racers. It was always my grandfather’s passion to support the racer, because they’re really the catalyst in the marketplace. They are the ones that their friends and families go to for advice on cars. They’re the ones that go into their own pocket, spend their own money on race cars, race trailers, racing parts, and are so passionate about their manufacturer. In this case it’s Ford, and for Ford to invest the resources to build 50 cars, it shows how much respect they have for the racing fans, and the racers themselves. It might only be 50 out of 13 million cars sold, but there will be no other vehicles that will create the memories, experiences that those 50 cars will create over the years as racers across the country take them to the track, and put them in the winner’s circle. The Cobra Jet legend lives on.

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tags:Blog

BOB TASCA III AND MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE FORD SHELBY MUSTANG MISS SECOND ROUND BY 12 FEET

26th Annual NHRA Arizona Nationals
Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, AZ
February 19-21, 2010
Race 2 of 23

BOB TASCA III AND MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE FORD SHELBY MUSTANG MISS SECOND ROUND BY 12 FEET

Firebird, AZ., February 21, 2010 – After several rain delays on Sunday, Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team were eager to attack Firebird International Raceway and carry Pomona momentum with them to the finals.

Tasca opened the weekend with a strong 4.160-second pass at 301.20 miles per hour during the first qualifying session. After the end of Friday’s sessions, Tasca was comfortably qualified for Sunday’s eliminations.

Rain would cancel the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon and Tasca would rely on his best effort from Friday’s opening run to seed him for the elimination rounds. The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Racing team qualified in the 10th position and would face Jack Beckman in the opening round on Sunday.

For the first time in the 2010 season, rain would delay the start of Sunday’s elimination rounds. After a delayed start, Tasca and Jack Beckman would be the first pair of Funny Cars on track.

Once the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger were staged, Tasca was first off the line with a solid reaction time and led until the 660-foot maker. Beckman took the lead and reached the finish line ahead of Tasca by 0.0276 seconds, approximately 12 feet. Tasca ran a 4.196 second pass at 299.20 miles per hour to the Beckman’s 4.132-second pass at 307.37 miles per hour.

Final elimination rounds of the 26th Annual NHRA Arizona Nationals are scheduled to run on Monday, February 22, 2010, at noon ET (10 a.m. MT).
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tags:Phoenix press release

TASCA AND MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE CARRY POMONA MOMENTUM INTO PHOENIX

DEARBORN, MI – February 17, 2010 – Following their semi-final appearance at last weekend’s race in Pomona, Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team look forward to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series’ first back-to-back racing weekend.

“I’m excited that were going to Phoenix right after kicking off the season in Pomona,” said Tasca. “Normally Phoenix is after a week off but I’m glad we’re back-to-back this early in the season. We worked hard all winter and we want to get back to racing. That’s why we’re here and that’s what we love to do.”

Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team are believers in momentum and see Phoenix as an opportunity to improve their Shelby Mustang and standings in series points. The team looks to conquer the tricky track known as Firebird Raceway because they’ve had mixed results in the past. In two previous visits to Firebird International Raceway, Tasca did not qualify (2008) and reached the second round (2009).

“We can take and build on the momentum we started in Pomona,” said Tasca. “This sport is all about momentum and capturing good data. All of our data is applicable to Phoenix, so we’re confident heading into Phoenix because the conditions will be very similar to what we saw in Pomona. We’ll look at our testing data, look at what we did in Pomona and that will give us confidence for Q1 this Friday.”

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tags:Phoenix press release

Tasca and Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang Reach Semi-Finals at 50th Annual NHRA Winternationals

Pomona, CA., February 14, 2010 – On the golden anniversary of the NHRA Winternationals, Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang team hoped to go four rounds and earn their third career win. The team’s chances for victory ended with a semi-final loss to Ron Capps.

Piloting his new 2010 Shelby Mustang body, Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team had a trying weekend up until the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. Sitting on the bump spot, Tasca ran low ET of the round with a 4.075-second pass at 306.88 miles per hour.

Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang were confident heading into Sunday’s elimination rounds. Tasca had two solid first rounds of competition and defeated Melanie Troxel and Matt Hagan.

Tasca met Capps in the semi-finals and smoked the tires right off the line.

“We made a mistake; it was an oversight,” said Tasca. “Chris [Cunningham, crew chief] wanted to put a set of scuffed tires on the Shelby Mustang because the track was still hot. We didn’t want to put a new set on, so we rolled a set out that we had. They were the tires from the Pomona race in November. They were old rubber and did not react the way we expected. The car should not have done what it did.”

Despite not walking away with the win, Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team will leave Pomona in third position heading into Phoenix next weekend.

“We can take a step back and see that we’ve come a long way in the off season,” said Tasca. “We came out here and did well. I’ve got a big smile on my face and the team has big smile on their faces. We’ll roll into Phoenix with similar conditions, so there is no reason why we can’t win Phoenix.”

John Force won the 50th Annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals.

“Congratulations to John Force and his entire team. It is fitting that he won the 50th NHRA Winternationals,” said Tasca. “Obviously if I can’t win, I’d love to see another Ford win. John is the hero of the sport; he’s been my hero growing up in drag racing. I’m happy to see him get the season started off with a win.”

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Points
1. John Force, 121; 2. Ron Capps, 94; 3. Bob Tasca III; 78; 4. Jack Beckman, 74; 5. Del Worsham, 59; 6. Matt Hagan, 57; 7. Ashley Force Hood, 56; 8. Cruz Pedregon, 51; 9. Robert Hight, 43; 10t. Tony Pedregon and Jim Head, 33.

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tags:Pomona press release