Funny Car - Tasca, Funny Car Drivers Hold On Tight As Standings Move Like Musical Chairs

PHOENIX, Oct. 16, 2011: The NHRA Full Throttle Series Funny Car standings turned into a high-stakes game of musical chairs at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway.

At the end, Don Schumacher Racing’s Jack Beckman was the one with the best seat, the Wally event trophy and a victory over his teammate Johnny Gray – and, behind him, five hungry Ford drivers that can’t wait to get to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.

One is Bob Tasca III, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Funny Car. Tasca advanced to Round 2, where he lost to Kalitta Motorsports’ Jeff Arend by only thousandths of a second.

Tasca, seventh entering the event, is now eighth, 141 points behind Beckman, who with the win moved around four drivers – including DSR’s Matt Hagan and John Force Racing’s Mike Neff - for the lead. While he knows the fight will be a tough one, Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are already preparing for the next race. Only two races remain on the schedule, including the season finale in Pomona, Calif.

“Certainly, we’ve had our challenges this season,” Tasca said. “It seems like we’ve had more bad luck than good, but we know we make our own luck and not only that, you also find out what you can do when times get really tough. You learn as much if not more from the hard times than you do when everything’s going the way you think it will.

“I have a lot of good memories from The Strip. It’s where I hit the throttle of an NHRA Funny Car for the first time. We’ll be ready to race.”