Tasca And Motorcraft/Quicklane Lane Show Brainerd They Mean Business

Brainerd, August 15, 2009: On a hot, humid Friday afternoon, Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang team topped the charts in the opening qualifying sessions.

In his second provisional qualifying effort of the year, Tasca and the team dominated the race track. Tasca was provisional No. 1 qualifier earlier this year at Gainesville.

After watching several Funny Cars before him smoke the tires, Tasca knew he had a challenge in front of him. He mastered the new pavement by posting 4.363 second run at 274.16 miles per hour.

“We were the only team out of 19 that went wire-to-wire in the first round,” said Tasca. “It was a great run. We’ll do even better tomorrow because the conditions will improve. We can’t be any better than we are right now.”

After some fine-tuning by crew chief Chris Cunningham, Tasca wowed the Brainerd crowd for the second time today with a 4.214 second pass at 282.01 miles per hour.

“What a difference a year makes,” said Tasca. “To be in this position and to have a hot rod that is doing exactly what we want. When our Mustang is responding and is consistent, it makes me a better race car driver and it puts the team in a position to win. To have two back-to-back runs like that, my hat is off to the guys, Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner for making a remarkable call today.”

With only a few races remaining before the Countdown to 1 begins, Tasca gains more confidence every time he climbs into the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang.

“We’re hitting our stride at the right time,” said Tasca. “We’ve got a long way to go with this championship, but if we can perform well in Brainerd, we will solidify our position in the championship hunt.”