Tasca And Motorcraft/Quick Lane Experience Malfunction

CLERMONT, IN – September 8, 2009 – After a long night of rebuilding the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang, Tasca and team left the 55th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals two rounds too soon.

In the second explosion in two races, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang had severe damage to the supercharger, windshield and body. Hoping to a mirror the Reading race result, Tasca and the team put finishing touches on the Mustang early Monday morning.

In the first round, Tasca was on the winning end of the Mustang battle when Tim Wilkerson dropped a cylinder when he hit the throttle. Tasca would face Robert Hight in the second round.

At the 800 foot-marker, about 3.56 seconds into the run, Tasca experienced a mechanical failure in the automatic safety system. Hight’s margin of victory in the second round was 0.0491 seconds, approximately 20 feet.

“The switch that saved us on Sunday, failed us on today,” said Tasca. “It is the switch that in the event of an explosion, shuts the fuel pumps and ignition off and pulls the parachutes. It’s designed to activate under an explosion. The switch must have been damaged in the explosion or malfunctioned.”

Tasca was unaware of the mechanical failure until he exited the race car and surveyed the race car.

“The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang was on a phenomenal run,” said Tasca. “I could feel it accelerate and it then felt like I hit a wall. I didn’t know what was happening, I kept my foot wide open and the race car was trying to accelerate.”

As the last race of the regular season, Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are looking to the future. The points reset heading into the final six races of the season.

“We’re leaving here fourth in the points going to Charlotte,” said Tasca. “We’ll make this momentum and we’ll take it all in stride. The Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang was on a great run, definitely capable of winning that round and that’s satisfying.”