Tasca And Motorcraft/Quicklane Seek To Defend No. 1 Performance In Gainsville

DEARBORN, 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.”