NHRA Funny Car - Tasca, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Team Ready For Western Swing

DENVER, July 25, 2011: There are a few instances where the word “strike” signals a good thing. “Strike it rich,” for instance. Or in bowling. In NHRA Full Throttle Series Drag Racing, a strike isn’t something you want to see if it happens to your car.

Unfortunately, the bad luck that has surfaced more than once this year for the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Funny Car team stayed on its heels once again at Bandimere Speedway near Denver – and despite performing near the top of the pack in performance-per-round twice in qualifying, the red, white and blue Funny Car with the striking paint scheme struck the tires in Round 1.

Bob Tasca III, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane entry, matched first-round opponent Ron Capps from the starting line with a .092-second reaction time to Capps’ .091. The Ford Mustang went nose-to-nose with Capps until beyond the 330-foot mark, where it lost traction and the race. Tasca clocked a 5.539-second finish at 131.96 mph to Capps’ 4.326 at 291.57.

It was a disappointing result for the team that wants anything but a short day in the “office.”

“We’re disappointed with the outcome,” Tasca said. “Truthfully, we were surprised. We had no intentions of running a 4.33 or 4.35. We were trying to run a 4.25 or quicker. We felt the track would hold it. The track conditions were better than they were in the third round of qualifying, and were probably a little bit worse than Q1.

“We gambled the wrong way. Capps was conservative and got away with a 4.33 with a win and our car was on pace to run a 4.25 and smoked the tires. Unfortunately, I guess you could say we guessed wrong and they guessed right.”

Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team now heads to Sonoma, Calif. for the second stop of the famed Western Swing, a three-races-in-three-weeks stretch that tests the endurance of the crews in the world’s fastest motorsport.

The NHRA Nationals will be at Infineon Raceway July 29-31, 2011.

“We held on to the No. 9 position (in the NHRA Full Throttle Series points), but we need to go some rounds the next couple of races,” Tasca said.