Tasca Earns No. 8 Qualifying Position, Will Face Capps in First Round

Eighth annual O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q

Race 8 of 24

Bristol Dragway

FINAL QUALIFYING


Bristol, Tenn. May 16-18


 


TASCA EARNS NO. 8 QUALIFYING POSITION, WILL FACE CAPPS IN FIRST ROUND


 


BRISTOL, Tenn.  (May 17, 2008) - Bob Tasca III started and ended
Saturday qualifying at Bristol Dragway in the No. 8 qualifying position.


 

After posting a solid 4.82-second run on Friday night, the rookie driver
and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang team
used both of Saturday's runs to work on the car's performance from zero
to 60 feet on the track. While neither run on Saturday saw Tasca make it
successfully down the track, the team will change the car back based on
Friday night's run.

 

"I don't think that it's too much of a surprise," said Tasca of his two
runs on Saturday. "We wanted to try some different things. We made a
good run on Friday night, and Chris [Cunningham, crew chief] has been
making little steps to make gains. In racing, when you get an
opportunity to try something different and you know you're safe, it was
just something that we wanted to do."

 

Tasca will face Ron Capps in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.
It will be the second meeting for the pair, with Capps coming away with
the win during the second round at Las Vegas earlier this season.

 

"I feel very confident," said Tasca of Sunday's race. "We've got a
racecar that Chris knows how to turn the screws to and run in mid-80s.
And that's what we're going to need to run tomorrow morning to win. The
driver's got to do his job too; I've got to have a good reaction time.
It's going to be fun. It will be the battle of the parts cars here with
Motorcraft and NAPA, and we're going to have something for that team
tomorrow morning."

 

Sunday's Eighth annual O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol
Dragway is the eighth of 24 races on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series schedule. 

 

NEWS/STATS AT A GLANCE:

 

- Saturday Results: No. 8

-          Qualifying Run No. 3: 7.196 ET / 109.96 mph

-          Qualifying Run No. 4:  10.810 ET / 85.94 mph

 

- This weekend is Tasca's first visit to Bristol's Thunder Valley
quarter-mile.

 

- Tasca is running a full season and for 2008 Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

 

- Tasca began putting together his nitro Funny Car team in November
2007, for debut at the 2008 Winternationals at Pomona in February.

 

ABOUT THE DRIVER:

 

Bob Tasca III is a 32-year-old rookie in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
nitro Funny Car class. Tasca competed the past three seasons in the
Alcohol Funny Car class. Tasca is also a third-generation Ford dealer
from Rhode Island. 

 

TV COVERAGE: ESPN2 & ESPN2 HD (all times are Eastern)

 

May 17 Qualifying Highlights               6:30-8:30 p.m.

May 18 Race Day                                11 a.m.

May 18 Eliminations                            6:30 -10 p.m.

 

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Alexis Kinch 
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center

Public Relations          

PCGCampbell                   

Office: 313-203-7103                         

Cell: 313-737-8684

akinch@pcgcampbell.com                  

 

SPONSOR INFORMATION:


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About Motorcraft


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About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in
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*For competition photos, headshots and behind the scenes photos, please
contact Alexis Kinch *