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Tasca Exits Seattle In First Round


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KENT, July 12, 2010: Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing looked to bring some of their East Coast success to the West Coast Swing this weekend in Seattle. Unfortunately those hopes were dashed in the first round after an ignition malfunction.

During Friday’s qualifying second session, Tasca posted a 4.257 second pass at 285.29 miles per hour. Tasca was the third quickest of the second and fourth qualifying session at Seattle.

“We were third quickest in both Friday and Saturday night sessions,” said Tasca. “We did a lot of good things in qualifying and worked our way into the top half of the field. We are ready for race day.”

After four qualifying passes, Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team kept their 4.257 second run and locked into the sixth position. Tasca would face fellow Ford Mustang Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson during Sunday’s eliminations.

On Sunday morning, Tasca’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang made a quicker pass than his qualifying effort with a 4.219 second run at 293.66 miles per hour. Tasca’s pass wasn’t quick enough to beat Tim Wilkerson’s 4.150 second run at 302.82 miles per hour.

After returning to the pits, crew chiefs Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner determined the Shelby Mustang had an ignition malfunction during the first round.

“Our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang ran decent but it didn’t run good enough to beat Tim,” said Tasca. “The good news is that we know what happened, but that bad news is that we didn’t win that round. It was disappointing to kick the West Coast Swing off with a loss, but the good news is there are two more races to go. We have a lot of confidence going into Sonoma knowing that it was an ignition malfunction. It worked all weekend up until the first run this morning.”

Tim Wilkerson won the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Washington.

“I’m not happy that we lost, but if I have to pick a guy to lose to, Tim’s my first choice,” said Tasca. “It’s great to see him carry on the Ford banner all the way to the finals.”