Tasca Exits In Second Round At Denver

DENVER, July 26, 2010: Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team looked forward to the challenge of Denver and had three things they wanted to accomplish to close the West Coast Swing.

Of the items on their checklist, Tasca and the team achieve two of those goals – run well in Denver and secure a spot in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series 2010 Countdown to 1. The third goal – win on the West Coast Swing ended in the second round.

Tasca continued his streak of top-eight qualifying efforts this weekend. Tasca qualified his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang in the top half of the field for 12 of the 16 races this season. Tasca’s best Denver run of 4.240 seconds at 293.86 miles per hour would lock him in the seventh qualifying position.

For the fourth time this season, Tasca would face alliance teammate Tim Wilkerson in the first round. Looking to have a different result from the previous two meetings, Tasca posted a clean 4.285 second pass at 294.37 miles an hour which defeated Wilkerson’s 5.241 second run at 145.99 miles per hour. Wilkerson appeared to have lost traction at the 400 foot marker while Tasca sailed through to the finish line.

In the second round, it was another battle of the Ford Mustangs as Tasca faced John Force. In a side-by-side race to the end, Tasca’s Mustang was leading until the final few feet. Tasca ran a 4.292 second pass at 291.32 miles per hour to Force’s 4.280 second pass at 293.66 miles per hour. Force’s margin of victory was 0.0033 seconds, approximately 17 inches.

“It is hard to believe that it [losing the round by inches] could happen again,” said Tasca. “It was a tremendous race against John. Our increments were almost identical going all the way down the race track and he beat us by inches. Close racing like that is what makes this sport so exciting and that’s what the fans come to see. The field is so competitive and we just ended up on the short side of the stick two races in a row.”

Despite the second round loss, Tasca will compete for the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car Championship for the second consecutive year. Tasca solidified his position in the playoffs after the final qualifying session in Denver.

“Our short term goal was to get into the top 10 – mission accomplished,” said Tasca. “Our long term goal is to win the championship and I’ve never been more confident going into the Countdown than I am right now with the team and race car that we have. We’ve really put ourselves in a position to fight for wins and this championship.”

Tasca gives credit to the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team and crew chiefs Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner for their extra efforts in Denver and the 2010 season to date.

“I’m proud of Chris, Marc and the entire Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team for making the right calls this weekend and all season,” said Tasca. “This Ford BOSS 500 engine is a new program for us, especially going to a condition that we haven’t seen all season and won’t see again until next year. They had the Mustang dialed in for every run this weekend. This is an exciting time for the team. I know Chris, Marc and the guys are really pumped up about the Countdown. Thanks to my crew for their hard work and giving me a Mustang that ran strong all weekend.”

Robert Hight defeated John Force in the finals to win Sunday’s 31st Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, Colorado.

“Congratulations to John Force and Robert Hight for making Denver an all Ford final,” said Tasca. “It has been a tremendous season for Ford. All the Ford teams have the same goal and that is to win the Funny Car championship. The five of us have put ourselves in a position to do that, which is 50 percent of the field, but the other 50 percent of the field that wants to win it as bad as we do.”