Tasca and Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Qualify Third for Sunday's NHRA Nationals in Concord; Best Qualifying Effort of 2010 Season
Bob Tasca III Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car class NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Third Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Carolina Nationals zMAX Dragway in Concord, NC September 17 - 19, 2010 Race 19 of 23 Countdown to 1 - Race 2 of 6 TASCA AND MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE QUALIFY THIRD FOR SUNDAY’S NHRA NATIONALS IN CONCORD; BEST QUALIFYING EFFORT OF 2010 SEASON CONCORD, NC – September 18, 2010 – Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team entered the Charlotte race looking to perform well, move up the points standings and closer to the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car Championship. Tasca and the team leave the track on Saturday evening confident that they’ve prepared themselves to walk away on Sunday with a victory. After completing four qualifying sessions, Tasca and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team sit in the third qualifying position. This effort marks their best starting position of the 2010 season and the 15th time this season the team has qualified on the top half of the ladder. Tasca’s best qualifying pass of the weekend took place during Friday’s night session where he raced his red and black Shelby Mustang to third on the timing sheet with a 4.109 second run at 304.39 miles per hour. Tasca earned one additional point for posting the third quickest ET of the session. “Our weekend started out pretty good with the 4.10 second run on Friday night,” said Tasca. “We came out this morning and tried to really push the envelope in the third qualifying session and smoked the tires. But in the last session we wanted to go A-to-B and get some good data for race day. We ran a 4.17 which certainly puts us in a competitive place going into tomorrow. It is going to be hot with very similar conditions to what we saw today, so we have a really good baseline. We’re looking forward to racing on Sunday.” During the first elimination round on Sunday, Tasca faces 14th qualifier Bob Bode. The last time the pair met was during the quarterfinals at Brainerd where Bode defeated Tasca. “I’ve raced against Bob Bode a few times and the last time I raced him I didn’t like the result,” said Tasca. “I think it is my time to reach the finish line first against Bode since he defeated us in the second round at Brainerd.” Charlotte is the second of six races in the 2010 Countdown to 1. Tasca’s goals for the weekend included qualifying in the top half of the field, racing to the final and winning a Wally at the team’s home track. “Charlotte is a race where we need to perform well at to keep our championship hopes alive,” said Tasca. “We qualified strong and we’re ready for tomorrow. We put ourselves in a position to win the race this weekend. It’s going to be exciting. This is a race that I said we have to do well at and we’ve set ourselves up to do that on Sunday.” NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Funny Car Qualifying Order 1. Cruz Pedregon. 2. John Force. 3. Bob Tasca III. 4. Matt Hagan. 5. Jeff Arend. 6. Del Worsham. 7. Jack Beckman. 8. Tony Pedegon. 9. Melanie Troxel. 10. Ron Capps. 11. Ashley Force Hood. 12. Jim Head. 13. Robert Hight. 14. Bob Bode. 15. Paul Lee. 16. John Smith. Did not qualify – Tim Wilkerson and Jeff Diehl Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing on the Web Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/MQL_Racing Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/MQLRacing Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/motorcraftquicklaneracing Television Sunday, Sept. 19, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise qualifying highlights coverage at 10:30am (ET). Sunday, Sept. 19, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, at 6:30 p.m. (ET). Sunday, Sept. 19, ESPN3.com will televise live coverage of eliminations at noon. (ET) Sunday, Sept. 19, ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage at 7 p.m. (ET). About Motorcraft Motorcraft® offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended and approved by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer exceptional value with the highest quality and right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers, independent distributors, and automotive parts retailers and are backed by Ford Motor Company’s Service Parts Limited Warranty. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com. About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Centers Quick Lane® provides automotive quick services for all makes and models. Quick Lane’s nationwide network will surpass 600 facilities, each providing the convenience of an aftermarket company (no appointment necessary, service while you wait, evening and weekend hours, competitive prices) with the confidence of a major automotive manufacturer (quality parts, factory-trained technicians). Quick Lane® is a registered trademark of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.quicklane.com. About FordParts.com FordParts.com allows customers to shop online for over 283,000 Genuine Ford and Motorcraft parts. With FordParts.com, repair shops, body shops, fleets and do-it-yourselfers can shop for, order and ultimately receive parts 24/7 via the click of a mouse. It lets each customer remain connected to their Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealership for the parts expertise, personal delivery assistance, and post-sale follow-up associated with a traditional purchase. All customers visiting FordParts.com will benefit from its comprehensive, yet user-friendly nature, perhaps best expressed in the way Ford and Motorcraft parts are shopped for and selected. To do so, customers can enter a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and shop with unmatched accuracy for parts uniquely associated with the vehicle or start by entering the year, make and model of the vehicle. Adding to the site’s functionality is the ability to view 22,865 technical illustrations on many of the parts and assemblies. For more information, visit www.fordparts.com. About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 159,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company’s brands include Ford, Lincoln and Mercury, production of which has been announced by the company to be ending in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com. # # # # ___________________ Susan Pollack PCGCampbell Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center d: 313-203-7162 m: 313-434-6912 e: spollack@pcgcampbell.com www.twitter.com/MQL_Racing www.facebook.com/MQLRacing