Championship Drag Racing

SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
Las Vegas, Nev.
(April 10-13)

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Driver Profile

Bob Tasca III Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang

Las Vegas, Friday: Awesome and exciting were what Bob Tasca III kept repeating after earning the provisional No. 2 position on the first day of qualifying for the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas.

 “That’s awesome,” said Tasca after his second run down the quarter-mile track. “We’re really excited about that run there. I said to myself that I was going right back to Rhode Island because I wasn’t going to take my foot off this thing. It was so smooth. For my team [and] Chris Cunningham in his first weekend as crew chief, man [that] guy is awesome.”

The driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Shelby Mustang was third after his first trip down the track with a 5.00 ET run. After making small changes for the second run and seeking the top spot, Tasca ended the day in second as the result of a 4.864 ET run.

 “You wouldn’t think it, but the difference between a 5.0 and a 4.86 is huge out there,” said Tasca. “As a driver, you know that thing is hauling when you’re on a run like that. It’s really exciting for our whole program with Motorcraft and Quick Lane and with Custom Accessories, who is on the car for the first time this weekend.”

With Vegas being the fifth race on the 24-race NHRA schedule, a start in Sunday’s race would be Tasca’s fourth race day start this season.

 “To have a day like this really makes those tough days coming up the ladder worthwhile,” said the rookie driver. “For our car to run the way that it did today in Vegas, which is Carroll Shelby’s hometown, and with a lot of Ford people here is really just a treat.

 “Certainly we had a crew chief change coming into this race, but I had all the confidence in the world in Chris [Cunningham] and the guys on the team. They gave me a racecar that just ran flawlessly today. On that last run it felt fantastic. It was smooth, it was straight, and the motor’s happy. It had great speed and we almost had the No. 1 spot for the day. What’s even more important, is that we made two runs down the racetrack and improved throughout the day.”

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