CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Funny Car veteran Bob Tasca is riding the momentum from his first final round appearance of the season as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads to zMAX Dragway, just outside of Charlotte, N.C., near the race shop of his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang team. The New England native is hoping to keep the positive energy going and earn his first victory of the season at one of his “home races” on tour, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 13-15.
“It’s in our backyard and the Wood Brothers, our sponsor teammate on the NASCAR side, are right down the street too,” Tasca said. “I come here as much as I can so it’s become a third home for me. The guys like racing here because they can go home to their own beds at night. The people at zMAX Dragway and Bruton Smith have been great partners of the NHRA and are very supportive of our team and the sport, so it’s a good home race to have.”
After a few early season struggles, Tasca added veteran crew chief Dickie Venables to the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team, to work alongside the tuning duo of Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner. Just one race underneath the tuning trio’s belt and the addition has already started to pay dividends on the race track.
“Adding Dickie was like completing the third point of a triangle,” Tasca said. “He balances out the personalities of Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner and really brings that new dimension to the team. It’s been great to watch them all work together and talk about the new ideas Dickie has. We’re all excited now about seeing what our Motorcraft/Quick Lane team can do.”
In Las Vegas two weeks ago, Tasca lost a tough final round to fellow Ford Racing driver Robert Hight, who is currently on a three-race win streak heading into the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The experience whetted Tasca’s appetite for more success and he and the team are ready for four-wide racing.
“I can’t tell you how quickly momentum can shift in NHRA Full Throttle Series Drag Racing,” Tasca said. “We’d been stalled since the beginning of the year. Then we started going rounds and it was a dog fight right down to the final. The only thing more disappointing than not getting out of the first round is probably getting to the finals with a car that can win it all and not getting the Wally, but when you look over and see another Ford in the final you can say it was a good day. We’re riding high going into the Four-Wide Nationals.”
Last year at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Tasca posted a runner-up finish to eventual winner Jack Beckman. He says racing against three cars instead of one is extremely different, but the key to success in the format is strictly focusing on your own lane of the dragstrip.
“I try to treat it like any other race," Tasca said. "It’s not, of course. You have four cars lining up instead of two and the horsepower is just incredible. The noise is different; the lights are different. For the fans, it’s a totally different experience. But at the end of the day, I try to race my race and not focus on what the other drivers are doing.”
Hight leads the Funny Car points battle just ahead of his John Force Racing teammate Mike Neff. Don Schumacher Racing drivers Jack Beckman and Johnny Gray are right behind Neff followed by John Force, Tasca, Courtney Force, Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon and Bob Bode who round out the top 10.
In Top Fuel, Antron Brown leads the championship points with Morgan Lucas just four points behind him. Spencer Massey, who has earned two wins so far this season, sits in third followed by Tony Schumacher, Shawn Langdon, Doug Kalitta, Steve Torrence, Clay Millican, Bob Vandergriff and Brandon Bernstein.
North Carolina residents Greg Anderson and Jason Line, who have each won one event this season, sit one and two in the Pro Stock points. Mike Edwards is third, while Allen Johnson, winner of the most recent race in Las Vegas, is fourth. Vincent Nobile, Greg Stanfield, Erica Enders, Rodger Brogdon, Ronnie Humphrey and Larry Morgan round out the top 10 in the factory hot rod class heading into zMAX Dragway.
* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 13, and 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. Final eliminations will begin at noon on Sunday, April 15.
* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. For tickets, please call zMAX Dragway at (800) 455-FANS (3267) or visit www.zMAXDragway.com
* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 5 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 14. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three-hours of eliminations coverage at 7 p.m. (ET), also on Sunday, April 15.
* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8:30 a.m. on April 13. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8:30 a.m. on April 14 and continue through April 15.
* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS FACT SHEET
WHAT: Third annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, the fifth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Drivers in three categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock - earn points leading to 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships.
WHERE: zMAX Dragway- Track is located on Hwy 29 off I-85 at exit 49 (Speedway Blvd.) in the Concord, N.C. area.
WHEN: Friday through Sunday, April 13-15
FORMAT: Qualifying sessions and elimination rounds will be conducted using four lanes in the three Full Throttle Series classes; Lanes will be identified from left to right facing downtrack as 1-4; The standard Friday qualifying procedure of a top 12 format will not be in use; Two Christmas trees will be in use, one between each pair of lanes; The Compulink Autostart system will continue to be utilized and it will not activate until all four vehicles are pre-staged and one vehicle has staged; The ladder structure will feature Race A: qualifiers 1, 8, 9, 16, Race B: qualifiers 4, 5, 12, 13, Race C: qualifiers 2, 7, 10, 15, and Race D: qualifiers 3, 6, 11, 14; Race A and Race B will be on one side of the ladder, while Race C and Race D will be on the other; Lane choice for eliminations goes to the driver with the quickest E.T., then the second-quickest, and so on; The first two drivers in each elimination round to cross the finish line advance to the second round and final; In the final round, teams will finish in the order they cross the finish line (barring any red-light starts), with winner, runner-up and two semifinalists in that order.
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, April 15 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations begins at 8:30 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 16 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations begin at 8 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 17 - Pre-race ceremonies, 11 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at noon
TELEVISION:
Saturday, April 14, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours and thirty minutes of qualifying highlights at 5 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, April 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of eliminations coverage starting at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE (Digital HD feed):
Friday, April 13, 8 – 8:30 p.m. (ET), SES 2 / Transponder 18C
Saturday, April 14, 6 – 6:30 p.m. (ET), SES 2 / Transponder 18C
Sunday, April 15, 7 – 7:30 p.m. (ET), SES 2 / Transponder 18C
(4060 MHz, vertical; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.
2011 WINNERS: Del Worsham, Top Fuel; Jack Beckman, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock.
TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.771 seconds by Tony Schumacher, Sept. ’11; 327.9 mph by Schumacher, Sept. ’11
Funny Car - 3.995 sec. by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’11; 318.99 mph by Jack Beckman, Sept. ’11
Pro Stock - 6.510 sec. by Jason Line, Sept. ’11; 212.69 mph by Anderson, Sept. ’11
NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.735 sec. by Del Worsham, Oct. ’11, Reading, Pa.; 328.62 mph by Spencer Massey, Feb. ’12, Pomona, Calif.
Funny Car - 3.995 sec. by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’11, Charlotte, N.C.; 318.99 mph by Jack Beckman, Sept. ’11, Charlotte, N.C.
Pro Stock - 6.477 sec. by Jason Line, Oct. ’11, Reading, Pa.; 213.57 mph by Erica Enders, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.
TICKETS: For tickets call (800) 455-FANS (3267). Tickets also are available at www.zmaxdragway.com.
GENERAL ADMISSION (includes pit pass) - Thursday: Adult, $10; Junior (12 & under), free. Friday: Adult, $20; Junior (12 & under), $5. Saturday: Adult, $40; Junior (12 & under), $10. Sunday: Adult, $40; Junior (12 & under), $10.
RESERVED SEATS (includes pit pass) - Friday: Adult, $25-35; Junior (12 & under), $5-10. Saturday: Adult, $45-55; Junior (12 & under), $10-15. Sunday: Adult, $45-55; Junior (12 & under), $10-15.
* * *
NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES POINTS STANDINGS
GLENDORA, Calif. -- Point standings (top 10) for NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series categories following the fourth of 23 events:
Top Fuel: 1. Antron Brown, 357; 2. Morgan Lucas, 353; 3. Spencer Massey, 349; 4. Tony Schumacher, 344; 5. Shawn Langdon, 259; 6. Doug Kalitta, 209; 7. Steve Torrence, 199; 8. Clay Millican, 195; 9. Bob Vandergriff, 175; 10. Brandon Bernstein, 153.
Funny Car: 1. Robert Hight, 399; 2. Mike Neff, 316; 3. Jack Beckman, 276; 4. Johnny Gray, 246; 5. John Force, 217; 6. Bob Tasca III, 208; 7. Courtney Force, 191; 8. Ron Capps, 190; 9. Cruz Pedregon, 182; 10. Bob Bode, 165.
Pro Stock: 1. Greg Anderson, 362; 2. Jason Line, 324; 3. Mike Edwards, 307; 4. Allen Johnson, 258; 5. Vincent Nobile, 238; 6. Greg Stanfield, 206; 7. Erica Enders, 193; 8. Rodger Brogdon, 191; 9. Ronnie Humphrey, 188; 10. Larry Morgan, 186.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Eddie Krawiec, 150; 2. Andrew Hines, 101; 3. Hector Arana Jr, 80; 4. Matt Smith, 74; 5. (tie) Hector Arana, 56; LE Tonglet, 56; 7. Karen Stoffer, 53; 8. Scotty Pollacheck, 52; 9. Steve Johnson, 34; 10. (tie) Shawn Gann, 32; Joey Gladstone, 32: Jerry Savoie, 32; John Hall, 32.
