Madison, IL, May 2, 2010 – Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team headed in St. Louis confident in their Shelby Mustang Funny Car. After strong and consistent test sessions in Las Vegas, the team was ready to win rounds in St. Louis.
Tasca’s best qualifying effort was on Saturday afternoon when he posted a solid 4.260-second pass with a top speed of 281.83 miles per hour. Tasca qualified in the top half of the field in the seventh position. Tasca would have lane choice over Cruz Pedregon during Sunday’s first round eliminations.
“It was an exciting weekend for us,” said Tasca. “We had a wild ride on Saturday and I pedaled our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang. Chris [Cunningham], Marc [Denner], the crew and I knew the track would be tricky on Sunday, so we worked hard to make sure everything was right for the elimination rounds. We made a big move up the qualifying ladder on Saturday and were prepared for some tough competition against Cruz in the first round.”
In the first round, Tasca looked to earn his first round win against two-time champ Cruz Pedregon. Tasca defeated Pedregon with a solid pass. Tasca’s Mustang reached the finish line in 4.202 seconds at 295.85 miles per hour compared to Pedregon’s 4.327-second pass at 282.01 miles per hour.
During the second round pairings, Tasca faced fellow Ford Mustang racer Ashley Force Hood. Tasca was first off the line and led wire-to-wire against Force Hood. Tasca’s Mustang ran a 4.218-second pass at 293.57 miles per hour versus Force Hood’s 4.222-second pass at 294.63 miles per hour.
“We had a big win against Cruz and then faced another strong competitor, Ashley Force Hood, in the second round,” said Tasca. “The Force camp has been strong this year and we knew that second round was going to be tough. We were real pleased with how our Shelby Mustang ran to get that round win and into the semi-finals.”
In his third semi-final appearance of the 2010 season, Tasca would face the Jack Beckman. For the first time of the day, Tasca was not the first off the line, but took the lead against Beckman shortly after the tree and led until half-track. Beckman’s Dodge Charger would reach the finish line first and advance to the finals. Tasca’s Mustang ran a 4.224-second pass at 291. 76 miles per hour compared to Beckman’s 4.215-second pass at 297.29 miles per hour.
“Obviously, we would have preferred to get the win, but to make it to the semi-finals and lose by inches to Jack Beckman is a good feeling,” said Tasca. “Too bad we have to wait until Atlanta to get back to the race track. We’ve got a team and Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang that is running consistent and we can’t wait to Atlanta and go a few more rounds.
Tasca sees the big picture of the 2010 season. Tasca and the entire team are attacking each weekend one run at a time. After seven races into the season, Tasca is 10th in overall points.
“At this time of year, it is all about going rounds,” said Tasca. “We need to keep going rounds, moving up in the points and staying solidly in that top-10. When you’ve got a Mustang that is running as good as ours is running, it was only a matter of time where we would turn the corner and win rounds again. We’ve lost some really tight races in the last few weeks. Heading into this weekend, I felt that St. Louis was a race where we needed to turn a corner and we did.”
Robert Hight won the 14th Annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.
“Congratulations to Robert Hight and his entire team. It is exciting for me to be under the Ford umbrella with the Force teams and leverage the Ford engineering and technology,” said Tasca. “It is great to see Robert in his AAA Mustang win the AAA-sponsored race.”
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Points
1. John Force, 616; 2. Ashley Force Hood, 475; 3. Matt Hagan, 465; 4. Jack Beckman, 464; 5. Ron Capps, 459; 6. Robert High 427; 7. Tony Pedregon, 405; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 387; 9. Del Worsham, 378; 10. Bob Tasca III, 377.
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