Bob Tasca III
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Shelby Mustang
Nitro Funny Car class
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
40th Annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals
Gainesville Raceway at Gainesville, Florida
March 13-15, 2009
FRIDAY THE 13TH PROVES LUCKY FOR TASCA AND MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE FORD SHELBY MUSTANG – TASCA IS PROVISIONAL TOP QUALIFIER AT GATORNATIONALS
Gainesville, FL., March 13, 2009 – For the first time in his NHRA Funny Car racing career, Bob Tasca III left the track with a new title - Provisional Top Qualifier.
On Friday afternoon, Tasca posted the fastest time in opening qualifying runs. He piloted his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang Funny Car to the top of the charts in 4.124 seconds at 296.76 miles per hour.
“We hope our time will hold up during tomorrow’s qualifying runs. The good thing about running a 4.12 is that you have the data and you can look at it. There were a lot of things in that run that we could have improved upon. It was a real safe 4.12. If the conditions are to come our way tomorrow, we’ll try to improve it.”
Before making his first run of the weekend, Tasca’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang was not where he wanted to be on the track.
“I never would have been able to make that run last year. I wasn’t straight going into the first beam. I was crooked. I knew I wasn’t in the right direction and was pointing at the wall. I actually turned the wheel a half turn and rolled into the beam, so the tires were pointing the right direction. For the first hit into the throttle, I moved to the center and just finessed it back. I did more driving on that first run than I did on the second run. In the second run, our Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang was as straight as an arrow.”
Tasca leads a trio of Ford Mustangs after Friday’s qualifying sessions. John Force and Mike Neff sit second and third respectively, heading into Saturday’s event.
Full Throttle Provisional Qualifying – Funny Car
1. Bob Tasca III, 2. John Force, 3. Mike Neff, 4. Ron Capps, 5. Matt Hagan, 6. Ashley Force Hood, 7. Del Worsham, 8. Jeff Arend, 9. Tim Wilkerson, 10. Cruz Pedregon.
# # # #
