Bob Tasca III
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford Shelby Mustang
Nitro Funny Car class
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
23rd Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals
Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, TX
April 9-11, 2010
Race 5 of 23
TASCA AND MOTORCRAFT/QUICK LANE RACING EXIT HOUSTON IN FIRST ROUND
BAYTOWN, TX – April 11, 2010 – Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing came into Houston Raceway Park looking to strengthen their Funny Car program with the added elements of the BOSS 500 engine platform. Although new parts provided the team with solid data, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team’s day ended in the first round on Sunday afternoon.
During the opening qualifying session on Friday, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing Shelby Mustang sported the BOSS 500 platform blower and injector combination. These components enabled Tasca to race his Mustang down the track in 4.464 seconds at a top speed of 201.61 miles per hour.
While waiting out the rain on Saturday, the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team added the Force- and Ford-engineered clutch to the red and black Shelby Mustang. The clutch addition enabled Tasca to post his best time of the weekend – a 4.124 second pass at 305.15 miles per hour.
“We felt that we were in a position on Saturday to add the clutch program to our Mustang since we were locked in the field on Friday,” said Tasca. “We had a great run on Saturday and were fourth quickest in that final session with a very solid run.”
Tasca’s best run of the weekend seeded him in the 10th position. During Sunday’s first round eliminations, Tasca's Ford would face the Toyota of Del Worsham.
Tasca was quicker off the line with a 0.067 reaction time to Worsham’s 0.088. By the time the duo reached the tree, Worsham took the lead and never looked back. In the end, Tasca’s 4.230-second run at 300.33 miles per hour fell short to Worsham’s 4.109-second run at 307.02 miles per hour.
“Unfortunately, we raced the wrong guy in the first round,” said Tasca. “Today was a very disappointing day. I’m very confident in the data we collect this weekend, moving forward and improving. We phased in a lot of the BOSS 500 elements into our Mustang’s tune-up this weekend. There is a learning curve to make this transition, but we’re fully committed to it. We know that the BOSS 500 platform is the dominant platform out here in Funny Car racing. It is going to take a little time to get everything to where it needs to be, but I feel very confident that we have great data to go into Las Vegas.”
Crew Chief Chris Cunningham knows the BOSS 500 platform will make the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang even more competitive as the season progresses.
“We had all the BOSS 500 parts available to us after Charlotte and we intended to test in Charlotte, but testing became unavailable,” said crew chief Chris Cunningham. “We went back to our shop and dynoed some of their blowers and ours and found a baseline. We were confident enough to come to Houston and still be competitive because our ultimate goal is to win for Motorcraft, Quick Lane and Ford.”
“We started to run Force’s blower and injector combination on Friday and it performed well,” continued Cunningham. “Then clutch program showed a lot of promise in our two Saturday runs. We gained the right information and felt confident to go into eliminations on Sunday with it. Unfortunately, we had a couple of setbacks and our Mustang didn’t run exactly as planned. We’ll take this information, run with it and go to Las Vegas and improve.”
Both driver and crew chief are looking forward to the continuous improvement and are eager to get back to racing next weekend at Las Vegas.
“This is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Cunningham. “We’re disappointed that we lost today but we gained a lot of valuable information.”
“I love going to races that are back-to-back,” said Tasca. “When you come off a disappointing weekend, it’s nice to get right back out and go racing again. We’re pumped up and ready to get to the Las Vegas track. The ‘One Ford’ approach will reap big rewards here in the short term and the future.”
Matt Hagan won Sunday’s 23rd Annual NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Points
1. John Force, 441; 2. Matt Hagan, 371; 3. Ron Capps, 345; 4. Ashley Force Hood, 312; 5. Jack Beckman, 311; 6t. Tim Wilkerson and Tony Pedregon, 283; 8. Robert Hight, 281; 9. Bob Tasca III, 268; 10. Del Worsham, 240.
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
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, order and receive original equipment parts. FordParts.com enables customers to remain connected to a Ford or Lincoln Mercury dealership of their choice for the parts expertise, personal delivery assistance, and post-sale follow-up associated with a traditional purchase at a parts counter. FordParts.com is designed to support anyone who needs to find and buy original equipment Ford parts. Repair shops, body shops, fleets and do-it-yourselfers will all appreciate the speed and convenience of researching and purchasing Ford parts via this online portal. 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 198,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.
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