TASCA'S STICKY SITUATION
Mon, 2009-08-17 08:01
There was no fire, the burst panel was still in place and yet Bob
Tasca, III was covered in something as he sped down the track in his
first round run against Jim Head in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at
Brainerd Int'l Raceway.
“It was the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me,” admitted Tasca as he awaited his second round run. “I hit the gas, it shook, I caught it and as I was rolling back in it broke the fire bottle bracket off, the bottle dropped and it activated itself. I remember seeing all this fluid rush at me and its amazing how your brain processes it. In my head, first I thought it was oil and then I thought it was fuel. Then for whatever reason I saw the foam coming down on my visor and I wasn’t hot so I knew I wasn’t on fire so I rolled back into it and I remember saying going through the finish like 'man if this is oil it'll be a bad day if it lights up' because I was soaked and really couldn’t see. It’s amazing how you can drive one of these cars almost blindfolded. I saw the cone go by at the finish line, I knew Head had to be in trouble and (we) got the win light. There was no fire, the burst panel was still in place and yet Bob Tasca, III was covered in something as he sped down the track in his first round run against Jim Head in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int'l Raceway.
“It was the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me,” admitted Tasca as he awaited his second round run. “I hit the gas, it shook, I caught it and as I was rolling back in it broke the fire bottle bracket off, the bottle dropped and it activated itself. I remember seeing all this fluid rush at me and its amazing how your brain processes it. In my head, first I thought it was oil and then I thought it was fuel. Then for whatever reason I saw the foam coming down on my visor and I wasn’t hot so I knew I wasn’t on fire so I rolled back into it and I remember saying going through the finish like 'man if this is oil it'll be a bad day if it lights up' because I was soaked and really couldn’t see. It’s amazing how you can drive one of these cars almost blindfolded. I saw the cone go by at the finish line, I knew Head had to be in trouble and (we) got the win light.
"Whenever as a driver you can dig down and pull something out like that and get the win for the team; that was a break we needed.”
Tasca didn't know for sure what had happened but once he was out of the car he knew.
“It was a bracket that broke and I remember when I hit the chutes I was reaching for the fire level because I said 'man, I don’t understand how it could’ve activated. I knew the lever didn't activate it. It’s a testament to the fittings because that fitting held that fire bottle on at 280 miles an hour, but it had already deployed the fluid.”
“It was the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me,” admitted Tasca as he awaited his second round run. “I hit the gas, it shook, I caught it and as I was rolling back in it broke the fire bottle bracket off, the bottle dropped and it activated itself. I remember seeing all this fluid rush at me and its amazing how your brain processes it. In my head, first I thought it was oil and then I thought it was fuel. Then for whatever reason I saw the foam coming down on my visor and I wasn’t hot so I knew I wasn’t on fire so I rolled back into it and I remember saying going through the finish like 'man if this is oil it'll be a bad day if it lights up' because I was soaked and really couldn’t see. It’s amazing how you can drive one of these cars almost blindfolded. I saw the cone go by at the finish line, I knew Head had to be in trouble and (we) got the win light. There was no fire, the burst panel was still in place and yet Bob Tasca, III was covered in something as he sped down the track in his first round run against Jim Head in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int'l Raceway.
“It was the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me,” admitted Tasca as he awaited his second round run. “I hit the gas, it shook, I caught it and as I was rolling back in it broke the fire bottle bracket off, the bottle dropped and it activated itself. I remember seeing all this fluid rush at me and its amazing how your brain processes it. In my head, first I thought it was oil and then I thought it was fuel. Then for whatever reason I saw the foam coming down on my visor and I wasn’t hot so I knew I wasn’t on fire so I rolled back into it and I remember saying going through the finish like 'man if this is oil it'll be a bad day if it lights up' because I was soaked and really couldn’t see. It’s amazing how you can drive one of these cars almost blindfolded. I saw the cone go by at the finish line, I knew Head had to be in trouble and (we) got the win light.
"Whenever as a driver you can dig down and pull something out like that and get the win for the team; that was a break we needed.”
Tasca didn't know for sure what had happened but once he was out of the car he knew.
“It was a bracket that broke and I remember when I hit the chutes I was reaching for the fire level because I said 'man, I don’t understand how it could’ve activated. I knew the lever didn't activate it. It’s a testament to the fittings because that fitting held that fire bottle on at 280 miles an hour, but it had already deployed the fluid.”
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