Bob Tasca, III would like nothing more than to watch the crew of his Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang unload the team's Funny Car at Zmax Dragway knowing the body sitting on the chassis is not the same body in use at Pomona, Gainesville and Las Vegas.

Tasca would be proud to know the body underneath the wrap is one developed by Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats, Inc., a Bristol, Rhode Island-based boat building company, and tested at Palm Beach International in January and Las Vegas this past Monday.

Only one step stands between desire and reality – the wrap.

Bob Tasca, III would like nothing more than to watch the crew of his Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang unload the team's Funny Car at Zmax Dragway knowing the body sitting on the chassis is not the same body in use at Pomona, Gainesville and Las Vegas.

Tasca would be proud to know the body underneath the wrap is one developed by Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats, Inc., a Bristol, Rhode Island-based boat building company, and tested at Palm Beach International in January and Las Vegas this past Monday.

Only one step stands between desire and reality – the wrap.

“If we can can get the wrap done we'll debut the body at Charlotte, but if we run out of time we'll test the body again on Monday at Zmax and then debut the body in Houston,” explained Tasca, who is very excited about the new piece.

“There is nothing trick about the body; let me make that clear,” Tasca continued. “This is not about finding something which will blow away the competition. This body is about the cost of racing and increasing the safety of the driver.”

Currently, Funny Car teams have two sources for bodies, Roush Industries if you drive a Chevrolet or Toyota and Metalcrafter if you drive a Ford or Dodge. Outer Limits could easily be a third source, regardless of manufacturer, with one small exception – the Ford body is only available to Tasca and John Force Racing.

The impetus behind a year long project to build a stronger, safer, and less expensive Funny Car started with a random trip to Tasca Ford by Outerlimits president Mike Fiore. With the powerboat industry in retreat, Fiore saw opportunity in the Funny Car bodies on display at Tasca Ford.

“He walked up, introduced himself and opportunity was born,” Tasca said of his first encounter with Fiore. “Every time you see one of those bodies flying off a chassis, or hitting a wall, or getting blown apart by a detonating engine, you're watching money burn. These bodies are not cheap.

“Mike Fiore looked at the body and explained he thought he could make the body stronger, last longer and cost less. Those are key words to any car owner.”

With the blessing of the NHRA, money from Ford and Fiore's vision the project got underway. At Palm Beach International earlier this year, the body underwent its first trial by fire. Results were examined, changes were made and this past Monday, the day after the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, the trial by fire continued and the body passed with flying colors.

With the body now ready for use in competition, all it needs is a wrap, Tasca wants to make sure everyone “understands” there is nothing trick built in. The body conforms to NHRA rules, meets all specifications, but, and this is the kicker, costs just over 30 percent less than a body purchased from other manufacturers. Factor in the cost savings of maintenance and Tasca believes the savings will increase to over 40 percent over the life of the product. Those are huge savings.

“This project is about saving lives and saving money,” Tasca said forcefully. “It probably weighs one to two pounds more than a body you can get from the other manufacturers, however over the life of the body, we think it will ultimately weigh seven to eight pounds less because you won't have the weight added by making repairs.

“It should be a safer body during an incident, which is very important. If the body doesn't break apart then you don't have shards flying about which could injure the driver.”

Right now Tasca is quite happy to be at the point of being able to put the body into service. He's not jumping with joy, but he's happy. The real smile will come after the body has “50 runs on it” and Tasca is seeing the cost savings - “then I will be high-fiving the situation,” says Tasca.

 

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