BOB TASCA III - RACING INTO THE NITRO WORLD
Just hearing his grandfather’s stories
was enough to make Bob Tasca, III want to go to the drag races. Watching the
cars run as a kid made him want to do more than just
watch.
The third generation of the legendary
Tasca family will do what no other racer outside of John Force has done since
1998; he will race a Ford in the NHRA’s POWERade Funny Car
division.
Tasca will make his driving/team owner debut at the 2008 NHRA CARQUEST Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. He will do so in a 2008 Mustang tuned by the duo of Mike Kloeber and Chris Cunningham. The Ford Mustang body, which will be prepared by John Force Racing, will carry the major backing of Ford’s Motorcraft and Quick Lane brands.
Multi-year deal with the Ford Motor Company puts the legendary Tasca Family back in drag racing’s spotlight
Just hearing his grandfather’s stories
was enough to make Bob Tasca, III want to go to the drag races. Watching the
cars run as a kid made him want to do more than just
watch.
The third generation of the legendary
Tasca family will do what no other racer outside of John Force has done since
1998; he will race a Ford in the NHRA’s POWERade Funny Car
division.
Tasca will make his driving/team owner
debut at the 2008 NHRA CARQUEST Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. He will do so in
a 2008 Mustang tuned by the duo of Mike Kloeber and Chris Cunningham. The Ford
Mustang body, which will be prepared by John Force Racing, will carry the major
backing of Ford’s Motorcraft and Quick Lane brands.
“It’s something that I’ve dreamed of
since sitting in the grandstands of Englishtown when I was 10 years old,” Tasca
said. “I used to sit up there and watch John Force and Bob Glidden and listened
to all the stories my grandfather told about racing with the Ford Motor Company
in the 1960s. It was Henry Ford II that put the program together for my
grandfather.
“Listening to him telling those stories – there was a part of you that felt as if you lived it. That was many years before I was born or even thought of.”
If you look back at our family’s history, we have always been entrepreneurs. We’ve always charted our own path. If anything, I’m like Force from the standpoint that I want to lead a team. – Bob Tasca III
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There was never a doubt as to the
sponsor when Tasca put together his program.
“Sometimes the Tasca family thinks our last name is Ford,” Tasca said. “We’ve been loyal to Ford for sixty years and to have the opportunity to run a Ford exclusive car – and to the best of my knowledge that dates to Bob Glidden and maybe Dale Jarrett – so, there’s no pressure there, right?
“The whole Ford Motor Company being behind this car is an honor. I plan on working very hard to live up to their expectations.”
One thing that must be noted is Tasca is running a Ford largely in part through the blessings of John Force. Force, since joining the Ford team in the late 1990s, has exercised an exclusive contract on the drag racing program for Ford.
“John Force and Ford Motorsports had a partnership in the development of the Mustang bodies,” Tasca said. “As a result of our support of John and our relationship with Ford, we will run a Ford Mustang body out of the John Force mold.
“Obviously both being under the Ford banner, we didn’t want two different cars out there running. Ford didn’t want it. Our relationship with both parties – and in talking – made the most sense to be on the same page that we run a common design.”
Tasca said Force’s support throughout the project has been unwavering.
“I wouldn’t be here had it not have been for John,” Tasca said. “He has been nothing but cooperative with me over the years. He led me down this road.
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“I know the questions are out there as to why I didn’t drive for John. The answer to that, and we spoke about it many times, and John is like a brother to me. I know he feels the same about our family. If you look back at our family’s history, we have always been entrepreneurs. We’ve always charted our own path. If anything, I’m like Force from the standpoint that I want to lead a team. I don’t think there’s anyone that has proven to be more of a leader than John Force. He is the gold standard of building and growing a race team. If I can be ten-percent of that, I will be tickled pink.”
The only way Tasca said he would have pursued the project was in a Ford.
“I don’t think denying us the opportunity to run this Ford ever crossed John’s mind,” Tasca said. “There is nothing I’d ever do to hurt John and I don’t think there’s anything that he’d ever do to hurt us. You can’t hurt people you love and at the end of the day – the Tasca and Force families started this thing together.”
Tasca said the parties involved discussed their plans for the future.
“We’re looking at a platform where Ford can train dealers across the country by leveraging the opportunity the NHRA has for sponsors,” Tasca said. “They can reach fans, dealers and customers. It kind of makes sense that I needed to do my own deal and that John needed to find a driver that fit best into his deal. It was a 100% mutual decision on that. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for John Force.
“As a new team owner and a rookie driver, to have someone of the magnitude of John Force in my corner to answer questions is incredible.”
When Tony Pedregon was with JFR, he and Tasca cultivated a strong relationship.
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“He’s another guy that’s been like a brother to me,” Tasca said. “I can’t say enough nice things about him. He’s been an immense help just by answering questions and pointing me in the right direction. I am very fortunate to have people that care enough that want to see my family and myself succeed in this project.
“I’m not kidding myself, I know when that top bulb comes on that no one is going to give me a win. You just can’t undertake a project of this magnitude without the help of people that have been there before willing to help you.”
Rumors surfaced that Pedregon was slated to be a part of the Tasca program but those had no truth to them, Tasca said.
“Tony owns his own team and was never planning to be a driver for me,” Tasca said. “I think people have put two and two together by seeing the time we’ve spent together at the track. People drew their own conclusion. There was never any truth.”
Tasca’s progression to the nitro burner started as a respect for high-horsepower Fords, first in Pro Street and then later through a visit to Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School where he drove a Pro Stocker.
Tasca said his drag racing career took root the day he met John Force.
“We met in December of 1996 and things have come full circle,” Tasca said. “To be able to have this opportunity, I am both fortunate and blessed to be able to springboard off of what we’ve accomplished with the Top Alcohol Funny Car team.”
Even Tasca’s TAFC operation can be traced to Force.
“Force called me and said, ‘Tasca, your family has been a great supporter of my team and I want to repay you by building a showcase for the grand opening of your new dealership,” Tasca said.
Force told Tasca, “This one isn’t going to be one that has been wrecked and on fire before. It will be a real racecar – a brand new one. If you want to go alcohol racing with it, then have it.”
“That’s really how I got into the Funny Car program,” Tasca said.
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Tasca said the TAFC that he drove in competition was really a fuel car that he’d dropped an alcohol motor in to see how he liked it and if he could handle the challenge.
“That program was a confidence builder for me,” Tasca said. “When you run someone like Frankie Manzo almost every week, it makes you better. I know I can drive the alcohol car now and I can at least drive Cruz Pedregon’s Funny Car to half-track. I think I’ll be okay. I think the alcohol car was the best stepping stone that a driver can have to move into the nitro ranks.”
Tasca has faith in Kloeber and Cunningham to make him look professional in his rookie hour.
“One thing that I learned in my time in this sport is that you had better surround yourself with intelligent people,” Tasca said. “You can have the best driver and put him in a bad car and he won’t do well. You can take an average driver and put him in a great car and he can set records.
“The foremost objective was to find the best people available. There are many talented people already under contract and I couldn’t have been any more fortunate to have found Mike Kloeber when I did. The same with Chris Cunningham holds true.”
Tasca knew in his first conversation with Kloeber that he’d found the right person for the job. He only needed to look at Kloeber’s resume to know his talents are strong when working with rookie drivers. He found success quickly with Clay Millican and Christen Powell.
“I could tell just by talking to him that he’s a thinker,” Tasca said. “You could feel his confidence in pulling this thing together. To be honest, 30 days ago I didn’t own a part. I feel confident with Mike and Chris is going to be a potent combination. The weakest link on this program is me. It’s going to be a learning curve for me. By no stretch of the imagination am I taking any of this for granted.”
Tasca said the short-term goal is to get his car up to speed as quickly as possible. The second stage of the program is to build an unprecedented trackside platform.
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“Right now we are focused on this car becoming competitive out of the gate,” Tasca said. “It is very important to me to reach our goals and the highest one is to win a championship. This is what we want. We’re not naïve. We know that the first year is pulling the loose pieces together and becoming competitive right out of the gate – winning rounds and then races. We want to leverage all of that for the marketing platform we are building for Ford. After that, we’ll see how it unfolds.
“It is a multi-year deal and Ford has a lot of plans. There are in this for the long haul.”
Just hearing his grandfather’s stories was enough to make Bob Tasca, III want to go to the drag races. Watching the cars run as a kid made him want to do more than just watch.
The third generation of the legendary Tasca family will do what no other racer outside of John Force has done since 1998; he will race a Ford in the NHRA’s POWERade Funny Car division.
Tasca will make his driving/team owner debut at the 2008 NHRA CARQUEST Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. He will do so in a 2008 Mustang tuned by the duo of Mike Kloeber and Chris Cunningham. The Ford Mustang body, which will be prepared by John Force Racing, will carry the major backing of Ford’s Motorcraft and Quick Lane brands.
“It’s something that I’ve dreamed of since sitting in the grandstands of Englishtown when I was 10 years old,” Tasca said. “I used to sit up there and watch John Force and Bob Glidden and listened to all the stories my grandfather told about racing with the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s. It was Henry Ford II that put the program together for my grandfather.
“Listening to him telling those stories – there was a part of you that felt as if you lived it. That was many years before I was born or even thought of.”
There was never a doubt as to the sponsor when Tasca put together his program.
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