Tasca felt change in direction was necessary; Kloeber said move was surprise

Note to potential start-up team tuners. Success is not always a guarantee for long-term employment.

Bob Tasca, III announced the firing of Mike Kloeber as crew chief on his Motorcraft/Ford Easy Care Shelby Cobra last week following the team’s third qualifying berth in the first four events.

“Mike is a very talented guy but when it came down to it, this decision was made based on team chemistry,” Tasca said. “I feel like to win you have to have three things – talent, luck and everyone on the team headed in the same direction. This all comes down to being a matter of team chemistry.

“We just had to have every one going in the same direction. That’s what precipitated my decision to part with Mike. At the end of the day, I feel Chris Cunningham is extremely capable from a technical and leadership position to lead this team.”

Tasca felt change in direction was necessary; Kloeber said move was surprise

Note to potential start-up team tuners. Success is not always a guarantee for long-term employment.

Bob Tasca, III announced the firing of Mike Kloeber as crew chief on his Motorcraft/Ford Easy Care Shelby Cobra last week following the team’s third qualifying berth in the first four events.

“Mike is a very talented guy but when it came down to it, this decision was made based on team chemistry,” Tasca said. “I feel like to win you have to have three things – talent, luck and everyone on the team headed in the same direction. This all comes down to being a matter of team chemistry.

“We just had to have every one going in the same direction. That’s what precipitated my decision to part with Mike. At the end of the day, I feel Chris Cunningham is extremely capable from a technical and leadership position to lead this team.”

The lack of team chemistry came as a complete surprise according to Kloeber, who said he was notified of the decision via a phone conversation from Tasca last Wednesday following a Monday test session in Houston.

“I wasn’t aware of any significant team chemistry issues,” Kloeber said in a telephone interview a week later. “I thought we were working well together.”

Tasca brought in Kloeber and then assistant crew chief Chris Cunningham last October to begin the formation of an NHRA POWERade Funny Car team from scratch. In less than four months, Tasca Motorsports assembled a complete team and made their first runs in Phoenix pre-season testing.

Tasca has since promoted Cunningham, formerly of Del Worsham Racing, to the role of crew chief. As of last week, the team was still seeking a co-crew chief to work alongside of Cunningham.

Tasca entered the season admittedly behind the eight-ball and knew finding the right continuity would be necessary for the long-term. He made the tough decision to part with Kloeber during the early stages of the program. He added there was no “right” or “wrong” time to make the decision.

“We started a team from scratch and in doing that, I knew I had a tough challenge ahead of me,” Tasca admitted. “We were pulling eight people together from different parts of the country and to think we could do that perfectly would have been a long shot.

“It’s just not that clear of a thing when to make a decision like this. I’m a hands-on owner. I’m on the phone with these guys every day. It’s just a part of running a team and it’s no different than running a major company. You can just sense things. I could just sense the team morale and chemistry was not right. That’s a vital element to success. I just felt the time I made the decision was the best.”

Tasca said the decision to make the personnel change rested solely on his shoulders and involved no sponsorship interference.

“It was 100-percent my decision,” Tasca said. “Every decision I make is made in the best interests of my program and my sponsors.”

Kloeber said he’ll spend the off time regrouping and preparing a comeback hopefully this season. He’s had indirect conversations with some teams but nothing official he could state on the record.

“I’m just getting myself re-organized and preparing to go to work wherever I end up at,” Kloeber said. “It could be another Funny Car team or it could be with a Top Fuel program.”

Such a situation can be disappointing for a seasoned tuner such as Kloeber who is credited with six world championships as tuner for Clay Millican and wrenching Jim Epler to the first Funny Car 300-mph speed. However, in Kloeber’s situation, the success with Tasca prevents a loss of confidence.

“You keep your confidence because you have your belief in yourself and your abilities,” Kloeber said. “If I had failed miserably with the other teams, I could have easily gotten down. I know that I am good at what I do and I can offer my services to a wide variety of people and situations in regards to racing either Top Fuel or Funny Car.

“I believe in putting the team together in the short time was a big success. To go out and do that, test and qualify was huge. Something like this usually takes quite a few months to accomplish the kinds of successes we pulled off.”

Tasca didn’t offer a demotion alternative to Kloeber and when all is said and done, he’s confident he made the best decision for the parties involved.

“I just felt this was the best decision and the best in the long run for Mike,” Tasca said. “He’s extremely talented and I have no doubt that he’ll land with another team. He will be successful. Certainly the next team he joins, the chemistry is something that has to fit for Mike. Everyone has their own style and it doesn’t make it right and it doesn’t make it wrong, at the end of the day it’s the people you surround yourself with who determine whether you’ll be successful.

“Mike has been successful over the years and this is a new team and people he never worked with. At the end of the day, it just wasn’t the right fit. That’s what it came down to (in the end).”