After two forgettable races early in the 2024 NHRA season in Pomona, CA., and Phoenix, nitro Funny Car owner/driver Bob Tasca III and his team needed some good news.
 
They got just that Friday at the 4-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 
In his Dark Horse Mustang, Tasca clocked a 3.931-second time at 332.02 mph to snare the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at The Strip.

“I said, just do the same thing. 95, don’t change anything,” Tasca said. “The track will be a little bit warmer. Then, (Austin) Prock has to run 3.94 right in front of us. (Crew chief) Aaron (Brooks) goes in the box; he looks at me. He goes, ‘I’m really, really sorry, but we’re going to break out.’ I’m laughing. Honest to God, in the burnout, I’m laughing. Backing up, I’m laughing. The spirit was just going down the racetrack, and it left ... Man, it felt good. Huge speed. 

“If you really knew how much we had this car pull back to run, the number that impressed me the most was the 332.

“It was exactly what we needed to do after two very tough races for us. Smoking the tires early in both Pomona and in Phoenix. We just had to go up and down a racetrack. We did it in testing on Monday after Phoenix. It’s crazy. We take the car exactly how we had it Sunday, same track temperature, same lane. And we would’ve run low E.T. of the weekend, so it’s tough. It’s tough to win out here. 

“It’s tough to make consecutive runs in a row at the highest level. But those are two solid runs. The conditions will get better (Saturday). We’ll have to pick up the pace, for sure. And then Sunday, it could be candyland out here. Literally, it could be some of the quickest and fastest runs, maybe ever in the sport if it can stay together the way that the forecast is showing. So no, it’s going to be a really exciting weekend.”

If Tasca keeps the No. 1 spot, it would be the 17th of his career. A year ago, Tasca finished third in the season points standings on the strength of three wins and seven No. 1 qualifying positions.

And he has shown glimpses of that type of power in 2024.

“If you look at us, number two qualifier in Gainesville had a great car. Number two qualifier in Phoenix, we had a great car,” Tasca said. “Pomona was a real crapshoot with the way those conditions were. But we have to play the long game. I’d rather be number one in the points in Pomona (the final race of the season) than in Vegas 1. So, we’re learning some things. I guess you’d say the challenge that we have right now, we wholesale changed this car this winter. And you saw it in Bradenton (at the PRO Superstar Shootout) when it ran 341 mph. You don’t run 341 mph on accident. You got to change a lot of stuff to do what we did in Bradenton. 

“Then we set the track speed record at Gainesville. We’re making so much more power, that all the data that we had from last year, we haven’t been able to use any of it. The way we’re setting up the car now, it doesn’t run anywhere near what it runs today.”

With a new type of success, Tasca’s team is in the process of adjusting to maintain consistency,

“So, the good news is these guys constantly evolve. The bad news is that you can set yourself back a little bit as you recalibrate the clutch settings and the stops and the primary,” Tasca said. “I think that’s what you’re seeing a little bit with our team. It’s just resetting ourselves. But really smart guys, (Crew chiefs) Todd (Okuhara) and Aaron (Brooks). Our whole team came back, so we got a really good group of guys in the pit. And it won’t be long before you see this car going up and down, hot, cold, anything between. 

“We have a better setup for a cool track. There’s no question about that. The hot track is where we struggle a little bit. But today was a big step for us. And (Saturday) won’t be like Candy Land. It’ll still be warm. Then Sunday, Sunday’s going to be a throwdown. Sunday’s going to be ... You got one of the greatest racetracks in the world. Downhill is smooth. Coming out of Pomona and Phoenix, you could take a fan out of the stands, put them in these cars. That’s how smooth it is out there.”

Tasca, who began racing full-time in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car ranks in 2008, has had success in Vegas, winning here in the spring of 2021 when he beat Matt Hagan in the final round.

Despite all his experience, Tasca acknowledged his team is a daily work in progress.

“We learned we still can go really, really fast thinking we’re going to go really, really slow,” Tasca said. “Honestly, that first run, we thought we would run 98 four flat, and it ran 96. This last run, they tweaked the knobs a little bit and it runs 93. Last year, in these settings, we ran a 98. So, we just are learning that this car wants to go a lot faster than I think that they’re gauging in at first.

“Aaron Brooks and Todd Okuhara have only one switch, and that’s wide-open throttle. They don’t know anything different. Every time they go to the start line, they want to run low E.T. top speed, which is how they were born. Last two races, we struggled a little bit, like smoking the tires, not making full pulls. Qualifying really good but not doing it consecutively. So, I joked about the limit on them, but we did talk about it this morning. We’re like, ‘Listen, we just need to pull this thing back.” 

“I’m not going to be upset if you qualify fifth today. I’m not going to be upset. We just have to go down the track twice, pull it back, let’s learn from it. And then let’s pick up the pace as the weekend goes on, and that was exactly what we did first run.”

“Then the last run, we were in the same lane as Prock. Prock ran 94. And I said, ‘There’s zero chance that he’s not going to go back in that box.’ And the box is where we tuned the car from. And he jokingly said, ‘Sorry, but we’re going to break out.’ And that’s just the mindset. You have to be aggressive out here to win, but you also to ... We call it make the trip. If you don’t make the full trip, then you can get beat by anybody out here.”
Tasca also understands how many layers there are in putting a tune-up into a nitro Funny Car.

“Yeah, if the average person knew what goes into these cars, in the small minor tweaks and adjustments, we’re chasing hundredths of a second, at 332 mph,” Tasca said. “It’s not even comprehendible to me. And I’ve been around it my whole life, the sport. But these guys are super smart, and the more confident they get in their setup in the race car, the more dangerous you are out here. And for Aaron to be able to make that call and know that he was going to break out on speed in E.T, it’s pretty impressive.”

When Tasca brought Okuhara and Brooks on his crew chiefs last year, it definitely turned some heads. However, they had Tasca knocking on the door for his first world championship before falling just short at the final race of the season in Pomona.

“You take an average driver and put him in a great car; you make the driver better. Take a great driver, put him in an average car, and the driver is at best average,” Tasca said. “They just have really helped me as a driver build my confidence. Believing in the car, knowing what they’ve given me, race in and race out. I think I won a round in Gainesville by pedaling the car. As a driver, you just want to give your team every chance you can get to win a race.

“Whether it’s cutting a light, keeping the middle of the groove, or compensating for it if it smokes the tires. But the better the car is, the better the driver. And they’ve given me a great race car. They listen to me probably more than any crew chiefs I’ve ever been around. And helping get the car better, whether it’s handling, reaction time, little things that I want to try. And they’re always open to do that. And as a driver, you can’t ask for more on that.

“People don’t realize how important that chemistry is. And you see it in every other professional sport.”