The third became the third in Las Vegas.

Bob Tasca III not only holeshot runner-up Austin Prock but also got the jump on reigning world champ Matt Hagan and Ron Capps to score his second four-wide victory during the 24th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. It was only the third time in four-wide drag racing history that a driver has recorded a triple holeshot victory. 

Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) also won at the fourth of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Tasca’s 3.915-second run at 329.75 mph was the slowest in his quad and resulted in his first win of the season and his 16th career win. He needed every bit of his starting-line advantage to pick up a memorable victory in an incredible final round, undoubtedly one of the most thrilling in four-wide history.

“When I’m sitting here in lane one and looking at those grandstands full of people, it gives you butterflies because that’s why we do it,” Tasca said. “I knew I hit it good. I didn’t know how good it was, but it was a great light, great car, great setup, and it’s exactly what we needed to do this weekend.

“When you put together a final round where there’s one Ford, one Dodge, one Toyota, one Chevy, that why we do it. It’s the only reason we come out here to win for all our Ford fans all around the world. That’s going to go down as one of the best final rounds in Funny Car history. We’ve got a team that can compete for the championship, and I promise you we will.”

Prock is a former NHRA Rookie of the Year, but his rookie Funny Car season is deja vu all over again. His runner-up marked his third trip to the finals this season, while Capps was third. Hagan, who posted the quickest run of the weekend in the category with a 3.895 at 328.54, was fourth.

Not only did the Top Fuel champ get his first No.. 1 qualifier of the season, he completed the sweep by going 3.715 at 333.58 in his Mac Tools dragster to drive past Tony Stewart, Justin Ashley and Steve Torrence. He also scored the quickest run in the three rounds, giving Kalitta 53 career victories and plenty of early-season momentum following his first championship. He picked up wins in the first two quads to advance to the loaded final round and, staying in the first lane all day, put together another great run to pick up another milestone first in his impressive career.

“That was a hell of a run, and I was really happy to see that win light come on,” Kalitta said. “Obviously, those other three teams are all hungry and all running pretty strong. It was a super close race for all our cars and the fans got their money’s worth, and we came out with a win. 

“Getting the first four-wide was really special for me, because I’ve been really hungry to try to pull one of these off. My guys really had my car running strong. We qualified low and I think we have low [ET] of each of the sessions and it would have been a great shame to miss this opportunity.”

Ashley finished runner-up with his run of 3.745 at 333.82, Torrence took third, and Stewart was fourth in his first career final round. Ashley also moved into the Top Fuel points lead.

Coughlin did a bit of sweeping of his own by following up Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory with his first win in nearly four years, going 6.616 at 207.18 in his Scag Power Equipment car in the final quad. He had a .013 reaction time against a quartet that included Erica Enders, Jerry Tucker, and Brandon Foster. He never trailed en route to his 66th career victory, with his most recent coming in 2020. It was also his first four-wide victory in his terrific career, winning the first quad and finishing second to Enders to advance to the final round.

Coughlin, who qualified No. 1 in Phoenix, was stellar on the tree all weekend, going .014 in the opening round and .007 in the second quad as things came together in a special way for the entire Elite Motorsports team on Sunday.

“This was epic, the whole weekend,” Coughlin said. “Our car was great from Q1, where we had low E.T., and we almost maintained that pace throughout the rest of the event. Fast forward to today, and we had three good quads to traverse our way through. In all seven runs, I was in a groove as far as driving and getting the clutch out. After three years away, it was fantastic to see that blinking [win] light in the final.

“I’ve been to some finals in the four-wide, but I’ve never been able to close the deal, so this feels really good to get it done.”

Tucker, who picked up his first career No. 1 qualifier this weekend, was second to the finish line in the final quad, going 6.617 at 206.35, picking up his first Pro Stock runner-up in the process. Enders leaves the event as the points leader.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action with the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on April 26-28 at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.