TASCA III BREAKS DROUGHT WITH FUNNY CAR VICTORY AT VEGAS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

Written by Tracy Renck, photos by Burghardt Photos, NHRA    Mon, 2021-04-19 17:55

 

Team owner/driver Bob Tasca III has never wavered when talking about the talent of his nitro Funny Car team.

Tasca and his team showed just what type of talent they have Sunday.

Tasca powered his way to the title at the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his Ford Mustang.

“We went to a bunch of semifinals last year,” Tasca said. “We had a car every race that could win it and these things aren’t easy to win and the Four-Wides are even harder because you have to beat three people in the finals. It is just a tribute to this team led by (crew chiefs) Mike Neff and Jon Schaffer. We keep getting stronger. I can’t thank Ford Motor Company enough. People had to lay people off and Ford gave me the funding to keep my whole team together and it shows with how the car is running. Happy Birthday Mustang, 57 years old, we are going to celebrate tonight.”

This is Tasca’s first win since he won back-to-back races in 2019, the last being at Norwalk, Ohio, June 23. Tasca now has seven career nitro Funny Car wins.

“I felt things building and building today,” Tasca said. “The car was strong all weekend and we saw something on that semifinal run and we knew we could pick the car up even more. Zippy and Jon said (to me) just do what you do, and we will win this race. Hey, listen, it was a good week for this team and the third win for this team. I don’t think I have ever led the points and coming out of here with the points lead and a trophy, well, that's what we are here to do, win.”

In the semis, Tasca III finished second in his quad to Ron Capps (3.935 seconds), while Tasca came in at 3.934 seconds.

During the finals, Tasca clocked a 3.938-second pass at 328.46 mph. That was the second quickest ET of the four drivers – Tim Wilkerson clocked a 3.922-second run at 320.43 mph – but Tasca won on a hole shot with a .057 reaction time. Wilkerson had a .095 reaction time.

Tasca’s closest competitor in the finals was Matt Hagan. Tasca finished fifth in the points standings a year ago. He posted a 12-10 elimination round record last season and made it to four semifinal rounds.

At the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville March 12-14, Tasca lost in the semifinals to Robert Hight.

 

 
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