Tasca pumped by qualifying effort
NHRA Funny Car rookie Bob Tasca III is fired up for today's eliminations in the NHRA Summer Nationals after a career-best No. 2 qualifying effort.
"We had one of the, if not the most consistent, qualifying car of the weekend," Tasca said in a team release. "I'm just thrilled with Chris (Cunningham, crew chief) and the guys that are just working so hard on this team.
"People don't realize how many things they do in between rounds, and everything has to be...
Read the full article by Rick Peterson in The Capital-Journal
Tags: Bob Tasca III, Summer Nationals2008 O`Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals – Friday Recap
With air temperatures teetering near 90 all day and track temperatures bumped up near 120 degrees, competitors got their first taste of summer conditions during the opening day of action at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX, and Larry Dixon, Tony Bartone, and Dave Connolly adapted best to the hot, muggy conditions, grabbing the top spots on the provisional ladders in their respective classes.
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Bartone’s roller coaster ride of a season went back on the upswing when he outpaced the rest of the Funny Car field with a 4.881 clocking in his Jim Dunn-tuned, Canidae-backed Monte Carlo that seeds him No. 1 after two of four qualifying runs for the weekend. Bartone has one previous career start from the top spot on the ladder, in Englishtown in 2006.
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Rookie of the Year candidate Bob Tasca III is primed for the best start of his young career after wheeling his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang to a 4.901 for the provisional No. 2 spot. After sitting out a couple of events, Frank Hawley made a
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Read Candida Benson's full recap at NHRA.com
Bartone Sits No. 1 in Topeka; Dixon, Connolly Also in Provisional Spots at Heartland Park
After nearly two years since his last No. 1 qualifier, Funny Car driver Tony Bartone raced to the provisional top spot Friday at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals.
Larry Dixon and Dave Connolly were also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the ninth of 24 events on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Bartone drove his Canidae Pet Food Chevy Monte Carlo to a 4.881-second pass at 301.81 mph to become the provisional top qualifier. It would be Bartone’s second career No. 1 qualifier, with his first coming in 2006...
Read the full article at Motorsports Journal
Tasca looking to put it all together in Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 13, 2008) – With the theme of the season being to take it one step at a time for Bob Tasca III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang team, the rookie heads into this weekend’s NHRA race at Bristol Dragway eager to capture his team's first win.
“This weekend is a real important race for us,” said Tasca. “If you look back at the last few races; in Vegas we qualified our season best in the No. 3 position, Atlanta was our best showing with making it to the semi-finals, and St. Louis was hands down our most consistent performance of the season with getting the quickest ET of my career. So you can just see that at each race, we establish a new high point for the program.”
The one step at a time approach has allowed the team to put together a solid collection of data through the first seven races of the season, and to successfully make more and more consistent runs down the track.
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Crew Chief Chris Cunningham’s Contract Extended at Tasca Racing
CRANSTON, Rhode Island (May 8, 2008) - Chris Cunningham, who took over full crew chief responsibilities for Bob Tasca III's Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang nitro Funny Car in early April, has received a three-year contract extension from Tasca Racing.
"Chris has been a crucial component in building this race team, and I can't give him and the crew enough credit for what we've been able to achieve over the last six months," said Team Owner and Driver, Bob Tasca III. "He has a plan for this team and he is making sure that we continue to build and progress each time down the track. We're building this program for the long term and we're building it around Chris."
Immediately following the move from sharing the position of crew chief to taking over fulltime, Cunningham tuned Tasca's Shelby Mustang to its best qualifying position ever, earning the No. 3 spot in Las Vegas.
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Tim Wilkerson qualifies first in Phoenix, Worsham and A. Force DNQ
Rain cancelled Friday's NHRA Funny Car qualifying, leaving drivers with only two Saturday sessions to get into the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix.
Tim Wilkerson impressively leads the field into eliminations on Sunday. With only two sessions to qualify, the list of those that didn't make the field is surprising. Del Worsham experienced the disappointment of not qualifying his Checker Schuck's Kragen sponsored Impala at his sponsor's event. Del wasn't the lone DNQ though. Ashley Force, Melanie Troxel, Bob Tasca III and Terry Haddock were also unable to qualify.
Tags: Ashley Force, Bob Tasca III, Del Worsham, Force, Funny Car, Haddock, Melanie Troxel, NHRA, Phoenix, race, Terry Haddock, Tim Wilkerson, Wilkerson, Worsham